Couponing-The Basics

Thanks so much to Magic City Mom for asking us to guest post for them specifically on how to use coupons. You probably recognize us (from Saving Money & Living Life) from our weekly posts here on the Publix matchups. We want to further educate you on how to save money & maybe even have a little fun along the way! To get up to the minute deals & bargains, you can find us on Twitter & Facebook as well! So, without further ado, let’s get started!

General Couponing Tips

• Buy multiple copies of the newspaper on Sunday. It contains coupon inserts such as Red Plum, Smart Source, & Proctor & Gamble. To see what coupons will be in the paper each week, go to Sunday Coupon Preview.
• I’ve found the best way to keep my coupons organized is to type out what all is in each insert and date it so that I don’t spend forever digging through a coupon caddy. I simply pull out the dated inserts I know the coupon should be coming from.
• One of your most valuable tools will behttp://www.hotcouponworld.com/. I shop at Publix so I know that ads come out every Tuesday night and then the sale will start on Wednesday. Hot Coupon World matches up all coupons with sales and does most of the work for you. Hot Coupon World does most the stores though such as Food World, CVS, Target, etc. and matches their sales up with coupons that apply as well.
• Coupon insert codes that are commonly used on Hot Coupon World are RP (Red Plum), SS (Smart Source), PG (Proctor and Gamble), WT (wine tag), Peelies (coupons that can be “peeled” off of the boxes at the store), Blinkies (coupons found in the little machines with the red blinking light by the item in the store), IP (internet printable coupon- the website is typically provided right next to the listed internet coupon). You can read more on coupon lingo here.
• Plan your trip to the store in advance. That way you already have all your coupons clipped, ready to go and you are not fumbling through them while the cashier is giving you the evil eye glare. You know what I”m talking about….This also saves you time and makes impulse buys less frequent.
• Don’t lose patience, it takes a while to create a stockpile of coupons that can really be utilized to get the maximum savings. In the beginning you can rely heavily on IP’s (internet printables). I started out saving $15 off a $85 purchase but now its not unusual for me to walk out paying $9 and save $30 or $40. You will eventually amaze yourself.
• Sometimes, a deal is good enough that you can get overage- what this means is the store in a sense “pays” you to take an item. You can read more about overage here.
• Only buy items that are on sale with a coupon to save the maximum amount.
• I’ve started to make it a competition with myself to see if I can beat the last week’s percentage of savings, etc.
• Join stores’ promotional and member clubs. They often send high value or unusual coupons in the mail.  For instance, right now you can join Save-A-Lots’s Smart Shopper Club & receive a $5/$30 coupon that you can use at their store or at another store as a competitor coupon if they accept them as a competitor.

Publix Couponing Tips

• Pubilx doubles all manufacturer’s coupons up to 50 cents and accepts store coupons in conjunction with manufacturer’s coupons on the same item.
• Publix accepts competitors coupons. You will have to ask your store manager who they consider to be a competitor though. It varies from store to store.
• My Publix accepts all Publix coupons even if they’re expired. So if you ever come across Publix coupons in the turnstyle on items you use a lot, stock up!
• We’ve been asked many questions from our readers about using coupons at Publix, and how to get the best value from a BOGO (buy one get one). You can read more about that here and here.
• Every week we post the best deals and coupon matchups for Publix. You can find these posts here on Magic City Mom or here on our blog.

Let us know if you have any questions and we’ll be happy to answer them for you! Please come visit us on our blog as well. Thanks again Magic City Mom!