Well, I have been into couponing for almost a year now. I'm a stay at home mom now, so I guess that's what brought upon the interest in looking for more ways to save money. Especially after counting up how much was being wasted! I don't know what took me so long to catch onto such a useful tool, but nevertheless here I am! I've discovered there are so many different ways to coupon. Since I'm not into the phone couponing trend, I prefer to stick with the old fashioned 'scissor to paper' method. Yeah I know I'm living in the stone age, but hey, its what I'm comfortable with. So, which do you prefer or find more convenient... phone coupon apps or the clipping from a newspaper/ print and clip from website method?
Welcome to couponing. I myself am the same way. I do not have a fancy phone so I stick with old fashioned paper coupons mostly. I have used texted message coupon codes before at crafting stores but not often. I used coupons I get for free at the drug store, given to me via friends who do not coupon, and ones I print at a points web site where I earn points towards gift cards when I print the coupons and get even more points when I use the coupon! Its a win win! If you ever are interested in knowing how send me a message.
Where are you guys finding paper coupons? I can't ever seem to find them. You used to be able to find them in newspapers, but I can't find them as easily as I used to. Where are you guys getting them from? I am very interested in couponing.
I have a big file folder, it's plastic. I keep the weekly coupons in the sections, uncut. That way I don't waste time cutting ones I don't use. When I look online for deals, they usually tell you what week the coupon was in the newspaper. So I look it up and cut it out! It works for me!
I prefer the clipping method since I can keep track of my coupons a lot easier in a binder. However, I do find a lot of my coupons online and I consider those physical coupons that I've clipped as well. It's way easier to keep them organized in a binder and be able to see what you have and what you still need to keep an eye out for.
I learn more about couponing every week, someday I will be excellent at it. I love the Krazy Koupon Lady I have learned so much from that website. I also learned alot from forums. I used to depend on my own knowledge and I would just simply clip coupons that lead me to buying stuff on sell that did not change much. When I started youtubing to find out techniques and reading more I felt better armed. At first I thought it was just cheaper to buy the store brand but that is not true all the time.
My answer is personally to always clip coupons of you get the chance. If you're saving your hard earned money the. You shouldn't ever feel like you're wasting time because over the course of a week or two you will notice that you're actually saving a large amount of money. Therefore if I have the opportunity to clip a coupon I definitely take advantage of this.
I don't really have any preference over a phone coupon app or a traditional coupon. It doesn't matter what type of coupon I use as long as I know I'm saving money on necessities such as groceries and toiletries. I love the Krazy Koupon blog as well as the Money Crashers blog. I have learned a lot of things about couponing from those sites. There's also the Dollar Stretcher blog which provides important information on money saving strategies persons can use including couponing.
I use both. I don't subscribe to the paper, but I buy two Sunday papers whenever there are coupons inside (there usually are not coupons on holiday weekends). I don't cut anything out until I need it, but like the PP said, I keep the entire insert in an accordion file with the date on it, and use the internet to find what coupons I need for the current week's sale. I also search for online coupons for specific sales and print anything that I don't have or that is a significantly higher value than a coupon from the paper. I have a couple apps I also use, but these are "rebate" apps, not coupon apps. They don't take any money off at the register, but you get the money back later. One is Savingstar another is Ibotta. I use the "clipless" coupons at Staples which almost every week give you at least one completely free after rebate item, and I use the coupons on the Joann app whenever I need something from that (Godforsaken) monopoly of fabric stores.
I would love to coupon to save money, but I have a huge problem with it. I can never find coupons for the products I actually use. I see coupons and know where to find them. Most of the time, they are for products that I don't use, I don't like, or the store brand of that same product is still cheaper than the couponed product. I do not have any stores in my area that double or triple coupons. So, I feel it is a waste of my time. Maybe if I had a store that tripled coupons on a weekly basis, I would start using coupons.
