If you are new to using coupons or been out of the game for a while, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Well, the best advice that I can give to a newbie is to "Start Slow". You don't need a binder full of coupons, and shop numerous stores every week. I promise you will get burnt out very quickly, and it will not seem like it is worth it. But, if you pace yourself, you will find using coupons a very rewarding part of your weekly shopping trip.
Start by picking one store in which you would like to start using coupons. Whether it be your local grocery store, CVS or Walgreens, etc. Find out if they have a rewards system, customer appreciation cards, offer Catalina deals, etc. (We'll get into the specifics of CVS and Walgreens later. I also post coupon match ups for my local grocery store Rouses, which accepts coupons, but does not have any other rewards program, etc.)
These days you don't even have to buy a newspaper to get started. With the wonderful World Wide Web at your fingertips, you have access to so many great online coupons that just take a second to print. If you check out my weekly CVS, Walgreens, and Rouses posts, you'll be directly linked to online coupons for products on sale each week.
Now when purchasing a newspaper for the following coupon inserts: RedPlum, SmartSource or P&G, be sure you know which local papers have which inserts, and on which days the inserts come out. Most newspapers offer coupon inserts in the Sunday paper which usually costs more, so check out your options. Make sure you are getting the most inserts for the best price. For my local readers the Daily Comet is $.50 a paper and releases the RedPlum inserts on Wednesday and the SmartSource and P&G on Friday. Please note the P&G inserts are monthly and usually only appear the first weekend of every month. I would not recommend buying numerous papers to get duplicate inserts when you are just getting started. Again you will just get overwhelmed by the time it will take to clip and sort through all these coupons. In fact, I rarely purchase multiple papers.
Stay tuned for Part 2...
Questions, please feel free to ask. I am here to help!
Does Rouse accept internet coupons? Someone told me that they stopped taking them. Are they accepting them again?
ReplyDeleteYes! I used about 6 last week, they talked to the manager...not sure why, but they accepted them. I think the cashier was just not familiar with them. Here is a link to their coupon policy. http://shop.rouses.com/t-s_7_207.aspx
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