Want to start couponing, but don’t know where to get the coupons from?? There are many different resources for finding coupons.

#1 Sunday Newspaper. Each Sunday (excluding holidays) there are inserts filled with coupons. They are the Smart Source, RetailMe Not, monthly Procter and Gamble. Buying multiple copies of the paper, will get you multiple coupons to be able to buy more of what is a really good deal. 

#2 Printable Coupon Websites
There are websites that are specifically for printing out coupons from home. You can usually print 2 of each coupon-per computer. Here are some of the most popular coupon printable sites;

Coupons.com
SmartSource.com

These are good ones to start with.

#3 Manufacturer Websites
If there is a specific brand or item that you use, or are planning on buying, then visit their website and they will usually have a tab that says ‘offers’ , ‘promotions’, or ‘coupons’. Sometimes you have to enter your email address or sign up, but this can be helpful because they will email you when they have more coupons for you to print!

#4 Coupon Books
While shopping in your local grocery store, look for coupon books. Sometimes manufacturers put out coupon books by their products. Also, some stores, like Safeway, put out their own coupon books of manufacturer coupons every month, bi-monthly, or for holidays. So keep your eye out because they go pretty fast.

#5 Peelie Coupons, Blinkie Coupons, and Tearpad Coupons
These are all coupons found in the grocery store during your shopping trip
Peelies are coupons attached to the actual item you are buying. These coupons need to be ‘peeled off before you pay to get the savings. So if you are buying something, see if any of the items have a coupon attached and buy those.
Blinkies are the coupons that come out of a small mounted machine with the blinking lights. usually the ones kids can reach and pull out a whole bunch of..
Tearpad Coupons are usually attached to the shelf or display next to the product that the coupons are for. It is good coupon manners to NOT take the whole thing!! (Even though it could be tempting!)

#6 Online Clipping Services
If you don’t have the time, or want to make it a bit easier, you can order coupons already clipped! There are coupon services that offer the same coupon in the paper, plus other regional coupons that you can buy for a small fraction of the coupon amount. This is convenient if you are buying large amounts of an item, or if you work a lot and still want to coupon.

Once you start looking for coupons, you will find them everywhere! The key is knowing what to do with them after you find them! If you are just getting started, you can read more about that HERE!

If you have been to one of my coupon classes, read my article Where Do I Find Coupons?, or have piles of coupons laying around-you might want to know ” Now What??””
First you need to get organized.  If that is not your norm, tell yourself “The more organized I am, the more money I will save!” It is true. If you spend an hour a week organizing your coupons and it helps you save $100 or more shopping that week, then you just made $100 an hour! $100 an hour to organize coupons? Awesome right? I have watched a movie, listened to music, and helped my kids with homework while I have worked on my coupons, so it is not like I had to make any ‘extra’ time to do it, I used what I had.

To get organized, you need to pick a ‘system’ of keeping your coupons ready to use. There are different ways you can do it.

The Binder Method– I recommend this for those who want to start a stockpile of food, that are not used to all the products, or that are unfamiliar with products that you have coupons for.
With this method, you will cut out your coupons, put them in baseball card holders,  and keep them in a 3 ring binder (a large one!). Then use dividers to sort your coupons into categories. This way you can see the pictures on the coupon and will be able to find them quicker.
You will need
A 3 ring binder (3″ or larger)
Baseball card holder inserts-found in a 30 pack at Target in the baseball card section-around $5
Page Dividers-usually 1 or $2 each, I used 3 packs

Filing Method
With this method you do not cut your coupons until you are going to use them. If cutting coupons seems like a lot of work, you aren’t a really frequent shopper, or you don’t really want to start stockpiling, I would suggest this method for you.
How this works is when you get your coupon inserts you keep them whole. Write the date on the front of the insert and file them in a sheet protector in a binder, a hanging file crate, or a way you can keep them together for quick reference. Then, when you are going shopping you can check the internet (pantryoverflow.com!) for the best deals for where you are shopping. There you will see the date of the coupon and which insert to find it in. Then, you just go and cut the ones you need for that trip. The only downfall of this is that if you are at the store and see a really great deal you won’t have your coupons with you and you would have to go home and figure out where it is and have to come back another time.

If you have some other way of keeping organized use that! Too many times I have heard people just letting their coupons pile up, getting frustrated and throwing them away. THEY ARE LIKE MONEY!! You wouldn’t just leave your money laying around in piles would you, or throw it away because you didn’t want to organize it? The important thing is to just find what works best for you. You may try one way and find out the other works better, or come up with something different,  and this is great. Once you get started you will find out what is the best for YOU! Once you get started and get organized is when the fun really begins!!

Email me Diana@PantryOverflow.com if you have ANY questions or need any more help!!

…I wrote this blog post back in 2011- and I just wanted to repost it now for any couponers who are thinking about whether or not they should give, sell or keep their stockpiles during this time. I am very greatful for the items that I have been able to stock up on- and honestly there are some items I amnot parting with. BUT- many items I have stocked up on are items that I KNOW I will be able to replenish when this is all over- so I can freely share (and save people from going to the stores where they are sold out anyways!)

How You Can Stockpile AND Give at the Same Time?

One of the most fun things about couponing is being able to GIVE out of the items I buy with my coupons! I remember when giving away food, household, and beauty items would have seemed CRAZY because I could barely figure out how to get all of it for my own family. Well, thank God that isn’t true anymore! It is possible to stockpile food for your family, save money, AND give to others.

Everyone has their own story of how much they give, how much they save or stockpile, I will just share with you mine-

I started couponing and it was just such a fun challenge to be able to get so much for so little. I would get 20 boxes of cereal, we would eat some and give some away. Then, when it would be almost gone I would think-“Maybe I shouldn’t have given away all of our cereal” Then before the cereal was gone, it would be on sale again, and using coupons I could get a really good deal and stock up again. Because I had been through times of not enough, I started thinking maybe I am giving away too much, maybe it won’t go on sale again, maybe I will run out before the next sale.

Maybe you are thinking the same thing- I can assure you, that if you stay organized and focused, you will NOT run out, and you will still be able to give. You know the saying-you reap what you sow? It is true. If you are taking care of others, you will be taken care of.
I am not a ‘hoarder’, but in the beginning I would get deals on items like high priced hair products, make up, name brand body washes and things that I could not justify spending money on before-those things I would store in a cupboard separate from the things I would give away. Well, 2 months later when they would go on sale again, I realized how silly that was! Then, I gave away what I had, and replaced it with the new purchase. As time went on, I started to see that this was common for just about everything I was buying. So then, I started giving more and more. At any time I could completely stop buying some things, and I have enough to last a long time, but I really enjoy couponing, so I have to give most of the stuff away so I have room!

I know people who just buy and buy stuff and just keep it all to have it, maybe because it is fun, it honestly does feel good to have full cupboards and pantries. I also know people on the other end who for example buy a lot of things, give it away, and then they run out for themselves! I know someone who got some really good diaper deals-gave a bunch of diapers away, and then had to go pay full price when they ran out!

Balance is the key! You can have full cupboards, pantries, and a stockpile that will keep you from needing to buy things.  The way I keep things balanced is doing a combination of giving and stockpiling.
For example if there is a sale where I get something free-men body washes for example-
I have 10 coupons, I buy 10 body washes. Do I NEED 10? No. But they are FREE, so I buy them.  I look and see how much I have already, I give a couple away, keep  a couple, and keep some to give away when I can as gifts later.
Having some kind of percentage helps too. If you are just starting a stockpile, keep 7 out of 10-70%. Then when you have a stockpile, you can start keeping 30% and giving away 70% of what you get. Then you are never running out, and you are able to give more and more.

Your percentage CAN keep going up! Don’t feel bad at the beginning if you are keeping more than you are giving. Once your expenses decrease and your stockpile increases, you will need less and less and you are setting yourself up to be able to give at a greater level.  When you are giving away some portion of what you are getting for cheap or free, it will keep you from hoarding, or  from the feeling of ‘I don’t have enough for myself so I need to keep it’.

So have fun with couponing, keep stockpiling, keep giving, and stay balanced!!!!!!!! 

If you want to learn more about stockpiling, go HERE

BOGO, WYB, PG, SS,  What do all these abbreviations mean??? Well. couponers have our own language really!. When you follow coupon blogs and get most of your coupon information online, you will see lots of abbreviations and terms that only make sense to couponers! Here is a list of common terms and their definitions-

SS=Smart Source-the name of one type of coupon insert in the newspaper. You will most likely see 7/31 SS, which means the Smart Source coupon insert from July 31.

RMN=Retail Me Not-Retail Me Not is another coupon insert that comes in the paper.
PG=Procter and Gamble=Coupon insert that comes monthly in the newspaper with Procter and Gamble brand items.
wyb=when you buy-sometimes coupons are $1 off 2 items, so the price shown will be wyb 2(when you buy 2).
BOGO=Buy one get one free-this means you have to buy 2, and one is free. You can only use your coupon on the one you are paying for.
OOP=out of pocket-after coupons, rewards and discounts, oop is what you actually will spend in cash
wyb=when you buy-there are sales where you get the sale price by buying multiple items, buy 4 and pay $1.99 each. =$1.99 wyb4
MIR=mail in rebate-sometimes products have promotions where you can mail your receipt and a form in to get a rebate.
Ymmv=your mileage may vary-this means someone found a great deal, but it may not work at every store, so you have to determine if you want to try it for yourself
Drugstore Terms
ECB, EB-CVS has Extra Care Bucks as part of their reward system. In coupon blog scenarios, they will often be referred to as ECB or EB, and they are just like having cash to spend in CVS.

RR-Register Rewards-Walgreens offers Register Rewards as part of their reward system
Overage-if an item is $1 and you have a $1.50 coupon, $.50 is considered overage. This is a VERY happy word for Target and Walmart shopping!

If you are just starting out couponing, following coupon blogs will give you LOTS of examples to get you started. To avoid being overwhelmed, start with one store at a time, one deal at a time and once you get the hang of it you can increase your stores, deals, and savings.

$$ Saving and Earning Apps

FETCH REWARDS

I just LOVE Fetch Rewards! It is one of the newer ones, but I have already made a few gift cards from it!

When you go shopping-ANY GROCERY STORE- just take a picture of your receipt. It will give you points when you buy brands that are listed in the app! No scanning of items or anything. If your receipt does not have any participating items-you still get 25 points!

All you need to do is Download the FETCH app! Then if you enter this promo code- AF4FP you will get $2 instantly!!

CHECKOUT 51

Checkout 51 is pretty simple too! Each Thursday new offers are added (some just reset). You can usually redeem each offer multiple times. This is my favorite app to use at the 99 Cent Only store or Grocery Outlet types of shoppings. They will often have $1 Cash Back on Nabisco Cookies or Crackers. They usually have them for $1, or $1 Back for 2 at these stores-so after the $$ Back, they come to $.50 each!

To get BONUS MONEY for signing up – Go To https://checkout51app.link/6aFDoCCTVQ

SavingStar

SavingStar App takes a bit longer for your savings to add up, but what I like about it is that you can link your store cards( just put your phone number!) to it. I shop a lot at Safeway, so when I buy an offer that is saved, the savings is added to my account automatically-no scanning receipts or anything else. They don’t have as many offers as other apps-but after awhile they accumulate without any effort-so why not? To get started-GO HERE

 Pei is another easy app to use. You sign up ONCE enter your info and continue to earn points for your purchases at participating stores. Then you earn points. You can redeem them for Cash, Gift  Cards and even Bitcoin.

1. Download the Pei App
2. Use the Referral Code “gvudfd”
3. Earn the $2.50 Welcome Bonus and keep earning!

Receipt Scanning Apps are one of the easiest apps to use. I have all of them and once or twice a week I just go through and snap a picture of each receipt on each app!

Coinout-Snap a picture of your receipt and money is added to your account! That is it!

Receipt Pal– Just snap a picture of your receipt! That is it!

Receipt Hog– Just snap a picture of your receipt. Earn coin4 and redeem for cash or gift cards