How To Begin Your Couponing Adventure Part 1

Stockpiling - Part 1 of the Couponing Series

I've decided it's time to discuss how to being the amazing and complicated adventure of couponing. Honestly, once you get started, you'll get the hang of it, and it won't be as complicated and scary.

Now for most people, it'll be easy to do and find the products you want to stockpile and collect. For others, it'll be a little harder. Those people being the ones with strict diet regulations such as gluten free and such (my son being one as he's allergic to a lot of foods and is on a strict diet now.)

First I'm going to talk about stockpiling.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to figure out how muchyou need to stockpile. There are many resources to help with identifying apattern or what you use most, which is what you should stockpile. You’ll soonsee why people fill their carts to the brim with certain sale items at stores(some hoard, some stockpile.)

Stores usually rotate sale cycles every 3-4 months. Youneed to find out how much of an item over a month’s time and then buy that itemtimes 3 or 4 depending on the reoccurrence of the sale on that item. If you buyenough to last the 3-4 months you’ll never pay full price for that item again.Stock up on it while it’s cheap so you have a bunch stored for when you runout. This will also help prevent impulse buying, as you will make less trips tothe store to buy that item you ran out of at full price, as well as otherthings you see on sale that you may not need.

Let’s use my family as an example. We use a lot of soysauce. If I see that we use 2 jars of soy sauce a month, then we need tostockpile 6-8 jars when they’re on sale at a good price. If we can find themfor $1.00 each, and normally they’re $3.00 each, we’re going to stockpile! Addin a coupon or a few and you’ve got an even better deal!

Regular price : 8 jars at $3.00 each = $24.00

Sale price : 8 jars at $1.00 each  = $8.00

We’ve saved $16.00! That’s 67% savings!

If we add in a coupon for $.50 each, and we have 4coupons, that adds even more savings! :

8 jars at $1.00 each with 4 x $.50 coupons (making $2) =$6.00 total for 8 jars! That’s $18 savings, 75% savings!

Once you have a stockpile, you will save money, but untilthen you’ll find yourself spending. You will find great deals on that item, andgrab a bunch, but you’ll find yourself back at the store paying full priceuntil you have enough stockpile to use.

Tips on stockpiling :

•  Make sure you have the room to store what you get
• Rotate the food items regularly
• Only get what you will use in a 4 month period (food) or 12 month period (household, toiletry, etc)
• Always be looking for a good sale of clearance item while shopping
• Keep your coupons handy (like in your car or in a bag) while shopping, so you can use them if you find a great deal
• Use the Coupon Database to search for coupons for items you find
• Organize your stockpile so you know what you have
• Use the price point sheet while shopping to make sure you are getting a good deal
• Look for markdowns on meats and other items and then bag them and freeze them for later use
• Do not take the entire shelf, also known as shelf clearing. Take what you need to stockpile and leave some for others. Be a considerate couponer!

It will more than likely take 3-4 months of stockpilingitems for your supply to be big enough to use regularly. Once your stockpile isbig enough, you’ll see a giant decrease in your spending. You can startshopping at your own store and not pay full price anymore!

 

See the next set of tips below:

Coupons Unleashed Part 2

Types of Shoppers and Couponing Language Part 3