With all this talk about coupons, I often get emails from readers that are confused…perhaps you don’t know where to start – you get overwhelmed by the deals each week at each store, or, perhaps you just get overwhelmed with couponing altogether.
When I first started couponing – seriously couponing, I was just as over my head as you might feel right now. I found myself making multiple trips to the grocery store, multiple times I day, feeling like I couldn’t “wrap” my head around this couponing “thing” – even worse, I was so frustrated with the amount of clipping I was doing. I felt like I had to get absolutely every deal out there…or I was missing out. Lastly, I would literally sit on the living room floor for hours, clipping and sorting, only to have to pull them back out again if I found a deal ~ then if I didn’t get the deal, they went back into my accordion file and back into my “stack” to file………………………….
Then you toss in kiddos, a job, our daily rituals of cleaning, making breakfast, lunches, taking the kids to events, sports, school, and just life in general, and gosh – you easily get overwhelmed!
So….I have had a few readers ask me questions on just couponing in general.
- Is it normal to clip coupons for hours?
- Where do I start? Does this get easier? I’m overwhelmed!
- Do you go to every store multiple times a week?
And more…..let me answer some of them.
1. Is it normal to clip coupons for hours?
It is normal to clip coupons for hours – though I will say YOU need to find a method that fits you and your schedule. For me, I love my binder. I love having the coupons with me every time I go to the store. Will you? Maybe, maybe not! I do sit down once a week and clip them – I staple the inserts together and clip all at once, then I file them. Usually all when the kiddos are sleeping. Hard – yes, but worth it? YES! How long does it take me? I’m guessing from start to finish about two hours – if I don’t get interrupted.
2. Does this coupon “thing” ever get easier?
Couponing is what you make of it. I have a blog, so obviously I spend a large majority of time on the hobby. You can establish limits for yourself – in the form of time, or … which stores you will shop at. I suggest you start with one grocery store and one drugstore. Realize that you won’t get every deal, and that sales cycles will come back around. Didn’t get that FREE Nivea? No worries……it’ll be back!
Take frequent breaks from couponing – or at some point you will find yourself getting burned out. It’s normal for every couponer to have a vacation from their coupons at times, it helps you re-group and jump back in with more energy.
3. Do you go to every store multiple times a week?
Of course I don’t. I make one trip to Safeway each week, one to Fry’s, and then one to Albies / Bashas depending on what they have that I may *need*. I spent the first several months of my couponing with the effort to build up my stockpile; the purpose of that was to avoid multiple trips to the store each week, thus allowing me to live off my stockpile. Sure, I will need to stop and get produce, or Dairy, but the goal of couponing is to save you money. I have established my stockpile, thus now my trips are smaller, and less frequent – I can live off my stockpile, and if I do need to get things at the store, I’ll try to use any overage to buy meat and milk, two items that rarely come with coupons. Lastly, have established a weekly budget that determines what I buy and what I don’t buy.
I sincerely enjoy helping people save money on their grocery bill – I ‘ll admit: when families are trying to streamline their budget, the grocery area is one that almost ALL families can learn to reduce. However, we are accustomed to just walking in to the store and laying down our money – simply because most don’t understand how they can slash their budget. They feel like it may take too much time, or perhaps they are simply overwhelmed by the thought of couponing in general.
Those of you who are not new to couponing: do you have any words of wisdom for new couponers?
What helped YOU? What kept you “going” at first?
thank you very much for posting this. and thank u for all u do. i have no idea how u do all u do!
I have a friend who is brand new to couponing at ALL, even for things like entertainment stuff that are easily found. She has asked me to help her learn. It’s hard to help her now. I have two little ones and a hubby with two jobs, so he can’t help me with them. So I hardly go to the store. When I do it’s out of a panic and necessity and with two little ones, so stressful. But I did tell her to do what works for her, like you said. It’s not worth the time you spend doing it if you aren’t happy and/or aren’t doing something good for your family. If that means only using coupons for cereal, fine. I also told her to work up to big coupon shopping. You use coupons for cereal? Next try to add one more item that you will coupon shop for. Before you know it you’ll be getting a lot of the stuff you use with coupons. And, with Extreme Couponing on t.v., I say, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. T.V. is showing the extreme and it’s not realistic, at least no in the stores here. So, do what works for you. Gradually add coupons for things you use. And don’t worry about how much other people are saving or couponing. Help yourself and your family and be happy. :) And, to you I say, Thank you again for everything you do!! Every little bit of help I get allows me to stay at home with my precious babies!!
my biggest frustration is expired coupons, but working on having that happen to me a lot.
try to put the ones that i know for sure i’ll need first page/s in my binder so i can be often reminded of their expiration date. so far so good, worked well.
…working on not have that happen to me a lot
Hi Lavi, not sure if you have notice some coupons are the same when you get new ones. I put the new ones behind the older ones, this way the older ones will get used first.
I started about 4 months ago, and it was rough at first. I have 3 children 5, 4 and (now) 8 months. So I was easily overwhelmed. I would follow the blog, and prep, and shop big time coupon trips every other week. That was my goal, it was easy at first since I didn’t have inserts from months before, so I felt like I was missing out on A LOT. Now I make 1 Fry’s trip, 1 extra store ( Safeway, Bashas, Albies, CVS or Wags) per week. I strategically plan my trips and I know if a deal doesn’t work out, theres always a) a raincheck or b) another sale around the corner! The biggest motivator, and hardest thing to accomplish was my first big trip. I went to Walmart, and Fry’s and I ended up getting paid .44 by walmart, and spending about $12 at Fry’s it was like an 89%. The things I would suggest are:
1) Send out some good coupon karma. Help others when and where you can and always be resprectful and appreciative of the stores generous policies.
2) Don’t be afraid to ask fellow freapers for help! I didn’t know when I first started how welcoming and helpful this little community we have here is! I wish I would’ve known sooner!
3) If you’re trying to be an extreme anything – preorder. It’s not hard and its common courtesy to other shoppers.
4) Remember that couponing, like everything else, is about balance. If what you’re doing isn’t working, try it a different way until you find something comfortable for you and your lifestyle. I’ve switched things up 4 times in 4 months. It’s O.K.!
I almost gave up till I found your blog Sheryl! Reading everything you do really allowed me to gain confidence that I don’t need to do everything at once.
Haha, just today I was clipping my coupons on the floor with my binder for my Fry’s trip – thinking about how much I enjoy the simpleness of it all. It’s actually relaxing for me (I have a 5 year old and 9 month old so anything I get to do ALONE counts as relaxing I guess).
I only started couponing a couple months ago and sometimes it does feel like I’m clipping forever, but now I just try to clip the ones I print/collect each day once the kiddos are in bed. That way, they don’t build up into a giant pile.
I also began to keep the newspaper inserts in my binder whole so I don’t have to bother clipping them only to not use 75% of them (though I’m building up a pile to donate to troops overseas). I just pull and clip once I see that I need one for a deal.
My tips would be not to clip until you have made your shopping list and when you feel overwhelmed just stick to a couple stores (maybe Fry’s and CVS) and learn their policies well. It is tempting to chase every deal but you need to have a life outside of shopping! I think it’s also easy to feel like to be doing couponing “right,” you have to be saving 90% on every trip because you see other people doing it (on tv, on coupon websites) but they may have had to buy 30 papers and a whole lot of junk food to do that. It’s really ok if you only save 30% sometimes – if you are buying things you need and use.
Thanks for posting that! Today i just went through all the coupons i printed and sorted them by the expiration dates! I use to take them to the store all the time with me, and will start to again. Finding your blog has helped me get back into coupon clipping, and enjoying it even more! Not sure if my hubby likes it some much at this time though, used up all the ink that he recently bought…LOL
Thanks for all that you do!!!
I used to do couponing a long time ago and recently started again. This time I felt really overwhelmed at first because my daughter didn’t understand what I was trying to do, but now that she is catching on she is a big help. I am using it to teach her about money and now she comments about how much things cost without coupons. She helps organize, clip the coupons and goes through the checkout lanes with me at the store and is helping me to build our stockpile. Her “Pay” is the change from the transactions. One thing that really helped me is that I noticed there is a CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aide all at the same intersection, so I now have it planned to hit them all at the same time. That saves A LOT of time each week. I can hit them all in an hour or less. This blog is my favorite. I love the Freapcap so I don’t have to stay hooked to the computer all day, and I love the humor added in. It is obvious you have a passion for what you are doing and you put so much into it, which is very much appreciated.
Amen, once I figured out everything was in the freap-cap I started to stress less.
Daily Freapcap is the best especially since I work full time w/hubby & 2 kids. That is where I catch up on everything. =)
I use this site as well as a well known “pay for” site. I cannot or will not ( dont know which) invest large amounts of time couponing, at least not at this stage of my life. So for now it works for me. I think at some point I’ll get off the pay for site, but right now it’s a dream for me and keeps me from getting overwhelmed.
I just started couponing about a month ago and I’ve already got a pretty good stock pile. I’m only able to go to the stores once a week due to my husbands work schedule and only 1 vehicle. I’m a STAHM and we were living on such a tight budget that sometimes I worried we weren’t going to be able to buy everything that we needed for the week. Couponing and blogs like this one have definitely helped me and my family save money and I am very grateful for that. It would take me quite a while to clip my coupons but I actually found that a paper cuter works REALLY good and cuts the time down a lot. I have a 2 yr old and a 2 month old so I need to be able to clip my coupons pretty quickly.
I also found that my papercutter has saved me SO much time! I got it at Michael’s when they had that 50% off 1 item coupon out.. Best $7.00 I’ve ever spent!
This blog has helped me more than anything. I am able to cancel my pay for couponing site because everything I need is right here! Thank you sooooo much for all you do!
The Michael’s 50% off is a good idea to buy a papercutter! I need to invest in one. My husband said why don’t I just buy one because in the beginning when I was trying to find “my way” we were being overwhelmed w/coupons to clip. Once I got myself organized I don’t need his help but papercutter would save me a lot more time! Time to look into that!=)
I have been couponing for about two years now…. I started w a “pay for” site and can say that I learned the basics of couponing form that site. However, I am sold now on this site and refer people to it ALL the time. I have also done many one on one and phone sessions with people to teach them how to get started. BTW, I have been on many sites for other states to help teach friends and this one outweighs the others BY FAR. After talking basics wtih people and teaching how to collect coupons, I help them create their first list to go to the store with. This list ONLY contains FREE and FREAP items. My number one tip for beginners is those first couple trips to the store (and stick to two stores for the first few weeks) make your list out of FREE and FREAP items. This is VERY motivating for the new couponer. If the first time you go, your savings are under 50%, it can be a bit discouraging…… combigned with the time and enrgy it takes to collect/clip, I have seen several give up. When you see 80 – 100% savings at the very begining, you are compelled to keep going.
Another is routine. I have found this to be the BEST site for that beacause Sheryl is so good at getting matchups posted early. I use Mon and Tues mornings to plan my trips and starting Weds, hit the stores. I do one store a day per week and usually stick to two or three stores. The advise I give for a routine is find what times/days works for you and STICK TO IT :) Also, I know that many like to clip and use a binder. I dont. I keep inserts whole, file and clip acoording to matchup lists. It saves me so much time. That is why I appreciate Sheryl soooo much for all she does.
My stock pile is doing great (I give alot away) and I am at the point where I save 80 – 100% every trip.
I don’t cut every coupon from the inserts…I only cut what I buy anyway. I sort my coupons in a binder, and the rest get filled away, in case there is a free freapy item later. If I miss a deal, I know there will be one again in future. At first I was going to the grocery store about twice a week….now that I have a stock pile I only go once to Fry’s usually. I dedicate 1-2 hours a week to sorting/cutting/pulling exp coupons…and that’s usually during my lunch break at work. I average about 60% on my groceries. I know it could be a lot more, but I don’t buy anything frozen, and I buy only organic dairy….but I love that I can still save even though I’m picky! Thanks Sheryl for all you do!
*60% savings!
Well said! Thanks!
I started off w/a lil filing folder & would only clip what I know I would buy eventually. The rest I wouldn’t clip but I would file them away in date order so that when Sheryl referenced an item I knew which insert to pull out. My lil filing folder started to get full & now I use a binder. I added the filing tabs by snacks, toilet trees, hair/body, frozen items, dry/canned & etc. I clip what I know I would use. When I clip my coupons is when the kids are in bed for the night & I am watching TV. That is also the time I take out my expired coupons this way my folder stays clean/organized. I make my grocery list, then I pull out all of my coupons that I will need for that store, I put the list & coupons in an envelope w/store name marked in front. My binder is that kind that has the zipper to close it up. Inside also has a pocket. I have an envelope for all the stores. I just pull out the envelope when I am ready to go to the store. I try not to take the binder into stores w/me, I feel I spend more time in the store that way because then I start looking @ everything! lol W/my envelope, I am prepared & organized, I know what I am going for so I am in and out. I always keep my binder w/me in my car this way I make my trips on my way to work or from work. Once I am home I don’t feel like going out on the streets again.
In the beginning it is overwhelming but once you find your routine it’s all good & you don’t feel the rush that you have to hurry & get out there to every freap deal! It will eventually come again. =)
For me it was very simple– cut the grocery bill down, or I don’t get my daughter. We are at present waiting to be matched with birthparents for an adoption. It is so expensive- we have had to cut out a lot- such as, satellite tv, we don’t have expensive smartphones, we hardly go anywhere, and we have lowered our grocery bill thanks to Sheryl and my neighbor who introduced me to Sheryl’s site.
It is literally a MUST that we cut the grocery bill way down. Even though we will get our daughter soon we will still coupon- it is now a way of life for us. Thanks, Sheryl!
I just started and am enjoying it. My husband laughs at my excitement. I actually have helpers. My 4 & 7 year old daughters LOVE to CLIP the coupons for me! And then my 7 year old organizes them in to categories. They ask everyday if I have any new ones printed for them to cut out…. It’s great!