Couponing: Going 2 Extremes

I already know that I won't be getting into the stockpiling of items like shown on the tv show Extreme Couponing. I don't have the space for it. But I am interested in saving as much money as possible on my own shopping trips, and I am also interested in being able to help those in need by maybe providing some free items.

I've always been an organizer, although not always had the space to be as organized as I would like. Just like now. I don't have a freezer or an extra room or space for shelves of items acquired for free or for very low price. My daughter did not like the idea of a binder for the coupons. She uses a school box with envelopes inside, each labeled with the category of coupons. I also have the same method I am trying out for now. It's not working for me as well. I may yet try to use the binder.

Let me say this at this point: I am disabled and I use a motorized shopping cart when I go to the store. If the store does not provide this, I have to use my own personal wheel chair. This also limits how much I can buy at any given time. My daughter takes me and we sometimes share a shopping cart. I also do not have my own vehicle so getting to the store and back at the most opportune times does not work for me unless I have someone to go with who will also help me with my shopping.

The school box is small and much more compact to use but what I end up doing right now is leaving the box at home and taking only one envelope to the store with me. I still make a shopping list, but I want to make it more efficient somehow. I take only the coupons I plan on using on that particular shopping trip with me. Trying to balance all my coupons in the limited space I have on a motorized cart makes this difficult for me. I would love to hear ideas of how to make this work better for me.

Another thing I am doing is hosting a monthly couponing party with my daughter and some of our friends. We have only just begun doing this and so far it has not gone very well. I end up with tons of leftover coupons nobody wanted and watch them expire only to be thrown in the trash each month. I don't like seeing the coupons going to waste. I spend a lot of time clipping coupons which is painful for me due to carpal tunnel and arthritis in my hands. I really want to make this work, so your ideas will help. And in the process maybe we can all learn how to do this better as well as help other beginners like me improve and save money.

I've envisioned coupons as another form of money. When I throw away expired coupons I could have used but didn't, I feel like I am literally throwing away cash. It might not be cash I could have or would have used, but someone, somewhere could have used it. Not to mention the huge amount of wasted paper involved in the printing of coupons by whoever printed them, or by myself if I printed them from the internet. So, after only a few months of this trial and error period of learning how to use coupons to my advantage, I've come up with a few thoughts on the subject.

1. Don't print online coupons that you are more than likely never going to use. It's not likely that you will be able to give them to someone who will use them. All that paper (and ink) is going to end up in the trash if you don't use them.

2. Really take time to learn how each store's coupon policy works. For the stores that give overage back to you in the form of cash or applied to your total bill, use the coupons that will give you the most chance of getting overage. This means coupons that are going to be worth more than the actual product is. So far I haven't gotten this one totally working for me. But I do know that size does matter...as in trial size that is. If the coupon says trial size is not applicable and the only way you can get overage is with the trial size, you have to figure out something else to do. If the coupon is a good one and you will still save a good amount of money with it, use it. If it's under $1 and you can't get the overage or save a worthwhile amount at face value, maybe it will be better used when you can have it doubled or tripled.

3. I love triple coupons!!! The first time I came home with 6 full size tubes of Crest and Colgate toothpastes for free, along with a new Oral B toothbrush, as well as some other goodies, I was really excited. How does that work? The coupons were for $1 which tripled came to $3 off each item. The toothpaste was only $2.74 each. So they were free. The store allowed for multiple coupons of the same item up to a certain limit. I was under that limit. I am told that normally stores that triple coupons won't do so with the $1 off coupons, but that day they did.

4. Stores don't do triple coupons everyday. However, some stores will double coupons up to $.50 on a daily basis, or certain days of the week. Make good use of your lower value coupons at stores that will double them. It's not likely that you will be able to get overage with lower value coupons unless you can double them and purchase trial size products. I used to think trial size products were just a waste of time and space. But now my thinking is that even a one or two time use for free is better than paying for it. Add up enough of those, and if it is the same type, it's possible to pour trial size contents into one larger container.

5. Basically, whatever money I do not spend on my groceries or other items purchased is money I can save for myself. Whether it is only $.25 or it is a tripled $1 coupon saving me $3, it is still money I did not have to spend. And I really like that.

6. Watching YouTube videos such as the ones I've put on this lens for you really helps me understand how it all works. Seeing other people's techniques helps me figure out how to make it work for me.

7. Although I am hoping that eventually I will be able to do this well enough to be able to donate items to food pantries and homeless shelters in my area, I will not become the kind of couponer that takes everything off the shelf and filling multiple carts with items that don't leave anything left for the next person coming along. I've been in stores where items I needed and had coupons for were just completely wiped out leaving the shelves empty. That is not good behavior or "coupon etiquette". We don't have to become hogs about the whole thing just because something is a good deal. With the idea of wanting to benefit others as well as myself in this endeavor, it seems only appropriate that I would not want to take every item off the shelf for myself when I know others will be shopping who will want to buy that item and need it more than I do.

Freebies are items you can get from manufacturers for free. Usually these are online offers (the ones I know about anyway). Not all freebie websites are legitimate or will send you the items you requested. You will have to check and double check any website or freebie offer you receive to make sure it is real and legal. Some freebie offers require a shipping and handling fee. You don't want to send money for something and then never receive it. So make sure that the freebie sites are honest and legitimate.