Winter Garden Magazine June 2014 | Page 10

Couponing 101 pers.com is a website where you can purchase or trade coupons with other people in your area. I learned a lot about coupons from the home school moms at my church. Consider organizing a coupon group in your neighborhood. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a full-time college student, or just like saving money, couponing is a great way to stretch a buck. Couponing has been around a long time, however, recent shows like TLC’s Extreme Couponing have made it popular again. With people teaching classes and more stores catering to the couponing world, it is now a lot easier to clip and use those savings. Getting Organized The best way to get organized is to choose the method that works for you. There are many options out there including binders, file folders, envelopes, and coupon holders. Some choose to research the sales’ ads to find savings. Some prefer to use the internet. Personally, I prefer internet sites that do the work for you because my time is valuable to me. I remember when I first began couponing and had a thousand questions running through my head. Am I doing this right? What if I make a mistake with my order? What if I have the wrong coupons? With time I discovered these questions were quickly laid to rest. I use CouponMom.com as my preferred website. The Coupon Mom tells you where to find the coupons by providing the date it was in the Sunday paper and the name of the coupon book it is found in. For example: RP for RedPlum, SS for SmartSource and PG for Proctor & Gamble. The date is displayed as 01/31 meaning the January 31st edition of the Sunday Sentinel. Making a game of getting the most savings is a sure way to start your journey. Who knows, maybe you will become the next Extreme Couponer! Where is the best place to get Coupons? The Sunday Sentinel has a great stack of coupons titled SmartSource and Red Plum. Occasionally, they will add Proctor& Gamble and Publix Coupons. By using these resources, you will earn more money in savings than the $1.59 you spend on the paper. Other options include searching the internet, checking the in-store savings, and asking friends and neighbors for their unused coupons. Twinclip- I take the coupons out of my paper and put the date on them. I then place them in monthly file folders labeled January through December. Since I have my coupons organized by month and date, I can easily pull them. If I’m lucky, I have more than one coupon book I obtained from my friends and neighbors so I can double the value on BOGOs (Buy One Get One Free). Drawing up Your Action Plan Searching Websites: I begin my shopping by going to CouponMom.com who provides information on all the local stores including CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Winn Dixie, Wal-Mart, Albertsons and more. Another good website that does the work for you is SouthernSavers.