ok here is the big one i learned from someone else....if a coupon says ANY size..it can be on a sample size to. so i keep thoes in a seperate place in my file..then when im at the store..i check my anys against the sample sizes. i have gotten all kinds of things free. a couple weeks ago i used about 40 coupons, and got all kinds of things. shampoo, creamrinse, lotion, toothpaste, deoderent, gel, hair spray and things like that. these little sizes are perfact for a travel bag, or sending to school with ds for pe. plus i can stock up our camper with them too. i also use these for gifty baskets at xmas time. a pampering basket i guess youed call it.
plus another good way to save with coupons is to combine them...
example
i had a coupon for vo5 shampoo or creamrinse, 50cents off 2. they cost 98 cents regualry at our walmart. then they had some of the bigger ones on sale for 78cents. so i got thoes. i had 6 coupons for the 50c off. then i also had buy 2 get 1 free coupons. i had 2 of thoes. so i useed them too. i got 12 bottles of shampoo for 4.80. that works out to .40 cents a bottle. that will stock us up for about 5 or 6 months. i dont buy the expencive shampoos unless i cant find anything else thats as good a deal. but i wont pay full price for shampoo. i can always find a good deal on thoes.
ok i hope that helps some. ill come back with other ideas soon.
I bought several years ago this fancy coupon box it has like 135 slots in it and they are each numbered with a master list that's glue to the inside of the box.
As I cut my coupons, I put them in the box. Like shampoo is number 119, and so on. After awhile you will memorize those numbers, trust me really you will. I keep this box in my truck at all times unless I'm making my grocery list. I put the box to one side, a long legal size envelope to the right and the sales flyers in front of me. I write down Miejers Store- Scotts Toilet Paper 5.00- 1.00 cpn.=4.00 (3) meaning I have 3 coupons buy 3. Oh and I put the coupons in the envelope so I'm not in the store looking for them.
I then put that envelope in the top of the coupon box, shut the lid and it's all in one place to go the store.
Anna
__________________ We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Yes, I love that box just wish I'd invested in the Deluxe Model, it had more slots.
I saw a lady in the grocery store with the deluxe model and she gave me the addy. and phone # of the place that sold them. I'm surprised they never advertise to the public?
Anna
__________________ We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
if you have the time...look over the sale bills carefully. and combine sales plus a coupon.so if they have say hunts catsup on sale for 99, and you have a coupon for 50 cents off..use it and stock up for about 6months worth. thats what i do.
plus i always try to use the coupons that are high end when the new things come out. like i got 12 free intuition shavers wehen they first came out. i had that many free coupons for it.
another way to save money is to trade coupons with people. if you have a friend who uses dawn dish liqid, and you use palmoive you can trade with them to get more for your money.
every 3 weeks or so, you will want to start goin thru your coupons and purg out the ones that are expired. plus you can have a spot in your folder for the ones you need to use now. i have thoes in an evie in the front of my holder and it says use now in big lettters. i use it ine store as much as i can since i knw that thoes will go bad soon.
and what to do with all the things you have stocked up...thats a hard one to help out with. what i did was luckily my mom had an extra deep freezer so i took all the extra frozen to her place and filled up that freezer. for my boxes and cans, i got aset of shelves for my kitchen and used it as much as i can.
you have to rember that using coupons is a time consuming job. butyou save alot of money if you do it correctly. i use about 3 hours a week on the gathering of coupons, plus the making of my list. i can spend up to 5 hours a week in the store looking and comparing. you definatly dont want to take the kids for this trip. really i know from experience. but i also save between 35 and 65% on an average shopping trip. we dont have stores that double here much. but when they do i average about 85 to 95% then.
if anyone has a specific question..ill try to help out. its easier than i make it out to be really..lol.
hth.
ericka
