Other Tips for Beginners

Other Tips for Beginners:

Mission accomplished! Now it’s time to go get every deal!!

NO! That is a big mistake and will burn you out quickly. When you are new to the coupon world, it seems every deal is only going to last until Saturday and you will never see it again. On the contrary, deals seems to cycle every 2-3 months, and there’s always another crazy deal around the corner. Also, the only time you should buy items that you won’t eat or use is if there is some type of benefit, like getting up to a certain amount for a bigger discount or earning register rewards or care bucks. Then you can donate the items! But just because you have a coupon for an item, doesn’t mean you need to buy it.

I want to save money, but I’ve seen pictures of you crazy coupon lady’s pantries- that looks like hoarding!

Hoarding is completely opposite of what we are actually doing, which is called Stockpiling. Whenever you find an item at a rock bottom price, you should buy multiples of it. You may want to only stockpile items that are free or close to free when you first start out, because every deal will seem like an awesome deal, until you realize it can get even better! When I first started, I couldn’t believe I paid $2.00 for a box of cereal instead of $4.00. Wow, now I won’t even think about buying cereal unless it’s under $0.50 a box!!
Stockpiling toiletries is a little easier because you don’t really need to worry about expiration dates. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant should without a doubt be free or very close to it.

Keep in mind that every couponer is different.

My thoughts on building a stockpile are as follows:

:: Toiletries. You can easily stockpile toiletries for up to a year (if not longer) because many items do not expire. We have a 1-2 year supply of razors, deodorant, shaving cream, body wash, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. and never paid a penny for any of it. These items are not cheap items either! We are talking about $10 razors, rechargeable toothbrushes, and Olay body wash! I have actually stopped buying any more of these items as of now because as far as I’m concerned I have reached my “stockpile limit”.

:: Food items. One of the many misconceptions about couponing is that you can only buy processed junk food. This makes me cringe. If I buy 12 boxes of fruit snacks that does not mean my family will be eating only fruit snacks for the next 2 weeks! Those 12 boxes that I picked up for free will span over 6 months or more, as does everything else in my pantry.
With that being said, keep in mind that sales will generally cycle back around every 2-3 months, so with food items I stockpile only for what I’ll use in that time. If it’s a free deal and the expiration date is a year or two away, I will pick up more of course. There are certain times when particular items are more “in-season” to buy and don’t follow the general cycle. For instance, BBQ sauce will be on sale during the summer months and there will also be great coupons out for it, so last summer I made sure to stockpile a year worth of BBQ sauce because I got it all for free after coupons!