Couponing for Dummies

Tonight, I went to my friend Melodie's house where her sister-in-law and her friend came to teach us about the art of couponing---or should I call it the GENIUS of couponing! They were so informative and their enthusiasm on this subject has made me excited to try this whole thing. I do the competitor ad thing at Wal-Mart some and consider myself to be a penny pincher, but I haven't been doing this to the fullest.

WOW!  What a lot of information we received tonight! It was almost too much to handle given that much information in a 2 - 2 1/2 hour period!  I did learn a  LOT and am HOPING so badly that the rumor that we are getting a Publix here is true! It seems like shopping at Publix is the best way to get the best deals but you can still save money other places too--while we are eagerly  patiently waiting to get a Publix in our town. ;) Here's what I learned tonight in a nutshell.  This is my version of Couponing for Dummies. I hope I got all this stuff right. I am just typing out my handwritten notes from tonight so I'll have them for future reference.

You can get coupons from:

1.  printable ads you can pick up inside stores
2. Sunday newspaper, Courier Journal, or other coupons that come in the mail
3. specific brand or company websites like Johnson and Johnson, Kashi.com, Pilsbury.com, Proctor and
    Gamble.com, Betty Crocker.com.....etc.etc.

4. those little red coupon dispensers in random aisles at certain grocery stores

5. other websites like http://www.coupons.com/ where random coupons are posted for printing (Don't abuse the printing of these-printing 2 is allowed by the websites and DON'T make photocopies of coupons)
6. websites where you can purchase coupons (example: http://www.mycouponhunter.com/) This may sound crazy to do but on certain items (especially major deals at Publix), this seems SO worth doing. Once you understand the Publix couponing thing, you'll see how it can be worth doing.

THEN, you check your weekly ads that come out in local papers, flyers, etc. in the mail and compare them to your coupons. Then, if something is already on sale that week and you use a manufacter's coupon on top of it, you'll save even more!

Here are some websites that are GREAT for finding coupons according to specific grocery stores or just for printable coupons in general.  Many of them deal with super Publix deals (because there again, it seems like the best deals are at Publix if you use the couponing art to its fullest capacity):

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ (the huge DATABASE OF COUPONS where you check all coupons in the database to tell you where to locate the coupons circulating around)

http://www.coupons.com/
http://www.redplum.com/
http://www.smartsource.com/
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
http://www.fiddledeedeemom.com/  some ORGANIC coupons are on this site! :) (Publix Organic deals come out on Fridays)
http://www.southernsavers.com/ (easy to read; new post not until Wednesday when ads come out; can check off which coupons you will be printing and at bottom of page, it makes a list of all the
coupons you've selected and the total deals you are getting)

PUBLIX COUPONING IN A NUTSHELL:

TOTALLY AWESOME DEALS SPECIFIC TO PUBLIX:

*Get Publix coupons- http://www.publix.com/ , ones clipped in a monthy Publix ad like  , or pick up Healthy Meals Healthy Kids ads inside Publix. (*NOTE: Not every week's or month's ad is just incredible...you have good weeks and not so good weeks for deals)
*Publix will allow you to use 1 store coupon (from Publix specifically *Look for LU# on bottom of coupon)
AND 1 manufacter's coupon OR 1 local competitor's coupon(ex. one specifically from Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc. etc.) at the SAME TIME!
*Publix will also do a double coupon up to 50 cents on the manufacter's coupon! (not competitor coupons)
*Publix usually will put things on sale in their ads ironically around the SAME time that a specific Publix coupon is about to expire.  Taking note of this will allow you to get the best deal out of what you are purchasing.
*Publix's BOGO (Buy 1 Get 1 Free) weekly deals don't force you to actually have to buy one and get one.  You can just buy the first thing for half price. Other stores or grocery stores have different policies where you actually have to buy one to get one free.

SO, let me give you an awesome deal example that is totally hypothetical:

Let's say that Publix's Oreos are $4.00 and they have a Buy One Get One free (BOGO) deal going on with Oreos that week. (Remember, at Publix, you can just buy 1 for $2 since it's BOGO) Let's also say that you have a coupon for $1.00 off of Oreos that is a specific Publix coupon. Let's also say that you have a 50 cents off manufacturer's coupon that you got in the mail or in a magazine or something. You buy the Oreos for $2 since it's essentially half off regular price since it's BOGO. You use the $1 Oreos Publix coupon and the 50 cents off manufacturer's coupon *plus Publix doubles this so you're really getting another dollar taken off instead of just the 50 cents and you get the Oreos for FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

You might have trouble with some cashiers saying you can't do this but a manager will usually ok it. It just depends on the cashier and store management. If it is a legitimate competitor's coupon from a magazine or local coupon book, it's usually not a problem. If Publix allows this, it's okay to do.

DO YOU FEEL THE EXCITEMENT???!!!!????!!!!

Here are some wonderful sites specific to Publix couponing:

http://www.publixpennypincher.blogspot.com/ (the site of our new friend who came to teach us some couponing stuff tonight! Check it out! It's great!)
http://www.iheartpublix.com/ (VERY detailed website; new website post every Monday by around noon giving information on ads that will be honored the following Wednesday)

Now, that I've established how much I love Publix and wish we had one in our town,

Here's some info for TARGET coupons:
1. Target does not do double coupons.
2. http://www.totallytarget.com/ (Look for coupons and deals under Cheap Finds)
3. Target usually has great deals on baking items.

It is very much legal and frugal to do this couponing thing! In this way, your food budget is a lot less tight and you have more to give to others or save or whatever you wanna do with your money. I'm so glad I went to this informative session at Mel's house! We also ate lots of appetizers tonight and hung out with fun friends and it was a very nice evening! I will probably start my couponing adventure when we get a Publix here. I sure have learned a lot to get me started....when I can actually find the time to get this organized to do this! It's truly amazing how much money you can save! We've gone to all organic milk now which costs an arm and a leg but is so much better for our family health wise. I'm gonna check out some coupons on that.  I'm actually thinking of buying a cow or halfing the cost with somebody to get some organic meat without hormones! We are already pretty health concious but I really want us to get on the road to eating what's best for the bodies God has given us. Based on the receipts I saw the girls present tonight of how much money you can save if you put time into doing this, and if I actually start couponing hard core,we could probably afford the cow....or two!  LOL!