I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I am finally off pain meds and able to concentrate without my head falling off from dizziness.
Over the years I have tried to use coupons, and like most people that I have talked to did not save any money and honestly spent more on items I normally would have and gotten products that I never used. I wasted a lot of money, I did not understand how to get the most out of the coupons. I had decided that it was just a waste of time, and I knew I spent more money than I saved, by a lot!
Now I knew that manufacturers and retailers still made a profit after the use of the coupon. I understood the cost of production and how that works, and how it relates to actual price of the product. See most people don't think about all the things that go into making a product. There is of course the things that everyone thinks of, the actual product, and packaging, but most people don't think about everything else that goes into making a product. We forget about, the cost of products to actually make the product being sold, the labor costs to make, package, load, and deliver said product. We forget that the company is having to pay for the utilities to make that product, the electic, water, trash, gas, rental of truck and mileage to and from store. There is a lot that goes into the price of a product. I know more info than you care to know.
But what I did not know was that you don't just use a coupon to use a coupon. Couponing is as some people say an art, the art of stacking coupons on an item that is already on sale, when you do this you can get items for very little or even free. I did not know how coupons actually work, meaning I did not know that the manufacturers, pay the price of the coupon back +$.08 to the retailer, as long as they are used correctly. So to me, it is actually better for the store to use those coupons, they make more money in the long run, however if you do not use them correctly, that is fraud and illegal, and the store does not get reimbursed.
The very first thing I suggest you do to become an avid couponer is to pick one store and one store only to start with. When you pick more than that, I feel that you become so overwhelmed with all the stores different policies and procedures, and finding the deals, that you are more than likely to get burnt out and just give it up. So start small with one store. Get online and research your stores coupon policy, this is very important to your success and feeling good about what you are doing. If you can't get the polocy online, go talk to your stores customer service manager, they are generally more happy to help you in the beginning than have to someone that doesnt understand trying to rip them off because they don't know what is going on. Remember just because the register allows a coupon, does not mean that you are using it correctly.
I also recommend that you find a few (no more than 5) blogs to read and help you find those good deals that are out there. I say no more than 5 because once again you will get overwhelmed, and honestly a lot of the blogs repeat the same information. Some of my favorites are; hip2save.com, addictedtosaving.com, freebies4mom.com, Iheartpublix.com (she also has one thats called Iheartkroger.com, but I haven't used or looked at this one since I prefer publix), and totallytarget.com . I subscribe to these through an rss feed in my google reader (you have this if you have a gmail account, its just called reader on the top left of your screen when signed into your account.) With this being said, I would go ahead and set up an additional email account that you use only for signing up for freebies, and your couponing "stuff."
Obviously, you can get coupons from the sunday paper, but there are several websites that post coupons as well; coupons.com, redplum.com, smartsource.com, and of course you can go to manufacturer sites to see if they have any promotions going on. Facebook also has manufacturer pages, where they have samples and/or coupons. (I have also added my favorite blog sites to my friends on facebook, they post lots of deals there as well)
I'm starting to get unfocused, so I'm going to stop here. Next time, I will pick up where I left off and go into organization of the coupons you have.
Good luck with couponing, until then next time!
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