Each week I will be addressing some questions that I get from my readers in the hopes of helping a lot of you with your couponing and money saving struggles. I’m always here to answer questions and I’ll help in any way that I can!
I’ve never used coupons before, where do I start? It seems very overwhelming…
This is a very good question that I get a lot! Couponing can be very overwhelming and you can easily become discouraged and stop almost as fast as you started. The best way to tackle coupons when you first begin is to start out slow.
How can you start out slow? Find one source of coupons to use, and only use those. The easiest coupons to get your hands on are insert coupons from the Sunday paper and printable coupons online. So choose one type and then gather the coupons for items you will use. Grab an inexpensive accordion coupon holder, perhaps from the dollar store, or something similar to sort your coupons in and file them away as soon as you clip them.
When you are ready to prepare your shopping list pull out the coupons you have for the items on your list and put them in an envelope to take to the store. You could use a junk mail envelope to save some paper and money! Write your shopping list on the outside of the envelope so you have less to take to the store. If your coupons are inside the envelope that contains your list, you won’t forget them at home!
When you are new to using coupons, I suggest you leave all your other coupons at home and just take the ones you are using for that shopping trip. This way you aren’t overwhelmed at the store and you are sure to use the ones you take with you.
Once you get this down to a routine, toss in another type of coupon to help you save even more. Just be sure to stay on top of your sorting so you don’t get backed up with piles of coupons.
Have a question about using coupons or saving money? Email Me and your question may be answered right here on the blog. Check here for all questions answered in this series.