Gathering coupons is a large part of saving money. It takes time and persistence but is fairly easy. The main source of coupons comes from the Sunday newspaper. There are no coupon inserts in the weekly paper or most holiday weekends (luckily there is one insert in this Sunday's paper even though it is July 4th holiday). It takes about 6 weeks to build your coupon inventory from newspapers but eventually every post with coupon match ups will have a coupon that you have... I have a family of 4 and usually get about 2 newspapers a week which is plenty for us. There is no need to empty out newspaper bins just get enough for however many people are in your household.
If you are anxious and want to get the ball rolling on your couponing you can order coupons from a clipping service. I personally use "the coupon clippers" coupons start from .10 and shipping is simple fast and cheap. You are basically paying for their time. New coupons are available Saturday morning and I usually get them in about 2 days. Click here to get to their website...
The last popular way to collect coupons is printing them online. Now I must say when I first started couponing I printed every coupon I saw whether my family really used the product or not "just in case"... All this got me was a book full of coupons that expired and a need for more ink. So now I only clip coupons for things that my family regularly uses and if I see a sale for an item with a printable coupon that I do not usually frequent I print it then; when I am about to use it. Most coupon sites allow you to print each coupon twice just hit the back button and it will resend the coupon to your printer.. Some safe and easy printing sites are
Red Plum
Smart Source (I personally haven't been able to get this site to print from my computer but it is legit)
Coupons.com
remember that some coupons are for specific areas no matter if the product is available elsewhere so I use multiple zip codes... New York.. Atlanta.. Baltimore.. Los Angeles.. etc. Your first time printing you do have to install software to make the coupon scan at the register.. If you do not install the sites will never let you print.
YOU MUST PRINT EACH COUPON; MAKING COPIES OF COUPONS IS FRAUD AND WILL LAND YOU IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE!!
There are also many ECoupons. These are coupons that do not give you paper to scan but still work for your total bill. A lot of stores have ecoupons that load to their loyalty card and come off at the register automatically. Two in my area is Harris Teeter and Food Lion . If these stores are not in your area just go to your local store website and see what they offer.
Another type of Ecoupon are coupons that do not physically come off your bill at the register but keep your savings and send you a periodic check. The site that I use is Saving Star . Just log in add coupons to your account and when you earned $5 they will send you a check.. simple as that..
So we have all these coupons now what?
now you have to organize them...
When I first started couponing I had a simple plastic divider. I labeled each divider baby, cleaning, frozen, juice etc.. This method for me lasted about two weeks. Honestly it made couponing more hassle then it was worth. Every time you needed a coupon you had to search all the coupons you have in that section. It made couponing frustrating and not interesting at all. 
Now I use this divider for keeping my receipts in on place... So each month I can get a clear view of how much I saved and it will be easy to track my yearly savings.
Now I use the binder method.. . This is simply finding storage for your coupons and storing them in a 3 ring binder. I use business card holders(about $5 from walmart for a pack) (some use baseball card holders) the pockets are small but it fits a folded coupon perfect. This way I can see exactly what coupon I have and when they expire. I write the expiration date next to the picture so it is easy for me to view when each coupon expires. You can use dividers to separate categories of coupons but as you go you will start to just know where each coupon is... I also have a notebook in my binder. In this notebook I write down my weekly shopping lists for my stores an example of an entry is
Harris Teeter
4number of items to buy Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner 2.99reg price B1G1store promotion 1.49price item rings up at store b1g1 items ring up at half price so you do not need to buy 2 to get sale (1.00/2 coupon that I have save $1.00 off 2 items) 1.98final price ............... 3.96price I pay for my entire order
so without all the extras it looks like this
4 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner 2.99 B1G1 1.49 (1/2) 1.98................ 3.96
(not bad for 4 toilet cleaners about .99each) Unless you have a mansion 4 toilet bowl cleaners should last you a couple months. So when you need it you have it and there is no paying full price.
Lastly to get coupons you can dumpster dive... I do not plan on ever dumpster diving but I do plan on visiting a local recycling center this weekend to see if I can score some insert. I also get coupons from friends and family who know I coupon and would just throw them out anyway.
(not bad for 4 toilet cleaners about .99each) Unless you have a mansion 4 toilet bowl cleaners should last you a couple months. So when you need it you have it and there is no paying full price.
Lastly to get coupons you can dumpster dive... I do not plan on ever dumpster diving but I do plan on visiting a local recycling center this weekend to see if I can score some insert. I also get coupons from friends and family who know I coupon and would just throw them out anyway.
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