My PSA

Please do not lose hope if things aren't going your way right now.  I've only been couponing religiously for a few months and couponed for fun before but nothing serious.  I never SAW couponing as a way to save money until I saw the difference it has made, especially recently.  In TWO days I have saved around $700.  Yes $700!  It is TOTALLY possible for you to do the same.  It takes you devoting your time to saving money.  My household budget has dropped from $1100 in toiletries and food (I took a break from couponing and that was a bigggggg mistake) and got my total for necessities to about $400 and I'm trying to get it lower than that. We found a few things that were very interesting.
1. Statistics show if you go to the store without a list you spend on average 40% more.
2. If you have someone (usually husbands) run in on the way home to “grab a few things” they buy on average 60% more than what they came in for.
3. You re-buy many of the items that you already have at home because you don’t know that you have them.
I have made the decision to make my own mini mart in my home.  Why?  Because I HATE shopping for items multiple times a month.  The idea is to have food and other items stockpiled in your home that you have got for free or near free.  Every 3-4 months, stores cycle the sales and some items go to the lowest possible price you can get, and it's for NAME BRAND items too!  The idea is to buy as many as you can with as many coupons as you can so that you DON'T have to buy anymore till they go on sale again.

1. The first thing that you need to do is start collecting coupons. You have to have coupons to coupon right?! Where do you get them from:

1. Sunday Newspapers (Houston Chronicle)
2. Printable Sites (I don't prefer printing but sometimes it's the only way to get the coupon)
3. Manufacturers Websites
4. In-Store (Peelies, Blinkies and Tear Pads)
5. In the Mail (I get a lot of baby coupons this way)
6. Magazines (PARENT magazine is the best for coupons in magazines)
7. E-Coupons or Loadable coupons (Randall's and Kroger)
8. Coupon Clipping Sites (You will be paying for each coupon individually so last resort this)

It takes about 6 weeks of consistently collecting coupons to really make a difference so don’t give up. Just keep looking for them everywhere around you and get at least 2 Sunday papers each week.

2. Now you need a way to store them so that you know what you have. It is important to be organized, although I am normally not an organized person but I am with my coupons, I hate missing a deal because I didn’t know where a coupon was or that I had it at all.
There are a few different methods of coupons organization.

1. Binder Method (Clipping everything, time consuming!)
2. Whole Insert Method (I choose this way)
3. Coupon Box (Not the best, but I'd do it over binder)

You need to find a way that works for you, you might even come up with your own system.

3. Next, this is what really is the key to couponing and saving the “Big Bucks”. If you did nothing else but just pay attentions to sales, and every now and then use coupons you can still make a big difference in your families budget. But “stockpiling” is what is really the key to taking your grocery budget from $1100 to $400 like I have.
The idea is that you buy the items that you use the most at the lowest possible price and buy as many as you can or have coupons for. This way you do not have to purchase them again until they are at their lowest price. This is how to spend the least amount of money shopping for food.
For example, sales are cyclical in a grocery store. Every three months or so every item in the store will be on sale at one time or another. Because I buy 6 papers a week I have anywhere from 6-12 coupons. Lets say that soft soap goes on sale at Kroger for 10 for $10. I have 12 coupons for $.50 each, making the soft soap .50! Because I have 12 coupons I get 12 things of soap. Now I do not have to purchase soap again until it is at the lowest possible price (which for me is under a dollar!) I can hold out until it is on sale again within that 3 months.

The question is how do you stockpile?

1. Like I said above you buy at the stores lowest price, combined with a coupon and get as many as you can.
2. Realize that coupons are cyclical just like store sales. I am going to find that I get a lot of baking coupons and canned good coupons in the fall and around the Holiday’s, I want to stock up on these things at this time.
3. Where am I going to store it? EVERYWHERE! I have a small house, 7 people.  You do the math.  Under beds, in the laundry room, bath room and soon to be front room.  I'm excited for my mini mart!
4. Have a budget. In the beginning some people spend more couponing. They are buying things that they normally would not have bought. Set aside a little extra money and spend on building your stockpile, this will save you money in the long run. Once you run out of budget, only get those things that are free after coupons. (Taken from mylitter.com)

Like I said, the key is dedication to saving money.  It takes time to have enough inserts to do anything with.  I promised though, once you start seeing a difference in your household budget you will not want to pay retail for anything!!