How To Start Couponing
Does the idea of couponing seem overwhelming to you? It did to me too! I wasn’t raised in a couponing family, and I didn’t get started with couponing until late 2007. But after a little practice it started to feel like second nature. Typically the only time I get frazzled now is when I am shopping WITHOUT my coupons. 
So where do you begin? How do you get started? Hopefully I can provide some help to those of you who are where I was a year ago. Here are the steps that I recommend taking to begin effective shopping with coupons…
1) Get Coupons! You can’t “coupon” without coupons! You can find coupons in the Sunday paper, or you can print lots of coupons from Coupons.com, Redplum.com, Smart Source, and Coupon Network! There are all kinds of printable coupons available at various times, so make sure you also check out the the Printable Coupons section!
Most large-city Sunday papers have a couple of coupon inserts each Sunday. The most common ones are the Smart Source and Valassis (or Red Plum) inserts. Proctor and Gamble also puts out a monthly coupon insert.
2) File your coupons! My recommendation is to start filing your coupon inserts by date. I got a filing box and labeled the folders by date. Then I put the whole (not cut-up) inserts in the folder that matched the date of the paper. So the coupons from the 1/4 (January 4th) paper would go in the folder that was labeled “1/4″ or “January 4th”. Then when you see store coupon match-ups on Surviving The Stores or other blogs you can know exactly where to get the coupon that they are referring to!
It typically takes about 1-2 months of saving up coupons from the paper to really be effective at couponing. Don’t get discouraged during this time as you see deals and sales using coupons that you don’t have yet… they will come around again! Check out how I organize my coupons!
3) Get a subscription to All You Magazine! It will cost you less than $2 each month, and it seems to always be worth it to get it. File these in a separate folder in your filing box or filing cabinet.
4) Find the coupon matchups! Each week I provide the best coupon match-ups for several national stores including: CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Target, Walmart, Sunflower Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Tom Thumb/Randalls/Safeway stores and Publix.
On Wednesdays I provide a place here at Surviving The Stores for other bloggers to come and link up to their coupon matchups. The authors of the different blogs do the research and match up the weekly deals to the coupons from the inserts (they will tell you, for example, that the coupon for XX item came from the 1/4 (January 4th) newspaper Smart Source coupon insert). Most blogs will also tell you if there is a printable coupon that you can use for an item (along with a link to print out the coupon). You can view these Grocery Store Coupon Matchups HERE!
5) Make a list. From the deals that you find for your local store, make a shopping list and clip the coupons from your files that match.
6) Learn more! Be sure to also check out the other articles in the Where To Begin section!
Be sure to follow along as I share my top 20 Tips For Surviving The Stores Through COUPONING! Tip #1: You DON’T have to be an extreme couponer!
**If you are heading out to eat, or to the mall, check out the RESTAURANT Coupon Database and the RETAIL Coupon Database!**
Oh my goodness, how funny!! Great minds think alike! Great post, btw!
Oh, and I love your new header and nav bar! It looks great!
it helps me a lot.Iam new to this coupons and i posted request to explain how i can use and get coupons but no one replied me.thanks for your work.
I am new to couponing and our family could really use the saved money. what is the best and cheapest way to get coupons? Do I need a coupon for each item?
i am new to couponing too. the main question that i have is how do you get the coupons to show up on a product that i am intrested in? some of these sites are showing the product but it is not in coupon form
But what if I need to buy something that is not on sale, and I want to see if I have a coupon to match. How will I know where the coupon is (or if there even is one) in my file of uncut inserts?
I have been watching programs about couping. My question(s) is in regards to how get the deals-bang for the buck. I want to know more about double coupons, such as, how does it work…..? What I do know is very little. There is money to be saved. I would appreciate any advice, tips, and info. I once saw a person, on T.V., who ended up having the store pay her and she had the groceries. That was smart shopping. There are people I know who can get deals so where the item might be $300. and yet they paid a little than half. Any help on this issue of how to save money and how to be, to a degree, an extreme couping-saving the money. Thank you, for your help.
I also would like to know about the double coupons and how it wokrs … I started couponing today ( newspaper is now $3.00 ??? , wow) All the coupons I found today are limited to one per transaction , how does his work ?
I am trying to start couponing. “TRYING!!: I don’t kno0w where to start. I have no coupons at all, and I just don’t know where and how to start this!! Can anybody please help me figure out how to start. I really need to start helping my family save some $$.
Im also very new at couponing so I dont even know if I should be given advice. I started by buying the newspaper and printing coupons from smartsource.com,redplum.com and by doing a lot of reading in this site. Then what I did I started collecting the flyers from my local Walgreens, WD, Publix and CVS to see what I need to buy also I check the match ups in here and they since Im new I write everything down and I match my coupons. I went to Walgreens yesterday and I paid $60.00 saved $48. and I got $15.00 worth of RR. I felt very happy with my savings. I started collecting coupons the last week of april and this was my first big buy. I hope you can do it too and dont get discourage on the first few weeks when you are lost just keep on reading and you will catch up. One last thing always make sure all your coupons get scanned….
Happy couponing
I noticed you said you’re from TX and most of the grocery stores you listed are different from mine here in VA. When you say other people will post their coupon match ups, will that include people from other states? Thanks so much for putting together a really great site, please keep up the work!
i am brand new at couponing have no idea where to start nor how double couponing etc… work thanks!
Im new with couponing and was wondering where is the best grocery store to shop with the best saving in mpls minnesota? please help!
rdbowers@cox.net
New, looking for tips & advice.
so excited to get started… i see how much people can actually save and who wouldnt want to put in the time to find out how to save money.
Trying to get started. Would love to get help especially with match ups!!
Is there a link in this site or maybe recommendation of where to order coupons that are reasonable and ship fast?
Thanks! Glad I found this site!
How do i coupon,if i shop food once mth,and none food every 2 weeks