Printable Coupons
There are many coupon printing websites out there but I personally, am not a huge fan. Ink, at least for my printer, is incredibly expensive! So, one has to figure out how much of their coupon savings are going right back out the door to pay for the ink and paper. I will still peek around the printable coupon sites and if there is a great deal, I’ll absolutely use it. Realistically, those deals are far and few between and most times, if it’s that great of a deal, I’d rather use a clipping service (more on that shortly) and be able to buy more than one or two. If you do decide to use printables, below are some links to get you started.
*Note: Please be careful about printable coupon sites. Most of them require you to install printing software in order to use their site. This is all fine and dandy but I have found that some of them also install spyware/adware onto your hard drive. I have tried to weed out those sites from my recommended link list below, but I still recommend running a free program such as Spybot Search and Destroy after installing any type of software.
Clipping Services
I love, love, love clipping services! If you want to save a lot on a particular product when it hits its rock bottom price before coupons, clipping services cannot be beat. If I spot a great deal coming up, say $1 baby wipes, I can hop onto one of the clipping websites and simply order however many of the coupons (Most sites have a limit to how many of one coupon you can order in a week) that I need and a couple of days later, there they are in my mailbox, clipped and ready to go! How cool is that?! In addition, some sites allow you to order entire inserts! This is a fabulous and fairly inexpensive way to build up a stockpile of coupons if you are just getting started. Keep in mind, time is of the essence in these types of situations, so order your coupons from a nearby vendor so delivery is fairly quick. Also, make sure you start your planning early in the week so you have time to wait for them to arrive.
*Coupons cannot be sold/bought. You are paying for the time and effort of the person who is cutting them out and mailing them to you!
Please visit: Hot Coupon World for a great list of available clipping services or just head on over to Google (Google knows all)!
Stockpiling 101
Although stockpiling is basically the heart of couponing, it can also be a touchy subject amongst couponers. I am of the mindset that it is fine to stock up on items – within reason. I have two big, 5 tiered shelves in my laundry room where most of my stockpile resides. I do not, however, understand why any one family really needs 200 boxes of cereal. Cereal goes bad, right? How will you consume those 200 boxes of cereal before they are stale?! I just don’t get it. But, alas, we are all free to do what we want, so if you are one of those couponers who really want to take this to the extreme, you go for it! Otherwise, please consider donating your excess items to a local food shelf/shelter. There are lots of people out there who can benefit from your time and generosity.
The first step in stockpiling is knowing what items you should stock up on. You can buy 100 shampoos because they won’t go bad but you have to consider consumption rates vs. expiration dates. Because every household varies in what they use, I won’t bore you with the details of my stockpile list - instead I’ll just give you a printable that you can customize: Here http://frugalliving.about.com/library/pdfs/StockpileListbw.pdf.
Just as important as knowing what to buy, is knowing when to buy. Overtime, you will learn what is a bad price, fair price, a good price, an excellent price, and a rock bottom price. Of course, you always want to buy when the product is at its rock bottom price but excellent or good prices are okay buy times too, if you need or want that product.
Many people create what is called a Price book. A price book is just what the title implies – a book (physical / on computer) in which you record price trends for products you use. I personally started one of these and quickly discovered how much work they were and decided to abandon it. I usually have a great memory, so I just tend to remember prices, plus the website I use each week when creating my shopping lists, will note if something has reached its rock bottom price. If you want to try your hand at making a price book here are a couple links to get you started:
Pricing Strategies
Pricing strategies are highly dependent on where you live. What is a great price for toilet paper in California would be a horrible price here in Minnesota. Ultimately, you have to figure it out for yourself but, as always, the web is a wondrous place, so I found this printable http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/2010/03/when-to-stock-up.html when I first started couponing and it did help me quite bit.
That’s it for this week! Tune in next Tuesday when we will talk about Catalina coupons and store reward systems.
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