We are going to start this week with the basics and cover multiple topics as I have had so many of you asking for information. So hold on because here we go........Oh, and bear with me as this is going to be a long post to get us started, but I promise if you take the time to read through it will be well worth your time. However, if you don't have time to read it all READ what's in red below.
Following are a few tips that I think are important as you are getting started.
- First determine how much time you have to commit to this new adventure, be realistic. Some of you will be "All In" ready to spend whatever it takes to save as much money as possible, I commend you. However there are also many of you who are working full time, raising a family and have very little time to devote to this new adventure but need to save just ast badly as the previous group. This adventure will seem overwhelming when you first begin, do not get discouraged, we have all experienced this .... just hang in there and if you get too frustrated or confused send us an email and we will help you. Start small.
- Buy at least 2 Sunday Papers this weekend. You can find local stores that sell the paper for less than the cover price at many stores across the country. For example you can buy a Sunday Paper at Dollar Tree for guess how much - yes you guessed it $1.00 - but a word of warning you MUST get up and be there close to when they open as this is not a closely guarded secret anymore and thus they run out quickly. You are limited to 3 papers per person.
- Watch My Military Mommy by signing up for the daily newsletter, following us on facebook and on twitter to stay on top of the deals. We post deals each and every day and those feed to our newsletter and social media sites to help you out each day/week. If you can't read our posts every day I suggest focusing in on Sundays, Tuesdays as these are the days the main grocery/drugstore and big box store ads and match ups are posted.
- Find and print 1-2 coupons online through the MyMilitary Mommy links for products that you use all the time (example if you have a baby print a diaper coupon, do you have kids that love yogurt print a yogurt coupon etc). If you see a coupon you will use on My Kansas City Mommy print it now - don't wait as these coupons can go quickly.
- Look at your local grocery store ad and find 1 item that is on sale that you can use one of your coupons you printed and GO to the store and buy that item.
- Well look at you - you are already saving money. Remember we said you should start small. More on this next week. In the meantime feel free to email me I love hearing from my readers.
How to Organize Your Coupons (Newspaper Coupons)
There are a few different ways to organize your coupons but here is how after 6 years of trial an error I have found works best for My Military Mommy. Next week we will tackle the dreaded printed coupons (cue scary music here).....just kidding I have a system for this as well.
- Buy your paper(s) on Sunday
- Separate your Coupon Inserts from the paper and organize by type (Red Plum, Smart Source, Proctor and Gamble, Kelloggs, etc)
- Using a sharpie on the front of each set of Coupon Inserts write the Date and the Number you have (1/13/13 - Total 4) - I write this in BIG BOLD LETTERS and Circle the number (in other words I buy 3-5 papers each week so I will have a stack of Red Plum that say 1/13/13 and the number 4 circled, then I will have another stack of Smart Source that say 1/13/13 and the number 4 circled).
- Designate a space, a file cabinet or file box or even old paper box to put your coupons in each week so they don't take up a ton of space and are consistently put away. I use a filing cabinet drawer in our home office.
- I use 1 hanging folder per month so I have 12 hanging folders in this drawer. I then use color coded folders to make it easier for me to see the different weeks in the hanging folder. I will have 1 folder per week inside the hanging folder for all my Coupons from that week. (So each hanging folder has between 4 and 5 colored folders that hold all that months coupons). I will stack all 1 weeks Red Plum's together then Smart Source then P&G and so on per colored folder.
- This allows me to look at My Kansas City Mommy posts and see the following codes and quickly find the Coupon I am looking for. If I am looking to purchase the following Target deal from this week I would go to the November Hanging Folder - then the First week's File Folder (11/4/12) find my Smart Source Coupons and start flipping through the pages until I find my coupon and then cut them out of all 3-5 inserts. Then on to my January Hanging Folder to search for the next coupon in the First week's File Folder where I will pull out the Smart Source and start flipping through pages.
Tyson Grilled & Ready, Select $5.00 ea
$0.75/1 Tyson Frozen Grilled & Ready Product, exp. 2/28/13 (SS 11/04/12)
$1/1 Tyson Grilled & Ready Frozen Product, exp. 4/18/13 (SS 01/06/13 R)
$0.55/1 Tyson Grilled & Ready Refrigerated Product, exp. 4/18/13 (SS 01/06/13 R)
Final Price $4.00
- Note: There are some who prefer to go ahead and either clip all their coupons and sort them by type into a binder or file box each week and others who sort each set of inserts by page and clip those together - I have tried both these methods and since I do not use all my coupons from each insert I found this to be a waste of valuable time that I didn't have to spare with 6 kids and a busy household. But feel free to try my method and let me know if you have a solution that works better for you.
HELP - I am out of $ & Time But I NEED to SAVE
Couponing - How to Keep up with it with Minimal Time to Commit- Tip No 1 will seem so simple but - the biggest suggestion I have for you is to be SUPER ORGANIZED. This is the key to my success in this and everything I do. Remember My Kansas City Mommy has 6 kids, a full time blog, I run and work with several charitable organizations and still have free time (not a lot), and I work part time off and on. Yes I do sleep and NO I am not perfect nor am I Super Woman by any means. I am just crazy about organization. The KISS principle applies here - Keep It Simple Silly.
- Use the above technique to organize your coupons so you can find coupons quickly and easily.
- Give yourself a break - you can not get every deal - this is a biggie as I truly thought when I first started I MUST get every freebie and deal. Funny story - I actually bought (well got free) 10 bottles of Contact Solution when I started - I was super proud of myself - Uhhhh really 'cause you don't wear contacts and no one in your family wears contacts - yes true story. Now don't worry I "paid it forward" as I donated those but the time it took to find the coupons, clip them, organize my shopping trip, find the product, do the deal etc was sooooo not worth it outside of the rush of getting 10 freebies. So also remember find what you will use.
- Make an appointment on your calendar. Set aside a couple of hours 1 or 2 day(s) per week (yes I still have to do this even now - especially now with the blog it is easy for me to post post post and forget to include myself in on the deals - I actually put it on my calendar as an appointment) to determine what I plan to buy, find and clip my coupons, finalized my list and go shopping. Now at first this will take you longer than after you have done this a few times so remember everything gets easier with practices.
Remember if you have a tip or trick that works for you please feel free to share as we all learn by working together. My Military Mommy is a here for our readers to share and swap ideas on how to make this all work by working together.
Tell My Military Mommy what topics you would like to see covered each week by leaving a comment.
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