COUPONING FOR BEGINNERS 

You ever watch that tv show about extreme couponers and you are just amazed and somewhat skeptical of their huge hauls they pay pennies on the dollar for? Yeah, me too!! I was bound and determined to teach myself how to become even a fraction of that amazing at it. So I downloaded a few apps and done my research. To say the least it was a bit overwhelming trying to figure out all the lingo and policies.  Here are some easy beginner tips and tricks to saving a few bucks with couponing!

1. First and foremost, do your research! Watch couponing TikTok's, YouTube channels, read blogs and join some couponing Facebook groups. I'm a visual learner so all of these helped me a lot watching HOW it's done instead of just reading about how it's done.

2.  Download different apps for different stores and create accounts associated with your phone number. This is how I do alot of my couponing. For instance, I use the dollar general app alot in order to do my penny shopping. If you don't know what penny shopping is at dollar general I highly suggest reading my article about it on this website. The amazing things with these apps is when you pull up a coupon under "DEALS" click on the coupon and it will show you a list of products these coupons will attach to You can also scan products in the store and it will automatically show you if any coupons attach to that item if so click it! Make sure if you go to different store locations to change the location in the app as well. Different stores even though its the same store can have different prices for the same item. You'll often see the term "YMMV" which means Your Miles May Vary and thats exactly what that means... different stores can hold different prices per same item.

3. On the coupon be sure to notice if its a "Store Coupon" or a "Manufactuer" coupon. This is important because you can stack these in most cases. Which mean for one item you can use one manufacturerer coupon and one store coupon and get double the savings. An example would be Dollar General is running a promotion on suave products  2 for $3.00  theres a manufacturer coupon for $2.00 off when you buy 2 products bringing the price down to $1.00 (or $0.50 per item) but wait! You notice on the App theres a STORE coupon attaching for $1.00 off on one suave product so you click it! this brings your overall price down to ZERO DOLLARS!!

4. You'll notice on the apps sometimes too there will be a coupon for a certain amount and it attaches to a product thats less than the coupon. This is called overage. Most stores no longer pay you the overage directly but alot of times it will go towards the overall total of your order lowering it. For instance, I have not bought toothpaste in years! There are always coupons on the DG app for 2.00 off crest or colgate which attaches to the 1.00 tube in this case not only do I get the product for free the remaining dollar goes towards my overall total of other items.

5. Watch the stores like Dollar general and family dollar that offer coupons like 5.00 off 25.00  on saturdays and 5.00 off when you spend 30,00 on gain. If the gain products have other coupons that attach to the individual items you can stack all these deals and get 30.00 worth of gain products for just a few bucks!

6. Another great store app is Walgreens and CVS which offer coupons in their app, but they also offer promotions in the form of "STORE BUCKS" which means if you buy certain products the offer an instore credit that attaches to your account that can be used on other products on your next visit, 

7. Another great tool are the rebate apps like IBOTTA. Click on the products you bought in the Ibotta app and scan your receipt and watch the money pile up! Once you re at a certain limit you can cash it out. One scenario right now to score some free makeup is using the Walgreens app and the Ibotta app. buy one cover girl lash blast mascara for 8.99 and one cover girl clean matte bb cream for 8.99. Right now, they are buy one get one for 50% off, (13.50) in the super saver mail insert there was $4.00 off Cover girl coupons use 1 per item taking $8.00 off your total ($5.50) pay the $5.50 keep the receipt and submit it for the $3.00 back rebate for cover girl products submit for 2 bringing your final out of pocket price -0.50. Thats right!! NEGATIVE .50 cents!

8. Be sure to keep an eye on huge sales! Dollar General often has huge clearance events every few months or so when certain products are 50-70% off this is a couponers dream!! Plan ahead, Study what products will be in the sale. Check your local stores the day before the sale to see which store most of the product has you want to stock up on. Be there when the doors open if possible! These items will go fast especially the laundry detergent and paper products like toilet paper. During these events make sure you check to see if any coupons attach to maximize your savings. I recently went to one and I was up at 6am to check in the app which of the stores around me were 50% off and which ones were 70% off. I look in my Fbook dollar general couponing group and the list of products that will be included in the sale. They often post the upc numbers with the product which allows you to manually type the number into the scanner to pull up the items price from the comfort of your home. Once the product is pulled up check to see if any coupons attach if so clip them! The most recent event I went to had tide laundry detergent originally 12.70, 70% off so $3.75 I also had a 2.00 off coupon making it only $1.75 for the LARGE size tide. This is the kind of sale you stock up on. 

9. Best advice I can give is just stick with it! Keep doing your research, Join the groups and watch how they do it. Even find a sponsor to personally help you. Lots of people are willing to help. Times are hard enough and we are all just trying to take care of our families. 

 GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!