How To Go Couponing Like A Pro When You’re Broke

Hitting rock bottom isn’t always the end of the world. By learning how to go couponing, you can make it out of a rough patch alive.

1. Collect coupons

If you happen to subscribe to the Sunday paper, you are in luck. Every week, the paper has pages and pages of coupons. Simply cut them out, even if there is a coupon for something you don’t need right away such as soap or laundry detergent. You will need to buy it eventually, and it is always good to have a coupon on hand. If you do not get the Sunday paper, you can pick it up at the grocery store or at your local drugstore. Another option is printing out coupons here.

2. Organize your coupons

Since you are going to have dozens of little paper coupons, you are going to need to organize them. You can use a compact index card organizer when you go couponing, or you can neatly place your coupons in a binder. Then, use the divider tabs to organize your coupons by categories such as household, food, personal care, etc.

3. Pair manufacture coupons with store coupons

You might have to check the store’s policy, but most stores, like CVS, allow you to pair manufacture coupons with store coupons so you get more money off. The difference between the two are that manufacture coupons are issued by the manufacturer like Procter and Gamble, and store coupons are issued by the store itself like Walgreens, Rite Aid, Target, etc. And luckily, the people on krazycouponlady are masters at finding deals and will tell you exactly what coupons to use and what deals to search for.

4. Get a store card for extra deals

Signing up for a store’s loyalty program is easy and usually takes less than 30 seconds. All you need to put is your name, email, and phone number. By signing up for a store card, you can unlock more deals, get items at the sale price, and sometimes, even have coupons emailed to you.

5. Do Separate Transactions

If you happen to be a CVS card holder, you are probably well-versed in the idea of Extrabucks. When you are shopping, see what items gives you Extrabucks. Then buy that particular item first and let the Extrabucks shoot out (and possibly more coupons too). Rip the Extrabucks off your receipt and then apply them towards your next transaction to save more money.

6. Be wary of policies

Unfortunately, if you have duplicates of the same exact manufacture coupon, you cannot apply all those coupons on one item. Most manufacture coupons have it stated in bold lettering, “limit one coupon per item.”  So you cannot use two $1 manufacture coupons on a $2 bottle of shampoo to get it for free. You can only use one coupon. However, as stated before, you can still combine manufacture coupons and store coupons. So if you have $1 store coupon for soap and a $.50 manufacture coupon, you can combine both coupons to save $1.50 off soap.

7. Plan out your visits

The golden rule of couponing: never go to a store on a whim. You have to plan out your visit first. Start off my making a list of everything you need. Then search online for coupons or go through your coupon collection. Krazycouponlady is always a great site to visit when you are planning out your coupon adventure. Then, calculate everything and know exactly what coupons you are using for each item.

8. Download Store App

An extra way to save money is by downloading a store app such as Target Cartwheel App or CVS app. From there, you can get extra deals and send more coupons directly to your card!

Do you go couponing and have any advice? Share with a comment below!

All images are from the courtesy of Pinterest