New to SC and coupons..help?! :)

[lizinbc]

Hi All!
As I am sure a lot of people did-I watched the TLC show the other night and was finally motivated to actually start using my coupons.
I always clip coupons, only for them to sit in my purse and expire.
Any tips, tricks or advice would be greatly appreciated! wow you guys/gals are PRO at this.. I hope I get there soon.
So where is the best places to get coupons?... last night I signed up at just about every website I found on SC to go to, so I am hoping to get some useful coupons... what do I do with ones I'm not going to use? Do you trade them on here?or give them away? how does that work?
I think I am going to try to find a small little binder for my coupons and actually get organized.. I have never kept track of how much money I could save with coupons but watching those people save thousands made me sad that I have been paying full price for just about EVERYTHING.
So do you use the coupons mainly when there is a deal at the store to maximize your savings? will they honour it still?
Save on here has a 15% off on Tuesday so I am hoping to make that my first official day of using some coupons and start my saving!!
Sorry for all the questions.. I'm a bit excited about all this, but overwhelmed at the same time.
Thanks in advance for any help
Happy New Year!

[Litesandsirens911]

HI Liz, welcome to SC:
a great way to maximize coupon use is to look at the different flyers in your city for sales, and then bring those flyers to pricematch the item at Walmart or Superstore to do all your shopping in one store and to effectively saving you money in gas from having to go to a bunch of different stores..

example: Superstore has Beneful dog food on sale for 1.98, but Walmart's regular price is say 2.58...and then you have a 1.00 coupon as well...so you take the Superstore flyer to Walmart, get your groceries, and when it is time to pay, you show the cashier the flyer and tell her you want to pricematch to Superstore...she checks the flyer to make sure the date and sale is correct, rings it in at 1.98, then takes off your coupon for 1.00 so now you just paid .98 cents for the Beneful...

**Superstore (RCSS) and Walmart have a price matching policy, as well as Zellers.

Secondly, order every coupon you can...those that you do not need, you can trade others on here for coupons you do need...check the coupon trading section.Pick up coupons wherever you see them, like say at Save on on the store shelves, or order them from save.ca, websaver.ca, etc...the more variety you have, including newspaper inserts, the better for you to be able to stack coupons, see below for explaination.

You can also join a coupon "train"..what that is is say 8 riders participate, there is a starter envelope filled with lets say 150.00 worth of coupons, and it goes from person to person on the "train"..at each stop, the rider removes the coupons they want, and adds in coupons to exchange value for value (mainly) then you send it off to the next rider. This allows you to have access to a bunch of new coupons and increases and establishes your trade feedback rating, which is what you want...basically to gain trust from other traders, so they will trade with you.

In BC have London Drugs and they are a miracle store, lol..because you can use more than one coupon as long as the upc is different to "stack" to get the item free or almost free, and London Drugs allows you to pricematch first too...so many of us, like on the Coupon show you watched, get hundreds of dollars if not more of free or almost free merchandise from London Drugs by carefully watching for other stores sales, then pricematching, and stacking coupons...

If you need more help let me know, I will try and help you, I also live in BC so I can explain it to you.

Welcome to SC, you'll like it here

[Midnightly]

i started with a small acordian style file sorter (i think they are sold for business cards of recipies in the office supply area of walmart) and have progressed up to a binder start by looking through your cupboards and seeing what you buy regularly.. then asking if there is a coupon for that product feel free to make a post "do they make coupons for.....?" and many of us SCers will say yup they do and let you know if there is one out currently or if they haven't seen one. also if you see a coupon on a shelf grab a couple (not the whole pad but a couple, you never know you might end up using the coupon or even trading the coupon with another SCer who is looking for the coupon

Next shop around find where has the best prices for your regularly purchased items and watch sales, it takes awhile to remember sales and what things go for (for example chunky soup regularly goes onsale 3 cans for $5, paying any more then that is over paying for them in my mind, plus campbells often has a coupon out there for just chunky soups and campbells soups in general)

you can check most store flyers online on thier website

many people do trade coupons on this website trade for other coupons, stamps, occasionally gift cards

[grumpy]

Sometimes you don't think 75 cents is a big deal, but when you add them all up, it is! particularly when you learn from the smartcanucks here - stacking, getting FPC (free product coupons) and also finding the sale prices to which you apply the coupons. This last point is one of the most important, i think! It reduces what you pay OOP (out of pocket).

[nancyrose]

Welcome to SC!

If you're feeling overwhelmed - - start slow.

Some of the best deals I have gotten are at RCSS, when they 'pink sticker' items (a pink sticker means they are clearing out of that product, and reduces the price 50%) AND ALSO USE A COUPON!

Look in the bakery section - bread is often pink stickered, and I always seem to be able to find bread coupons somewhere! Yogurt is another frequently reduced item. But at the store where I shop, they ususally have a shelf where everything is reduced - I've gotten salsa, cat food, cleaning products, etc for nearly free lots of times. Also, look in the health and beauty aisles for pink stickers.

Shopper's Drug Mart often has a shelf or endcap that is devoted to clearance items. I always check there first!

I often price match at Zellers, because I am able to use my SPC card for further 10% savings, and I generally don't get a hard time from the cashiers there. Of course, not all Zellers have the greatest selections, so often the product you want isn't carried there. Also, it's easy to rack up HBC points, and at 80,000 points, I redeem it for a $10 gift card, so generally, everything I get at Zellers is pretty much free.

I ALWAYS get my gas at Canadian Tire, and take the coupon from the weekly flyer that gives you 6-10x the CT money. That averages out to about $2 in CT money a week for me. That extra $100 a year can buy a whole lot of kitty litter!

Sometimes I just "shop" for coupons. I go to grocery stores for no other reason then to just grab 6 - 10 coupons from the tear pads of the products we use.

Facebook has is quickly becoming a good place to find printable coupons. Who can forget all the free pizza we got this autumn??? I think I still have 10 in my freezer!

Of course, I find the best savings by checking out the coupons, deals, and brags forums right here at SC!

And keep track of your savings! You'll be amazed!

[annedougherty]

Great advice from the people above. And don't forget, as you read about different coupons that are used or mentioned here, write down the ones you think you would use and make yourself a wishlist. You can add your wishlist to your profile in the about me section. So many of us are more than happy to help out people getting started, and before you know it you will have more coupons than you know what to do with!

And definitely check out our brag section here. There are some good examples of how people shop to maximize their savings with coupons!

Welcome to SC

[coupondad]

Wow... Apparently I'm not the only one that has been bit by the coupon bug after watching the TLC show. LOL.

^Thanks for the the n00b starter hints shown here^. Best one start slow! And keep track of your savings! You'll be amazed!^

I read a post somewhere yesterday that for every coupon you use, put the amount redeemed, in cash, in an envelope... so you can see the CASH you've saved. Makes it more tangible.

It does seem a bit overwhelming, but as I wade through all the posts, I'm getting some great insight on what's going to work for me and my shopping habits... and what I NEED to change.

[2010ontest]

I started couponning last year it was "on test" for me

I'm still here!

Some store have better or more coupons then other. It could be a good idea to go at different store to find your coupon hot spot !

Other thing, look at stuff you buy... Exemple: Kellogg's have oftem coupon promo on cereal box. So pick the box in sale with coupon print on box instead of just picking a box in sale! If you also have a coupon for that cereal box, this is better!

[Litesandsirens911]

Other thing, look at stuff you buy... Exemple: Kellogg's have oftem coupon promo on cereal box. So pick the box in sale with coupon print on box instead of just picking a box in sale! If you also have a coupon for that cereal box, this is better!

OH YES!
Thats a perfect example..I got 3x 5.00 gas giftcards from the last kelloggs cereal promotion, I have gotten free boardgames with last years 10.00 off Hasbro promo, and free magazines subscriptions, kids books, and hockey shirts with other kelloggs cereal promos!

[craftythumbs]

Start studying the flyers and see the differences in prices between different stores. You will soon learn what the good prices are. Check the smart canucks forum for the hot deals of the week.
Start accumulating coupons. When you shop, look for coupons on the shelves, that you can use for next time. Buy a cheap accordeon file from the dollar store, or just use envelopes for different categories.
Soon you will have coupons that you can use and combine with the sales.
Also, make a menu for your week and only buy what you need so you won't waste produce. It's good to use up your pantry items too...
When things go on sale, buy extras to build up your pantry. Only stockpile things that you know will use within the next year.
Make sure you don't go overboard, budget a weekly amount for sale or stockpile items.
Always bring your coupons with you! You never know when you will stumble on a clearance sale and if you have your coupons at home, you will kick yourself!

Once you start getting coupons from the companies, you can start looking at the coupon train section and join a newbie train to get more coupons and trade the ones you won't use.

Have fun!

[lizinbc]

wow! i am so excited this morning was my first day using a coupon and sale lol!
I bought a box of diapers on sale from 39 to 24 dollars plus my 3.50 off coupon yay I saved 18.50
and tomorrow its 25X pnts or 15% off day at the save on here. So my plan is to buy the majority of my stuff(and use coupons) for the 15%..then go back on a seperate bill and buy some things that are buy and get 1000, and 2000 pts. (cereals) so i should get about 60-75000 points for about 10 dollars ! hooray
thanks for all the advice!! so motivated . I feel so silly for not doing this years ago! what a waste of money.. I think I might try to fill an envelope with Cash equal to the amount I have saved and use that and points I collect to buy gifts etc.
Too bad we dont have alondon drugs here... looks like they are awesome for coupons.. but we do have a shoppers drug mart.. I assume thats what SDM stands for? so tomorrow I am off to get an optimum card and a zellers card.. what is SPC? is that the zellers one? do they ALWAYS give you 10% off?
Thank you all!! My sister and I plan on both going coupon crazy this year and exchanging.. yay so excited!
Hopefully I will start to stock up on coupons for a coupon train ride.. woo woo
THANKS AGAIN!

[lizinbc]

oh and question about the coupons you find in store?
What about the ones on the boards at like.. superstore? aren't those just for that store in particular - or are you meaning the ones that they put out from the companies? Thanks
Ahh you all have no idea how excited I am to go shopping Tuesday.. haha - well you probably do

[dougal]

I'm another one that's been bitten by the coupon bug after watching that TLC show and wish I would have seen it in '09 when I was laid off for 5 months! I've always nabbed coupons for products I use when I come across them, but after watching those people save hundreds and hundreds of dollars, it actually made me angry at how much I've been paying for things when I didn't have to. I've spent the last few days reading this forum and realize with just a little effort, even though I don't have the room to be as extreme as the people on the show, I can at least save money on the things I do purchase on a regular basis. I WILL save money d*mmit!

And this forum has been a god send! I was so overwhelmed at first but after take the time to do a lot of reading here, I feel much less so.

Looking forward to $aving in '11,

Lisa

[scbpooh]

I think I can speak on behalf of many of the Seniors in this forum if any of you newbies(and others) ever need help with anything totally feel free to message any of us senior canucks(me included) as we are a very great community to love helping out other ppl!!! It may seem over whelming at first but once you get the hang of it, Im sure like most of us, you will find that this is a just a way of life and cant even fathum the thought of how you managed before coupons!!!

[lizinbc]

I think I can speak on behalf of many of the Seniors in this forum if any of you newbies(and others) ever need help with anything totally feel free to message any of us senior canucks(me included) as we are a very great community to love helping out other ppl!!! It may seem over whelming at first but once you get the hang of it, Im sure like most of us, you will find that this is a just a way of life and cant even fathum the thought of how you managed before coupons!!!

thanks it seems like so many are willing to help out wow you have saved a lot this last year (your ticker)WAY TO GO . my goal was to save 750 this year 2011 lol