Coupon basics!

Ok first off there are several other blogs that I will direct you to while we go through this that have been my saving grace along with my good friend Holly! If it werent for her I would never have gotten into this!

Ok first if you dont already get the Sunday paper and start saving the coupons inserts. I save the full inserts because I have so many and its easier to find down the road. Second ad to your favorites these websites!

1. Join A full cup http://www.afullcup.com/forums/index.php?referrerid=61556! Basically its a couponing site that will help you get started. If you are on the East or West coast there are TONS of grocery stores, super stores, etc. on there where you can get the ads early. There is also alot of women that help you find the deals that arent always advertised.

2. Use other sites such as Southernsavers.com, babycheapskate.blogspot.com, Freebies4mom.com, also momadvice.com, northerncheapskate.blogspot.com (for those up north!) Each site has its advantages for me...

southernsavers.com covers Food Lion, Bi-lo, Publix, Kroger, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS. She also will post coupons inserts for the next weekend and a few other freebies or good offers.

Babycheapskate.blogspot.com, basically the site says it all! She finds great deals on all things baby! She will also list the best deals on diapers each week which always comes in handy for me!

Freenbies4mom.com, again says it all! She posts all things free and all the great coupons. I have gotten free Diet Dr. Pepper, free Kashi cookies, free toothpaste, great coupons, etc. She will also offer really great contests that so far I have never won! :)

3. Find a coupon holder. I am planning on getting a binder and baseball card holders to hold all of the clipped coupons that I have but currently I have a small fil a fax that I found in the dollar spot at Target. Im pretty sure Holly will be posting pictures of her coupon binder soon! I am going to try and do somewhat the same thing she is doing. You can also use envelopes but after awhile all of mine started ripping and its hard to go through them in the store. You can also find coupon boxes at stores but I haven't been able to find any that work for me.

4. Start watching your weekly ads. All the drugstores mostly come out on Sunday and so does Kroger. Alot of the grocery stores come out during the week in your mail. Once you have started saving the coupon inserts the store ads will come in handy because you can match up your coupons to the sales. I have inserts that I got in November and Im just now able to use the coupons! The key is to only buy things on sale and only use a coupon with the sale item.

5. STOP GOING TO THE STORE ON A WHIM!! This is when stores get you! You walk in to pick up one thing and walk out with 10 and on top of that they werent on sale so you spent $40 bucks when you could have spent $10. When you see things that are on sale in an ad that you need and you have a coupon for it make a plan! I always spend more than I want when I run into the store and didnt make a plan, which brings me to the next point!

Ok this is the first part. In a new post I will go into how to use CVS and Walgreens to your advantage!