Step One: Building Your Coupon Stash

So you're ready to start saving money with coupons but don't know where to start. Well, to get the most for your money the first thing you need to do is build your Coupon Stash! I've been using coupons for about 4 months now and have accumulated a very large collection for myself. I was able to start saving a GOOD amount of money in the beginning, but have now reached a new level of savings due to my Coupon Stash.

Where do I find these coupons, you ask?

The first place to look is in the Sunday Supplement section of your local Sunday Newspaper. This is a HOT ZONE when it comes to finding coupons. The weekly inserts in my local newspaper are called SMART SOURCE and REDPLUM, and there is a monthly insert called P&G SAVER which carrries coupons for Proctor and Gamble Products (ie. Dawn, Tide, Herbal Essence, Gillette, Secret, Aussie, Duracell Batteries, etc.) Occasionally there are extra inserts, such as GENERAL MILLS which carry coupons for cereal and Pillsbury Products along with many others.

However, you should NOT expect to find any inserts in your local paper around the holidays, such as Valentines Day. Yup, you got it, if you were hoping to start your collection this Sunday you are out of luck. Now worries my coupon people, our wonderful wonders will be making their return on the following Sunday!

Where do all the coupons go around the holidays? Well, since most stores offer special sales in order to capitalize off the everyday shopper, the manufactures hold off on releasing these coupons in order to cut their own loses. If you've already started accumulating your stash than this shouldn't be a problem for you since you're already on your way.

Where else can I find coupons? The next place I continue my search is on various IP (Internet Printable) coupon websites. Here is a list of websites to start with...

coupons.com
smartsource.com
redplum.com

As we go along I will add more websites to this list. Websites like these will reset the coupons they offer from time to time in order to make room for new coupon offers. So you gotta get them while the gettin's good!

Another place to look for coupons are on the manufactures websites. For instance, right now there is a special promotion for Post Advantage Cereal Brands (Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat and Grape Nut). If you go the their website http://www.postnatural.com/ and register with them they will email you a $2 IP (Internet Printable) coupon. This is a very special promotion because, as you will all see soon, a $2 off of 1 box of cereal coupon is a very rare find. Typical Cereal coupons are usually $1-$1.50 off of 1-3 boxes, or even $.55/$.75 off of any one box. So go get this one asap!!!

If you're lucky like us Floridians, many of your local grocery stores will offer Store Coupons that are only redeemable at that store (if your store allows it you can usually use these store coupons along with manufacture coupons for even greater savings. This is called stacking, but we'll talk about that later)

Many manufactures will send you mailer coupons along with these IP's. Basically, if you register with these sites they typically put you on a mailing list and send you coupons via. snailmail.

Do you ever get the feeling you're seeing flashes of light before your eyes whenever you're walking through you grocery store isle? No, you don't have to have your eyes checked. These blinking lights come from something us coupon people like to call BLINKIE'S!!! The lights are just to get your attention. Why? Because these little boxes of flashing light dispense coupons that you can grab as you shop. YAY for Blinkies!!

Tear Pads are another kind of coupon you can find down the grocery isle. They are usually found on the shelves in stacks that resemble a post-it pad.

Another secret place to look out for coupons is right on the products themselves.

Last but not least, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! Coupons are everywhere, you just have to keep your eyes open whenever you're out and about. I'll do my best to share with you where to find these as well as others that night be out there.

I hope this was a helpful way to start your hunt. Have fun looking. It's always a thrill to find these little guys. Coupons are money, and finding money is really fun. So once you look at it that way you'll notice that there are more out there than you thought. Now all you gotta do is go out and gettem!!!

P.S. For anyone having trouble finding inserts or for those who don't want to pay for a bunch of newspapers every week, stay tuned for my next post. I'll be making you all a special offer that will cut even your newspaper expenses in half.

RULE OF THUMB: Always collect your coupons and inserts in doubles!!! you will make a better killing if you collect anywhere from 4-6 papers. (Here's another secret... When your grocery store has sales such as BOGO [Buy 1 Get 1 FREE] you can use 2 coupons, one on the item you're paying for and another for the free one. Some stores don't allow this but most do. I'll explain in a later post how this works, for now just take my word for it.)

GO GET YOURS!!!!