I used to spend around $400 a month on groceries and another $200 a month on household products (toiletries, diapers, laundry detergent, etc.)  Since I began couponing I spend $300 a month on both groceries and household items together and some months I only spend $200 for our family of 5.

Four years ago a group of my friends at church started couponing and telling me how much money they were saving on groceries.  I was excited to get involved and give it a go.  I had used “a” coupon before but nothing like what I was about to do.  So I went out purchased a “coupon binder” bought 4 copies of the local Sunday newspaper at the Dollar Store and was ready to save my family some money!

Well very soon into couponing I realized this was crazy!  I spent my entire Sunday afternoon clipping coupons to organize by category in my “coupon binder”.  Then in between dropping kids to school, going to work, and everything else we moms do I was constantly on the internet looking for coupon deals and making quite a few trips to the local drugstores and grocery stores to snatch up the best deal.  This was not working for my family or my sanity.

Instead of quitting, I modified it to work for me.  I looked for tips online to make this easier; I got ideas from friends and found out what was working for them.

The “coupon binder” method is great because you can take your binder with you every time you go to the store, and if something is on clearance or on sale that wasn’t in the ad or the online coupon blog, you have your coupons with you and you can snatch up some really great deals, but it’s time-consuming. 

My coupon file crate.
Here are some tips if you are just beginning to coupon or like me desire to coupon but not be an “extreme couponer”.  I file my coupons in a file crate by date.   You don’t even have to look through your coupons each Sunday, just purchase them and file them away.  Then let someone else do the work for you.  I follow or as my husband says “stalk” PantryOverflow.com.  You then go pull that week’s coupons clip the ones you need and you’re done, go shop and save some money, sometimes lots of money. 

 Diana the curator of this site is local to me so all the deals she posts I know are available at the stores near me.  Diana at Pantry Overflow will tell you each week’s deals, and what date to find the matching coupons and she will even posts which coupons are coming out Sunday before Sunday rolls around, so you can decide if you want to purchase newspapers that week.  If you follow her on Instagram and Facebook, you can see deals she picks up at the local stores before she even posts them to her blog.  So every Wednesday when most Grocery Store sales begin visit PantryOverflow.com and plan your grocery shopping trip.
Another great idea (and I do quite often) is go through the coupons on Sunday when you purchase them, clip ONLY the ones you know you will use, and put them in a mini purse size organizer, so you have those with you whenever you shop.  I frequently keep the coupons for my kids’ favorite cereal, kids’ drinks and snacks with me but the other coupons I don’t clip until I hear of a deal for those items.  If you have the time to go through the local grocery ads and match coupons  to what’s on sale then do that, I don’t want to invest that much time in this couponing lifestyle. 

With coupons you can purchase name brand cereal for .25 cents a box, you can get high quality name brand makeup and hair products for super cheap and even FREE, and you can ALWAYS get toothpaste for FREE.  I tell people even if you coupon just for cereal and kids snack foods for school lunches you will save a bundle and it is well worth it.  So head on over to PantryOverflow.com and get started today. Don’t feel guilty for getting items for free or at crazy low prices enjoy the savings.  If you don’t want to have a stockpile of items donate them to a local food bank or share your extras with family and friends.

My Keys to couponing:
  • Purchase your coupons every Sunday. 
    • If you miss a week and a few weeks later there is a sale but you need the coupon from the week you missed you might regret it.
  • File your coupons by date.
  • Download Ibotta a digital form of coupons on your phone.
  • Download the Coupons.com App.
  • Follow coupon sites to find the deals. 
  • Don’t run out for every deal, it will come around again, coupon deals come in cycles.
    • Consider the gas you spend, the time you spend and cost of coupons, if you don’t watch it, couponing can end up costing you more money then you planned.
  • A big key is if you currently spend $400 on groceries each month, continue to use that $400 for your couponing then whatever is left over at the end of the month, use the extra money to apply towards debt, or to save for a family vacation.  Because many times, if you don’t do that, the money you used to spend just gets absorbed or spent other ways and you don’t really see the difference.
  • Only buy what you use!  Don’t get caught up in “but it’s free” and then the item sits in your garage or you are trying to give it away to everyone you know.
  • Choose one drugstore and one grocery store to start with and watch the savings add up.  Then as you get a handle on couponing you can add to that or pick your favorites.  (Mine are Target, Safeway & CVS).
  • Purchase 1 copy of the Sunday newspaper for each member of your family.  I started with 4 to begin with, but now subscribe for 6 copies, delivered right to my door each Sunday.
  • Use your coupons and savings to bless others.
    • When you get a great deal on something share with family members or neighbors who maybe out of work or going through a tough financial time.  Send some of the fancy hair products you purchased for pennies to your friends or family in a care package. 
    • You can get great deals on kids’ toys and games that you can use for Toys for Tots and other organizations to help make a difference!
Thanks for reading! Want to try Ibotta a digital way to save, coupons right on your phone, no clipping or cutting download here https://ibotta.onelink.me/iUfE/1005cd3f?friend_code=qygfhq.