Coupon Class Teaches me to Save in 3 (EASY) Steps

February 6, 2012

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Last week I attended a coupon class put on by the San Diego Union Tribune. Alison Anderson, otherwise known as The Coupon Gal on Facebook, gave an informative lesson on smart ways to save. It turns out that I haven’t been couponing as well as I should have been, and now I want to let you know how to do it right too!

Step #1: Get as many local newspaper subscriptions that you can

Yes, I know that I’m encouraging you to buy something, but in the long run, you’re going to save so much more. If you get 5 newspaper subscriptions, you’ll be getting 5 times the coupons! This way, when a product is at a rock bottom price or even FREE, you’ll be able to stock up until the next sale in 3 to 4 months. At Anderson’s class, I bought two year-long Sunday newspaper subscriptions for $20. In just one week, those subscriptions have already paid for themselves.

Step #2: Don’t Clip your Coupons Immediately

When you get your Sunday newspaper full of the coupon circulars (Smart Source, Red Plum, and The Proctor & Gamble Saver), take a Sharpie and write the issue date at the top of each full circular. After that, just file them away. This way, you will have all of the coupons you need in one place.

Step #3: Don’t Spend 40 Hours a Week looking for Sales

Alison let us know that there are professional couponers that will find all of the sales going on in each store for you; they will post them in a weekly shopping list available online. She manages GrocerySmarts.com, which was the tool that I used. The site provides the list of sales for that week and pairs the sales with the coupons from the newspaper circulars AND online coupons.

These professional couponers do all of the work for you! They clearly state which circulars or webpage you can find the coupon and what you need to do to get the best deal. This way, all you will need to do is go back to your filed coupon circulars and cut out what you need for that shopping trip.

What I Did:

I decided to try out this process: I racked up a grocery bill of $63 and knocked $25 off the total. I only spent $38 for $63 worth of groceries for my first time using that system! Have you ever tried this system or are planning to in the future? Let me know how it goes!