"Hey girl! Are you couponing?!?"

So I am in Kroger minding my own business looking at toothbrushes when some woman speaks to me, "Hey girl! Are you couponing?!?" I look up and it is none-other than my good friend Katie. We chat for a moment about couponing then she makes the request for this post...a post about couponing. Hmmm, I thought, not a bad idea. As a newbie to the bloggy world, I sometimes think I have nothing to blog about. But it's the mundane everyday boring Raker lives we live (and that some of you others live) that people can relate to and like to read about the most. I know I just love to keep up to date on ya'll's (are double apostrophes legal? i assume they are in the south, of course!) lives, exciting or not. Plus, I can get some money saving ideas from you gals too! So, here goes; Mommy Raker tips, tricks, thoughts, and lessons on couponing and grocerying :)

1. Look at coupons as free money, $ ca-ching $ ca-ching. If you take that mindset, you will never look at coupons as a nuisance again!

2. If you're a facebook junkie (of course you are, no shame!) "like" mommysavers.com. They give lots of advice from crafting to recipes to sale/clearance alerts and links to coupons. At the actual website you can register and sign up for daily emails that include all those things as well. I like the emails because all the coupons are conveniently located in my inbox.

3. Find an organizational method that works for you. Personally, I use something like this:

though mine doesn't quit snap that nicely to the cart so I walk around the store with it in my hand. But it serves the purpose in organizing my coupons by category so I know where coupons for certain items are. Some of the categories are: breads/rolls, dairy, meats, canned foods, toiletries, baby products, etc. If nothing fits a certain category I make up where I think it should go! I know others use a binder and plastic baseball card organizers. This seems too complicated for me. I'm a simple categorical organizer.

4. The Sunday paper is where to get your tangible coupons. Last year we subscribed to The Courier-Journal Sunday only subscription, as new customers, for fifty-some bucks. It was worth it to receive the paper full of coupons at the house. They raised the price considerably this year, as we are not new customers, so we will revert to our old ways of stopping at Wal-Mart for the Sunday paper on our way home from church. Wal-Mart has featured the paper for 99 cents at times, and $1.25 at other times. It is worth it for us as I can save the cost of the paper plus some by using the coupons inside. *But always check for coupons inside the paper before buying. Just my neurotic suggestion.*

5. Here is something I recently learned. Most places will accept a store coupon for an item PLUS a manufacturer coupon. This equals double savings! Store coupons can only be used at the store identified, manufacturer coupons can be used at any store that accepts coupons, the coupons that print out at the store when you check-out can only be used at that store even though they do read "manufacturer coupon" at the top. Silly, I know.

6. Other than this website, you can get coupons at redplum.com, smartsource.com, and coupons.com. There are others for sure. But these are the ones I use most often. The coupons on these sites need to be printed out. I shop at Wal-Mart and Kroger here in Shelbyville and have never had problems using coupons I printed at home.

7. If you have a Kroger card, register your card on their website. Then you can download coupons directly to your Kroger card! I love this! Especially when I check-out and get a surprise coupon, boo-ya! That's right ya'll, the coupons automatically deduct from your bill...no cutting, no filing, just a little clicking :)
They have some great coupons too. Twice now I have gotten $3.00 off my purchase of Charmin, score!

8. Check the weekly Kroger ad for their sales. This is where you save the most $$, combining sales, promotions and coupons.

9. Always, always, always have a grocery list or you will buy things that are totally spontaneous. I loathe the grocery store but a list gives me a very clear direction on where to go and what to buy.

10. It also helps to have a menu in mind before making out your grocery list. We have a message/bill center in our kitchen. We use this to write down ideas for supper so I know exactly what I need to buy when I go Krogering.

Generally, I spend about 2 hours a week couponing. I can cut coupons and file them when Baby J is playing on the floor. I don't like to print coupons unless I know I am going to use them so I usually wait until I am headed to the store to look for coupons I can print and use on that trip.

I'd love to hear ideas from the rest of you! These are just my ideas. And just so you know, when Katie caught me couponing, I got that toothbrush for 36 cents and a regular size tube of toothpaste for 23 cents :)
Coupons are your friends!!!