"The 4-Step Coupon Plan"

Alot of people have asked me where they begin? Where do they get coupons? How do I do what I do? My response is by using a 4 step coupon plan. Here's how it goes:


Step #1 - Coupons: Where to get your coupons? There are several different ways to get coupons. The most popular way is the Sunday newspapers. The papers contain several inserts, Red Plum, Smartsource and P&G. Each of these inserts carry a good amount of coupons. Each paper is $2.00 and can be purchased at your local gas stations or grocery stores on Sundays. I usually purchase 2 - 3 papers each week. Another way to get coupons is online, called printable coupons. Printable coupons can either be manufacturer coupons or store coupons. Depending on where you get them from. You can get great manufacturer coupons from coupons.com, RedPlum.com, or SmartSource.com.

Another type of coupon are store coupons. Walgreens has store coupons that you can combine with a manufacturer coupon (per item) and these can be found right in the front of the store when you walk in. They also sometimes carry booklets that are found throughout the store that carry store coupons, for example the Summer Beauty Guide. Another store that carries store coupons is Rite Aid. They have coupons that actually appear on their weekly ads as well as what they call Video Values coupons. You can sign up for Video Values here for absolutely free. Rite Aid video values is a site that allows you to watch a short video clip about a product for a coupon value off that specific product. The videos and products change each month. Since Rite Aid allows you to stack one manufacturer coupon + a store coupon per item these store coupons stacked with manufacturer coupons can make for great deals! Another store that does store coupons is Target. You can find the Target coupons online here. Target also allows you to stack one Target coupon + one manufacturer coupon per item. Meijer also does store coupons in two different forms. The first way is called mperks. When you check out at the register you may have noticed an option on the credit card machine that says mperks. Mperks can be found here. You can sign up for free using your cell phone number. Once you sign up they offer you coupons you can clip electronically. While you are being checked out you can click the mperks button & type in your number and the coupons you have electronically clipped will automatically be taken off your items for that purchase! It's a very easy way to save. Another way Meijer offers coupons is called Meijer Mealbox, which looks like this:






If you click on the Specials Tab, there is also a Coupons tab where you will find 2 different pages of Meijer coupons that can be printed. Meijer also allows you to stack one Meijer coupon + manufacturer coupon per item. So this is a great way to save on groceries by stacking their coupons!

You can also find coupons in Magazines. Women's publications such as Woman's Day, Red Book, Family Circle and Good Housekeeping frequently carry manufacturer coupons.

Or you can find them in store. Look for coupons on store shelves, on products and on the back of your receipts. Also look for coupons to print out at the register

The last place I'm going to tell you about is called clipping services! If you find a good deal coming up, and want to stock up on an item and you know there is a coupon you need. You can go to a clipping service and order the coupon in large quantities. I have found several clipping services that work great and are super fast. Here are the links:

www.weclipusave.com
www.couponcarryout.com

Step #2 - Organization: Once you start collecting a large amount of coupons, you want to find a way to keep them organized. What is the sense of having all these coupons if you will never be able to find them right? I currently have 4 different category index boxes. Each are alphabetized. So that way when I'm in the store and find a great deal I can go directly to where I would find the coupon. Find a way to organize your coupons that fit you best, some people carry them in binders organized alphabetically. Some people keep them in whole inserts in protection pages. It's up to you! If you're still uncertain, look up ways to organize coupons and there are thousands of ways people do it for you to choose from.

Step #3 - Match-ups: Match-ups is a term used to define matching store sales with the coupons that are out there! This is the key to couponing. Most couponers almost never purchase anything that's not on sale & that they don't have a coupon for. That's how they save so much! So how in the world do you match sales with coupons? In this day & age it's easy! There are THOUSANDS of coupon match-up sites that will provide you with different stores, what's on sale at those stores and all of the coupons that are available to match up with that sale. It's an amazing way to start developing a shopping plan prior to the week. What I always do is search my store's name + coupon matchup and the upcoming week number. The upcoming week because you are developing a plan for sales on the following week :) Keep in mind match-ups depend on store ads, so most match-ups aren't posted until Thursday or Friday before the week. So, for example this week I'd type in, "Meijer Coupon Matchups for 7/17." Since I have been doing this for over a month now, I have picked out and bookmarked a few of my favorite store match-ups and of course I will be sharing them with you! One thing to keep in mind is, some of these sites are from different areas. Unfortunately, some of their stores double coupons and in West Michigan they do not :( yes I know, sad story. BUT usually the sites will clarify the different pricing with doubling & without.

Meijer Match-up: http://meijermadness.com/

Walgreens Match-up: http://wildforwags.com/

CVS
Rite Aid
Walgreens Match-ups: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/
Walmart
Target

CVS
Rite Aid
Walgreens
Walmart Match-ups: http://www.momsneedtoknow.com/
Meijer
Target

Here are some others with various stores you can check out:
http://www.cleverlysimple.com/
http://www.bargainstobounty.com/
http://forthemommas.com/
http://www.savingaddiction.com/

Step #4 Plan: The final and last step is creating a shopping plan. Using the match-up sites you can create a fully thought out list of things you want to purchase that are on sale, pull out all the coupons you will need and go to work! This is where you want to make sure all your coupons are the exact same as the product you will be purchasing. This step is the step you will figure out how many transactions you will be making to maximize your savings. I also include on my list pricing & how much my coupons will be saving me. Here is an example of a shopping trip I made just this week at Meijer:

Transaction #1:

Buy (2) Chi-Chi’s Tortillas (price drop thru 7/24) $2.00 ($4.00)
Buy (1) Hormel Natural Choice Lunchmeat (FREE with mPerks coupon)
      - use (2) $0.50/1 Chi-Chi’s Tortillas 6/12 SS (-$2.00)

      - $2.00/2 Mperks Coupon (-$2.00)
      Final Price OOP (Out of Pocket): FREE $0.00

Buy (2) Kraft Mac & Cheese 5pk $3.45 each ($6.90)
Buy (20) Kool-Aid Drink Mixes $.10 each ($2.00)
      -  use (2) 10 FREE Kool-Aid peelie coupons found on Kraft Mac & Cheese (-$2.00)
      Final Price OOP: $6.90 + tax

     + Catalina Coupon for free 5 lb bag of Meijer Sugar

Transaction#2:

Buy (1) 5 lb bag of Meijer brand sugar
- use OYNO coupon for FREE 5 lb bag of sugar (from transaction #1)
Final Price OOP: $0.00 FREE

TOTAL FINAL PRICE: $6.96 + tax

 
So as you can see it's an extremely well thought out plan that I made by using my match-up sites. Pulled coupons that I had organized. Then went shopping and saved over $30.00 for just a simple little trip!

So there it is :) My 4 Step coupon plan! Once you get started it may take some time getting use to, but after you get the hang of it and understand everything that you are doing it's a piece of cake! I hope this helps you in your journey to saving. If you have any questions or need any clarification feel free to ask. Otherwise ta ta for now!