How to Maximize coupon savings

If you like me, you look at those women who saves TONS of money using coupons and think "I could never do that!" I have gone through stages where I think "is it really worth all this time and effort to save just a couple of cents?" But, in the past couple of years, I have finally figured it out!!!!!

Yes, it takes some organization up front and some diligence on your part, but before you know it, you will be the one savings TONS of money and it is such a reward in itself!

This morning I went to Walgreens and purchased the following items:

3 boxes of hair color

1 jar peanut butter

6 double rolls of toilet paper

2 spaghetti sauces

AA batteries

lipstick

eye shadow

1 package wipes

Juice

Hand sanitizer

The total for these items would have been $72. I got all of this for......wait for it......wait for it......

$21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to go step by step through the process of how this system works for DRUG STORE deals. (I will do another post on grocery store deals which is slightly different at a different time). Believe me, it is easy and not entirely effortless, but minimal! (and trust me, there are other systems and this is not the ONLY way to do it......but the one that works best for me and I love it!)

1. Purchase a weekends-only subscription for the paper. You should be able to do this at about $1.50 per week or less. When you get the paper, remove the coupons and cut out all the coupons on items that you might buy sometime. If you would never buy and item, don't cut it out.

2. Sort your coupons and put them into the book that you made ;) (If you are not an organize-geek like me, see my last post on couponing to see and awesome way to organize!). Organization is KEY here.....if you don't know you have a coupon for something, you WON'T use it! This is the part that takes the most time (but it is pretty brainless!)

3. Go to www.couponmom.com Here you will have to register, but it is FREE! She does 2 awesome tutorials on how to do this and you can learn from her, or I will just tell you right here......but I do things just a tad differently.

4. At couponmom, use the drop-down menu for "Grocery Deals by State." You find your state, and the store you will be shopping at. She posts all the deals at that store for the week, including if there is a coupon for that item. Combining the sale, plus the coupon gives you the best deal!

5. Select the items that you wish to purchase, then print that list. I did a sample one for you so you will know what this looks like:

6. On this list, you can see that there are coupons for Bounce, Boost drinks and Bounty paper towels. Go to your trusty coupon book and pull out those coupons. If there are items that have printable coupons, she even puts a link right there so you can just print out as many as you need! I then put the coupons I will be using in an envelope marked "coupons" that you will bring to the store with you.

7. Make your master grocery list, labeling items that have coupons (another post later on how to make a master grocery list).

8. Go shopping making sure to get the items on your list and using the coupons. I simply cross them off as I go! Now, with drugstore deals, you will get "register rewards" which are basically cash back for your next purchase. They will either be printed out along with your receipt, or on your Courtesy Card, depending on where you are shopping. With today's purchases, I got $11 back in register rewards. Next time I shop at Walgreens, I will basically have $11 of free items!!!!!!!!!! It works that way every time!!

The thing to be aware of, is the fact that I do not make purchases on things that I do not need. Some people get items for pennies on the dollar, but they are items that they will never use. DUMB! (unless you are donating to charity!) Only go for the deals that you can use and stock up on for the future!

Hope this helps you. I wish I had learned this stuff YEARS and YEARS ago! In this economy, we can all save some money and this is a great way to do it!!!!