[crystalcherry]

I would love to start using coupons to save a little money since we are expanding from 5 people to 6. I have looked online and even the most simple instructions confuse me. For some reason the whole idea just goes right over my head. Anyone want to share some ideas or helpful hints?

[ash29nc]

The best thing is to compare coupons to the grocery store ads, and get multiple ads out of newspapers, and lots of online sites offer printable coupons, it.takes.a lot of planning but.i.usually feed our family of 5 soon to be 6 on 50 bucks a week

[crystalcherry]

Right now we spend $800+ a month but it will go down some once the older 2 are back in school. $50 seems like heaven!

[May14th2011]

Do you live near Walmart? Walmart will match sale ads (you can get details on their site). So I look through the ads, take them with me and if there are cheaper prices in the ads, I use those.

Other than that, I don't really coupon, but sales ads make a huge difference.

Have you looked at the Frugal Mommies board? They will certainly help with any couponing questions you might have

[Dhartanya]

I would love to coupon (and seeing as Im planning on being a SAHM) finding ways to save money are always a plus...
That said LOL I find myself way to distracted to spend alot of time couponing lol or ad matching.

Im going to have to work on that though.

Do you garden? You could start growing some of your own veggies, even in colder climates (with a homemade hot house).

[Shades of Grey]

I was going to recommend the frugal mommies board too They are awesome !

[crystalcherry]

I never venture out of the Dec DDC board so I will have to go check it out. I don't garden which is probably a good thing since we are having a severe drought here and now the we have moved to the mountains there is really no soil just a little dirt over a bunch of rock. I guess I could look online and find a cheap way to do an "above the dirt" garaden.

[May14th2011]

Originally Posted by crystalcherry

I never venture out of the Dec DDC board so I will have to go check it out. I don't garden which is probably a good thing since we are having a severe drought here and now the we have moved to the mountains there is really no soil just a little dirt over a bunch of rock. I guess I could look online and find a cheap way to do an "above the dirt" garaden.

You could container garden- It's fairly cheap, and easy. Essentially, you are growing in large containers, like rubbermaid containers. You can use any sort of container, you could build one, or buy them. Then you'd just need dirt and seeds.
Depending on how much you want to grow, and what you're growing, would depend on what size containers you would need.
It's also nice because if you need to move it inside to protect it from frost or whatnot, you could do somewhat easily.

[CrystalBlue]

I haven't really done much active couponing but my mom was into it heavy for a while when she had a full house. There was a website she used that, for a few bucks a month, would print a list of upcoming sales or deals at various stores. It helped her a lot and she was able to get some great deals for things we normally used and grow a stockpile of necessities like shampoo, detergent, etc. Kinda like that Extreme Couponing show but she only got what was needed rather than all their excess they seem to enjoy. The site was The Grocery Game.

[jpjmom]

I don't know about extreme couponing but if you have a store that you go to regularly you can ask them about there coupon policy I go to safeway and they take coupons, they also have the safeway card which saves a ton, they also have an app called you save and you can download coupons off the internet and use them on your safeway card I save at least 30 bucks everytime I go to the store.

[daffneyc]

Southern Savers is where I get all my lists and everything. She does all the work for you. You just click on the store you want and she matches the ad and the coupon. She also has a ton of really great how to videos.

[crystalcherry]

Thanks for the ideas ladies. We live about a minute from the Wal-Mart in Missouri and we are 10 minutes from Bentonville, the birthplace of Wal-Mart. When we lived 6 hours away we were paying at least $4.20 for a gallon of milk and now it is less than $2. I guess it has to do with the fact they they are not paying that big of a shipping cost. The ony problem is that they have chased the competition away. There is still Target and Walgreens for the cleaning and bath products but there are no other grocery stores, well one but it is way overpriced so I'm not sure how competition ads would work.

[jpjmom]

Look at manufatures web sites the have coupons you can print. Walmart is all there is in my home town too.

[Shades of Grey]

A lot of companies will offer printable coupons through facebook too. I usually use a website that matches up each stores sales with any valid coupon. If its a printable one, they link it so you can print it. The site is Utah specific, but I am sure there are specific sites for all areas. I think coupon mom is one. Also, getting the sunday paper, or two, is a great way to start building up. The trick sometimes is not using them right away, but waiting until there is a sale to use it with. Also-Targets clearance is usually really good and if you have coupons to use on top of that, its even better!

[gremespike]

I love couponing and to save money, I started using coupons from a few months back and my husband and I save some few amounts of dollars just shopping sales at the local store and looking online for coupons for the products that the store had on sale. It was not a huge savings but I think every dollar cuts.

extreme couponing

[Cassie.S]

I also want to get into couponing but haven't done any searching on how to do it yet. It's still on my to-do list.

[hilhillrn]

I love Southern Savers, too. I used to have a huge binder full of organized coupons... then I got pregnant, terrible m/s, and... yeah. Not happening right now.

The biggest/easiest way I saved money was by "CVSing." SouthernSavers.com has a great tutorial on how to use CVS Extra Care Bucks to get lots of free (or very cheap) stuff. I used it mainly for toiletries, razors, diapers, shampoo, toothpaste (LOTS of toothpaste)... I need to get back into it, we are running out of our stockpile toothbrushes!!! I think Walgreens has a new program with a card now, too.