Do you want to learn how to coupon? It's easy and fun and I'll show you how. However, don't expect to get thousands of dollars of stuff for free when you first start out. The TLC TV show is a little misleading. You have to slowly build up a stockpile of goods and buy things cheap when they go on sale. You don't have to scour every ad to search for sales anymore. Thanks to the magic of the Internet there are many websites that do the work for you.
Step #1: Like the couponing websites and subscribe to the daily emails. They post exactly where you need to shop and what coupons you will need.
Step #2: Buy or subscribe to multiple newspapers. If you are just starting out get at least two papers a week. You'll need at least two if you are shopping at stores that have Buy One Get One Free sales!
Step #3: Find a way to organize your coupons. Most couponers will shop with a binder and use baseball card inserts. Organize your coupons into categories of things you shop for. My binder has about twenty or so different categories.
Step #4: Pick one grocery store, one drug store and one big box store to shop at. In the beginning you'll see deals posted at alot of different places and it can be confusing. Nobody wants to shop at twenty different places every week! My three favorite are Publix, CVS and Target. You don't have to chase every deal. Products go on sale about every three months.
Step #5: Follow your favorite products on facebook and sign up for the mailing lists. I suggest setting up a separate email account - just for couponing. You'll get access to member only printable coupons and even free products.
Step #6: Get ready to print Internet coupons. Print in black and white only, because colored ink is more expensive. Don't go crazy. At first you'll think you need to print every single one. You don't. I usually only print the ones I know I will need for an upcoming sale. Most of the blogs will tell you where you need to go to print and provide a link. Some of the most popular are: http://www.coupons.com/, http://www.couponnetwork.com/, and http://www.redplum.com/. Some coupons are only available in certain zipcodes and are only available for a limited amount of time. So when the bloggers say "Print now!" Do it, or you may not be able to find the coupon later on. I spend about $20/ month on toner. I save over $100 each month with my printable coupons.
I hope I've given you a good basis to start couponing. Have fun! And remember that it will take about three months to start building up your stockpile. You will still need to buy certain staple items, like meat and produce. Not everything is free - but alot of things are!
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