Learning How To Coupon Shop

I’ve always thought of myself as a coupon shopper. I would cut them out of the Sunday paper (when I would buy one), you know, and use them. But then my friend, Renee, schooled me. What was I thinking all this time?! I wasn’t couponing… I was just casually using coupons =o) Well, not any more. It’s kind of a game now. She’ll come to work and tell me how much she saved (she’s awesome at this!) and then I get all envious and try to one up her (which I can’t do.) So it’s a game now. Who saves the most money. That’s a good game, right? (Sadly, I always lose. But we won’t dwell on that right now.)

Here’s my finds so far (and remember… I’m new to this.)


Colgate toothpaste – 25 cents
2 bottles of Garnier Shampoo and 1 bottle of Garnier Conditioner – $1.17
Tick Tacs (my daughter loves them) – free
2 boxes of Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream bars – $2.98

Yep, you read that right! All that for $4.40

And my other one…


2 pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream – $3.48
Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce – free
Dannon Yogurt – free

Oh yeah, I’m on a roll.

This was my best savings yet…


I paid $13.10 for all of this. That’s a savings of $52.95!

I know it’s small stuff to those of you out there who do this all the time, but I’m a beginner and I’m totally psyched by this. I can’t wait to see what else I can find… for free!

So how does one do this? You “layer” coupons. There’s a site that my friend told me about, Frugal Living NW, that will walk you through it basically. It tells you what stores are having the sales and where to find the coupons (which Sunday paper, etc) How easy it that?!

And it always helps to have a helper =o)


Do you have any tips for me? I’d love to hear them!

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Comments

  1. Wow, its amazing how much money a person can save if they just spend a little time working on it. Your little helper look so serious about it. Love it!

  2. Keep all your sunday inserts. I write the date on mine and then file them in an accordian file just in case there is a coupon I missed or didn’t feel like cutting at the time (because cutting coupons does get to be tedious and sometimes you won’t want to do it). That way I can go back and cut it out if a really great sale comes up 3 months later.

  3. Awesome!! I too have recently upped my already couponing to a next level to try and save money for my family. Looks like your doing great! nice little helper you have there too!

    Come check out my new couponing blog! 🙂
    http://mohavecouponer.blogspot.com/

    also if you go to nivea for men usa FB fan page and print out there $2 coupon for shaving cream you can get it for free at family dollar!

  4. Google Krazy Koupon Lady. It will change your life. 🙂 Ha!

  5. Awesome information, as usual 🙂 Congratulations on making a difference in the life of this shopper and many other 🙂 heading over to Fugal Living now…

  6. I just started too, and you really do get a high off of it! Mostly I’ve stocked up on cereal and junk food (because it’s just so enticing to buy cheap chocolate and cookies!) but I have also gotten other toiletries that we need. Walgreens (if you have one) is a really great store for toiletries (and sometimes food) because they have Register Rewards that you can use for your next shopping trip and they just take money off. I usually do about 3 or 4 transactions in a row at Walgreens and use the Register Rewards on my next transaction so the rewards don’t just sit at home. I usually follow thekrazycouponlady.com because she does a good job of giving you good scenarios and can tell you if something is a really good deal 🙂

  7. I am not a couponer, mainly because I don’t know how to approach it. But I would love to lean how.

    I am off to check out the link so I can learn some more.

  8. You have found some great deals! I have been wanting to do more than just casually cutting up a few coupons but I have not really hopped on that bandwagon yet. I was invited to a coupon class and couldn’t attend that night. You may have just inspired me. Hope you are having a great week! 🙂

  9. Check out grocerysmarts.com and enter your state, if there are match-ups for your state it will tell you. I just looked and Oregon is on the list, so it will have all the stores and match up the coupons with the sales and tell you where to find the coupon and how to file your coupons, so you don’t spend an eternity cutting. Plus, if you want, you can click the contact us and see if there is a teacher, if you want to host a class.

  10. I don’t have any tips, but I should ask my daughter…She is amazing. She has collected so many FREE items and pays about a 1/4-1/3 of the total cost at the grocery store! Looks like you are off to a good start, especially with your helpers:) Good Luck Erin!

  11. Also check out Southernsavers.com She lists the weekly sales, coupons and links to printables. I’ve just started too and it is a high. I do most my saving though by just sticking to a list.

  12. Great job! We are new at couponing too. Im not as good as you. But, Im improving:)

  13. Another person to inspire me to upgrade my couponing. My cousin, sister and a few friends do this and I love the amount they save need to start

  14. Great Job! You are finding great deals!

  15. wow.. this is wonderful.. 🙂 do you know of a site like the one you go to in utah ? 🙂 hugs