Hi, my name is Heather, and I am a couponer. I started couponing after I had my daughter. I didn't go back to work once she was born and I figured why not. I'm home anyway, may as well save some money. I started with www.thekrazycouponlady.com and expanded from there. I always knew about, and used minimally, the coupons in the Sunday inserts, but I wasn't religious about it and I definitely didn't print coupons online. The biggest hurdle, for me, was figuring out how to organize my coupons. Those little coupon wallets totally did not work for me. I constantly missed coupons for items I purchased because I couldn't flip through them quick enough, or they stuck or I just plain forgot. I'm going to start by breaking down where to print coupons, my favorite coupon blogs, how I organize my coupons and finally how I coupon. My favorite store to shop at is Target, followed by the grocery stores Wegmans and Tops.
My favorite sites to print coupons are:
My favorite blogs:
In order to print coupons, you have to install a coupon printer, from each site you print from. It tracks how many prints of each coupon you have used - and remember photo copying those prints is illegal. The coupons all have limits of how many you can print. Sometimes it's only one, but usually it's at least two or more. The mainstream coupon sites are safe to install the printers from. If you are on some obscure site, I would be careful. I have two printers in my house, so I can print twice the coupons.
To organize my coupons, I use a huge, zipper binder. I think it's bigger than 3 1/2". I purchased it at Target, on clearance, after back to school, for $5.70. It is filled with baseball card holders, which I put my coupons into. I have it divided into sections, which are pretty close the the aisles in my favorite stores. Within each section, I divide into brand, especially for hair care products, cereal, and oral health products. I have heard of some people just alphabetizing their binders, but the sections work for me. I am visual and as I'm walking an aisle, I can just flip my binder open to the correct section and quickly know if I have a coupon for whatever I am looking at.
Now to planning and shopping. I go to Target weekly, and Tops or Wegmans almost weekly. Target is the most time consuming, but I also get many more items for free, or next to nothing there. Here is how I save at Target:
1 - Get a Target RedCard. There are two types of RedCards - one is a traditional credit card and the other is a debit card that gets linked directly to your checking account. I opted for the debit card because, as a former banker, I hate credit cards and don't need one more bill to pay. Either way, you automatically save 5% off of every single purchase you use your card for.
2 - Print coupons from Target.com. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of Targets homepage, there is a coupon link down there. You will have to download their coupon printer, but there are tons of coupons for Target, which can be stacked with manufacturers coupons, RedCard savings, and Cartwheel, which I will get to next. Almost all of the coupons on the page will print as Target coupons, versus manufacturer coupons. You can only use these at Target. Once in a while, manufacturer coupons will print instead. You can tell, before printing, that a coupon will print as a manufacturers coupon when the wording under the coupon says "when you buy". Any other wording, such as "with purchase of", or just a description of the product, will print as a Target coupon. You CAN use a manufacturers coupon, printed from Target.com, at other retailers. It will normally have the bullseye logo, but will say "manufacturers coupon" at the top.
3 - Download the Cartwheel App. Cartwheel is a Target app that offers savings, anywhere from 5% on up, on certain products. You have slots open to add deals to. Choose your offers, and at checkout, after all other coupons have been scanned, have the cashier scan your barcode, on your smartphone. You start with, I believe, ten slots. The more you save, new ones open up.
4 - Text "offers" to 827438, to receive Targets mobile coupons. These count as Target coupons, so you can't stack them with a printed Target coupon, but you can stack them with a manufacturers coupons, RedCard savings and Cartwheel.
5 - Target often has gift card deals, where if you purchase multiple quantities of a certain product, you receive a $5 or $10 gift card to use on your next purchase.
6 - Stack all of the above savings with a manufacturers coupon. You can stack one Target coupon and one manufacturers coupon per item.
Planning my Target trips does take some time. I cannot go into Target without my binder organized and ready to go. I do utilize the blog www.totallytarget.com while planning my trip. The problem with just using the Sunday ad is that Target has TONS of unadvertised deals. The wonderful blog writers race into the stores and post deals I would have not known about early in the week. Here are a some examples or recent cheap or free deals I found:
Mossimo Yoga Pants $14.99, on sale for $10
- 15% Target printed coupon
- 15% Cartwheel
Paid $7.22
Archer Farms K-Cups 3-pack $1.99
- $2.00 Target printed coupon
Free!
Up&Up Razors $4.90
- $1.00 Target printed coupon
- 10% Cartwheel
Paid $3.51
Starkist Tuna Pouches $.99 x 4 = $3.96
- $1.00 off two manufacturers coupon (from Sunday paper)
- $1.00 off two manufacturers coupon (from Sunday paper)
- $1.00 off two Target printable coupon
- $1.00 off two Target printable coupon
Free for all four!
Up&Up Ibuprofen $1.07 x 2 = $2.14
- $2.00 Target mobile coupon
- 10% Cartwheel
Paid $.12 for both
Speedstick $3.99, buy three get one free
$15.96 for four
- $3.99 free with Target deal
- $6.00 4 x $1.50 off one manufacturers coupon (printed on
coupons.com)
- $.75 off one Target coupon
- $.75 off one Target coupon
- $.75 off one Target coupon
Paid $3.72 for four, or $.93 each
* I had one more $.75 off one Target coupon, but they wouldn't let me use it on the free item. I recommend always at least trying because it depends on the cashier. Some push it through.
Garnier Shampoo on clearance end cap $2.48
- $2.00 off one manufacturers coupon from Sunday inserts
- $.75 off one Target printable
Free!
We don't eat a ton of processed food, so I tend to do better at Target for household and beauty type products. They often run $1 off $1 fresh fruits, $1 off $1 fresh vegetables, $1 off $1 fresh meats and $1 off $1 bread, in their mobile coupons. For those deals, I usually get:
5 bananas for $1.20 - $1.00 = $.20
Steaks are usually $7.99, but I can almost always find a package with a $3.00 off today coupon, so $4.99 - $1.00 = $3.99
Carrots, mushrooms and two peppers end up under $1.
Bread ends up $.20ish for whole wheat.
Once I exhaust my mobile coupons (mobiles can only be used once), I move on to my husbands, mothers, uncles... The mobiles are internet links, which I just have my family forward me.
Always walk the end caps and check for clearance. Target has the most random items marked down and you can really score cheap and free deals. The blogs are great about posting their finds and what to look out for. My absolute favorite is totallytarget.com.
The blogs also have links to coupons, from reputable sites. If there is a hot coupon you think you will use, print it right away. Sometimes they have limits on total prints and won't be available if you wait, especially facebook coupons.
For my weekly grocery shopping trips, I just read the ads and matchup what I need. They don't have the unadvertised deals that Target does. Both of my local grocery stores double coupons up to $.99. So, a $.75 coupon is worth $1.50. Sometimes my local stores have store coupons available at the service desk or via mail, but not all that often. I generally save 50% at the grocery store and 30-50% at Target.
To add to my savings even more, I use three other apps:
Ibotta - Ibotta is a more of a rebate app than a coupon app. You have to do quick tasks to receive the rebate, such as share on facebook, take a survey or watch a short video. It's only good on certain products at certain stores. Once you purchase the item the deal is good on, you scan your receipt, scan the barcode of the item and submit. They are usually approved within hours. Your money goes into an Ibotta account and once you hit $5, you can cash out via paypal, venmo (I have no clue what that is), or various gift cards. Sometimes, Ibotta will have bonus deals where if you complete certain deals, you get more money back. There was one over Labor Day, on paper products, where I cashed in over $55, right to paypal. It was great. Ibotta is good at Target, Wegmans, Walmart, CVS, Military Commissary, Hannaford, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sams Club, and 7-eleven. There are also sporadic restaurant, home improvement, pet and entertainment offers.
Checkout51 - checkout51 is similar to Ibotta, in that it's a rebate app, but there are no store limitations. You also don't have to do any tasks. The offers are just offers. Scan your receipt, scan your item and you're good to go. Checkout51 also can be redeemed right through paypal.
Savings Star - Savings Star is a newer app for me. There are offers, as with the other apps, but you link the app right to your store savings card. Once you hit $5, you can payout via paypal, direct deposit, or amazon gift cards.
Just a note, whenever I share something on Facebook, I change the privacy settings to viewable only to me. I don't want to inundate friends newsfeeds with coupons or info regarding products they really don't care about. I know some people make up a separate profile, strictly for couponing. It's all personal preference.
Hope that helps - feel free to comment with anything you have to add, or any questions! Also, check out the FAQ here!
~~Heather~~
