What A Year of Die Hard Couponing Has Taught Me

This post is long but has some good information.  Mid December a year ago, I put my mind to "full on" couponing with the help of my friend Mary Ann.  With her knowledge and the knowledge of many bloggers, I have managed to build a nice stock pile that can last me 6 months to a year or more in paper products, laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, vitamins, and I can go on and on.  With the combination of coupons and sales, I have managed to save an average of 50% off the retail price of everything I have purchased in 2010.

I would like to share some things I have learned over this past year.

• You have to shop more than just one store.
• Rite-Aid, Walgreens & CVS are AWESOME. (Rite-Aid is my favorite)
• Shop-Rite is tops on my list of grocery stores for the best deals.
• I hate $1 off coupons (I never thought I would hear myself say that).  
• Why do I hate $1 off coupons?  Because the stores won't double them!
• I hate coupons that make you purchase 2 items to get the money off.
• You have to purchase more than 1 Sunday paper so you have more than just one coupon insert.  That is the only way you can stock-pile when there is a sale. You can also find a neighbor or relative who doesn't use their coupons and ask them for the inserts.  You can also swap with friends.
• Some stores are wishy washy on their coupon policies.
• Most cashiers (and managers) don't have a clue what their store's coupon policy is.
• You need to be armed with the store's coupon policy in print.
• Why do manufacturer's even bother printing .20 coupons?
• Wholesale Clubs are not the way to go
• Save your $1 off coupons for Walmart.  Walmart does not double coupons like the grocery stores do and their everyday prices are unbeatable so save those $1 off coupons for Walmart when there is no deal at the grocery store.
• You HAVE TO stockpile
• Follow blogs, let someone else do the work for you when it comes to matching up coupons and sales at the grocery store each week.  Livingrichwithcoupons.com is my absolute favorite and anyone else I have told about it loves it too.
• Couponing is contagious.  My friend Mary Ann had to say just one sentence to me a little over a year ago "I can feed a family of 5 for $75 a week".  That was all it took, I had to know the secret.  Even after a year and saving all this off of retail, I don't know how she does it.  I haven't been able to get my average below $125 a week.
• A few bad seeds ruin it for everyone.  Some couponers are greedy and can ruin it for others when they get caught at a store.
• ExtraBucks, Wellness +UP Rewards, Walgreens Register Rewards....how many of you walk out with them and never go back to cash them in?  Sound familiar?  Use them on the same visit.  Do multiple transactions and roll the one that just printed into the next transaction.  The cashiers know we do it, some of them will tear it off your receipt for you because they know that is your intention.  DON'T LET THOSE EXPIRE!!!
• Use coupon sites.  Sometimes printable coupons from on-line sites have coupons with a higher value than what was in the Sunday inserts.
• Have a good filing system for your inserts or coupons.  Don't want to clip them all?  That's fine.  Clip what you know you will definitely purchase and keep the rest of the insert in tact.  Write the date of the insert in marker on the front page.  Find somewhere to keep them.  Now...you see a sale and wonder if you have a coupon for that item.  Use the blogs!  That same blog I mentioned earlier www.livingrichwithcoupons.com  has a coupon database.  Just click into that, search for the product by name and it will tell you what insert on what date you will find that coupon in.
• BE FLEXIBLE...I had a hard time with.  I am (or should I say was) very brand loyal.  I would only use Bounty paper towels and napkins, Cottonelle toilet paper, etc.  Well, I am still very, very loyal to Bounty paper towels.  You need to be flexible and willing to try other brands.  I found that Angel Soft and Quilted Northern are just as cushy for your tushy and would have never known that had I not given them a try when I got them for practically free after coupons/sales.

Do you coupon?  Is there something you have learned and would like to add to this list?  Leave a comment.
I'm not going to lie to you.  Couponing does take some time.  But think of it this way.  If you spend 2 hours a week clipping coupons, blog hopping, looking through flyers and plotting your shopping route and you save $100 in that week, it's like getting paid $50 an hour to coupon.