Couponing - Orlando,FL

www.krazycouponlady.com is the BEST website! She has a whole beginners section that is very informative!

I have my coupons in a 3x5 file box that has dividers for various products. You can make it as general or specific as you might want to.
I get most of my coupons from the Sunday Paper...in fact if I discover that the current Sunday paper has some really GREAT coupons I have been known to go to the store and buy an extra copy!!! But don't stock up too much because the coupons don't usually have an expiration date that is more than 60 days out...most of them are only good for a month.
Don't be tempted to buy things just because you have a coupon....money spent on something you aren't going to use is money wasted!!
If you have a group of friends that you get together with on a regular basis...think about suggesting a coupon exchange!! We do this at work...after I go through my coupons, I bring the "rejects" to work and others go through them to see what they can use.
I do "stockpile" some things....when I have good coupons I will buy multiples of things that have a long shelf life...my three grown daughters know that Mom's hall closet is ALWAYS good for bar soap, liquid soap ( hand and body) , tooth brushes, tooth paste, razors etc....I just use my coupons when I have them and I know that SOMEONE will be able to take advantage of it!!!

Actual couponing is more than just cutting coupons. It's stacking different coupons and then buying the product at the time when it's at its lowest price, and stocking up so you don't have to buy it again until it's at its lowest price again.

It's not having huge stockpiles like on the TLC show, but you may want to clear a few shelves if you really want to save.

Typically products are on a 12-week cycle of high price to low price. That means each product will be at its lowest price every 12 weeks. So you really only need a 12 week supply of anything. Any more than that and you'll end up with too much!

I have 2 shelves of extra stuff. The things I can stock up on the easiest are toothpaste and toothbrushes, laundry detergent and fabric softener, body wash and lotion, toilet paper and paper towels (although deals on those are harder to find so I buy when I can!) and feminine hygiene products. You can get good deals on chips and such, but we don't buy junk food. I also tend to have a lot of macaroni on hand!

I use www.jillcataldo.com the most, she's local to me so her deals match up. She is great for teaching the beginner how to coupon and I like her method that only requires maybe 30 minutes a week. That's all I spend couponing, I'm too busy to do more.

There's always free stuff to be had each week! I'm only on my second bottle of Downey and I paid $2 for two huge 90 bottle loads! I also just ran out of Tide, I think I got two boxes of it for $2 as well.

I don't save HUNDREDS on it (you could if you spent the time) but it's nice to knock some of the items off your shopping list because you have a supply. Every bit helps!

You want to save money? Don't coupon because coupons are for processed foods (unhealthy) and for products that are expensive and bad for the environment.
Food: beans, grains veggies, seeds and fruit are what's healthy, nutritious and much less expensive than anything that's in a box or container.
cleaning supplies: vinegar and baking soda for all your cleaning needs. Worried about a bit of extra germs? put a few drops eucalyptus oil in too or even tea tree for antiseptic properties.
Teach your children to grow veggies and fruits too. Let them wash the grains and beans and soak for dinner and leftovers for the next day lunch. These are things you can do with homeschooling children as they are there more to watch the progress too and it's a very good learning experience. No need for nasty chemicals on them either, go organic, spray some soapy water to prevent bugs.
Use old clothing as rags to clean and use washable cloths to wash dishes, they can be washed and hung in the sun to disinfect and dry. This rather than a sponge saves on the environment and your pocketbook

To be honest... I don't coupon. Here's why:

1) I don't get a Sunday paper, nor know anybody who does

2) My FIL used to give me his coupons when we lived close by, and I would go through them all, and rarely found any coupon for what we would actually use. Most of the coupons were for new, and usually expensive products, so even with the coupon, the product was more expensive (or unnecessary) than the alternative (including doing without).

3) Most of the coupons that I *might* have used (i.e., that weren't for some gadget), were for products that I already have a cheaper alternative for -- for example, the coupon might be $1 off for Tressemme hair products that originally cost $5, thus costing me $4 total; but I use Suave, which costs $1.50, so I would have to spend an extra $3.50 to "save" a dollar. Not worth it. Or, the coupon might be for brand-name Tylenol, when the generic (no coupon) is cheaper than the brand-name (with coupon).

4) Most of the coupons I see are for products I wouldn't buy, or don't usually buy, so even if I get them for cheap, I still spend more than I would have otherwise, because otherwise I wouldn't have bought it at all.

5) Most of what I buy doesn't have coupons, because I tend to buy "whole" foods (i.e., fruits, vegetables, meat) instead of packaged foods (frozen pizza, lasagna, etc.). I shop sales for these items, and make homemade meals that are better (both in taste and in nutrition) for cheaper.

6) Many of the times that I have printed off "internet coupons", there has been a problem with them -- mostly, that the coupon could only be used at a certain store, and the price of the item was the same or higher there (with a coupon) than I could get somewhere else (without a coupon), so again, it didn't seem worth it.

I do occasionally print out coupons, or add them to my grocery store's shopping card, but it is rare that I use them, because they usually expire before I need it, and/or it's cheaper to get the product elsewhere than with the coupon at the grocery store.

So, to sum up, I usually get better savings without coupons, and/or it doesn't seem to be helping much to coupon, and it's not worth my time. Maybe if I worked at it more, and became more efficient at it, I would do better, but I want to "give you permission" to look for other avenues that may yield greater savings (especially for your time) than couponing.

Get a big binder for the coupons.
You can buy the Sunday paper for the coupons.
Go online and look up free printable coupons.

Go to Publix and shop their Buy one get one free deals.

Watch TLC's extreme couponing to get some idea's.

Buy your jeans at Goodwill. Shop for other clothes at JCP's or Sears WHEN THERE IS A HOLIDAY. They put a lot of clothes on sale durning a holiday.

I wish you the best with this.

God Bless

Yes, I coupon all the time and save a lot of money. I get 2 Sunday newspapers - reason being is that way you can use 2 coupons when there is a bogo sale at Publix. If you just have one newspaper coupon then you are not maximizing your savings.

There are sites that even tell you what coupons are coming out in advance in case it's a product you're loyal to and there is a good high dollar coupon.

A lot of times I can get items for FREE or overage. Publix takes competitors coupons so just about every trip I save $5 off $50 or $5 off $30 depending on the coupon, in addition to plenty of other deals that week. You can go to www.iheartpublix.com for details on how to do all this. If you are not a Publix shopper, you can google the stores you do shop, put in their name and put in "coupon matchups" and you will find websites that talk about specific deals each week with those stores and how you can get items for free or cheap.

It takes a couple of hours to match up each week but you soon get the hang of it and it's worth it and I have a lot of friends who are couponing right now too and we all save a lot of money! Southernsavers.com is another site. Good luck, just sign up online for a new e-newsletters from the various sites and you will get plenty of good advice.

southernsavers.com and savingthefamilymoney.com are the two best sites I've found for FL. The lady that does saving the family money is out of Jacksonville, FL so her deals and blogs are related to us ( I live in Orange Park) which helps. I do my best shopping in Publix. Mine takes Food lion, target and winn dixie as competior coupons, stack them with a manufacture coupon and toss in a BOGO free deal and it's on!! lol Check you local Publix and see who they consider a compitor so you can stack coupons. With a bogo, you have to buy 2 in order to get the deal in FL but now if it's 10/$1.00, you can by one if that's all you want. But with publix, you can use two store and 2 man q's on a BOGO free to make it a better deal.

good luck
S.

The best way to start is to get the sunday paper. Get a little coupon folder.. Many coupons are not expired for a few months. Make a list of what you use. Brands etc. Take a day to write down how much they are now. I've started to even go to Walmart or CVS if their circular has a buy one get one free on an item I use. I'd stick to what you use. Those big deals are no big deals if you will never use them.

The biggest problem with Florida stores is that they don't double coupons. Publix will double in other states, but not Florida. My best strategy is to look for BOGO deals at Publix and then use two coupons. I've also started buying other brands, especially generic, so if I have a coupon for the name brand but the generic is still cheaper, I will probably buy the generic. I buy a lot of PUblix brands too. I love Publix Premium bread, by the way--bought a loaf this week for $1.49. It's great tasting bread and much cheaper than what I was previously buying.

I bought a coupon book from a local cheerleader (she was selling for a fundraiser, not an Entertainment book, something else). It has Winn Dixie coupons for $5 off that I can use at Publix. Those come in handy.

I clip coupons and go on Couponmom.com for printable online coupons. I don't always buy two papers, but often get an extra set from my mom. The one thing I noticed about Extreme Couponing is the amount of junk food they buy. You don't want to fall into that trap just to get good deals.

Check out iheartpublix.com , totallytarget.com , and faithfulprovisions.com . These are my 3 favorite websites because of how well they break down couponing and go into variations by state, BOGO, stacking coupons with sales, etc. I cut our grocery budget in half since I started :)