Couponing 101

New to couponing?

It can be very overwhelming in the beginning. Here are some tips to make it easy!

How to coupon

Most of the time people just throw a coupon on a product and think they have saved good money or do not even use coupons because they think saving $1 is not worth the time to cut the coupon and stand in line for a few extra minutes at the store, however waiting until things go on sale then using a coupon saves you big money! Maybe not at first but it does in the end!
Example:
Lets say you buy rice every shopping trip and it costs $5.99, you could use a $1off coupon you found in your local newspaper then your getting that Product for $4.99. Not Bad But you can do better!
Now what if I told you that that $5.99 product went on sale one week later for $2.97 then you use you $1 off coupon your paying $1.97 for something that was almost $6 . What sounds better?

The key to couponing in Canada is Sales! We can not stack coupons in Canada except at London Drugs, but we can still get free products from time to time as well as pay the least amount possible for them. Every once in awhile we get Free product coupons (FPC) from manufacturers coupons, There are many times where you will have a $2 coupon  for something and it will go on sale for $2 or under resulting in you getting it for free!

When ever you get your weekly flyer's sit down, go through them and see how many coupons you have for things on sale (look at the regular price as well to see how much your saving). Eventually, you will catch on and become an extreme couponer and immediately know how well of a deal you are getting. Like I said it does take time before you can master couponing I know it took me a few months.

Where to get coupons?

This is the number one question for new couponers!

1.There are websites that you can sign up for that will send you coupons in the mail at no cost to you. Its that easy (see Coupon Resources)

2.Email your favourite companies and simply ask for them. It never hurts to ask, sometimes when you simply praise there products they will send you coupons as well. (see Companies that will mail you coupons)

3. Inserts. If you pay for a local newspaper they are most likely to have coupons in there monthly as well as there is coupon inserts in your flyer's every once in awhile.

4. Print them. There are websites you can print coupons from quick and easy at home.

5. Trains and Trading. If your new to couponing then it will surprise you to know that there is a whole couponing community out there! Look for coupon Trains and Trading on other couponing sites.

What is a Coupon Train?

A coupon train is a group of people usually around 5-10 who trade coupons in the mail. The coupons start at the Conductor (the person who organizes the train) they make the route (list of people and their addresses and the order they get the envelope full of coupons) the conductor will send an envelope full of coupons normally $40-$200 worth to the first person then they send it to the next and so on... It will reach back to the conductor in then end. Each person will receive the envelope and take out the coupons they would like and then put in coupons they have but won't use or don't need and match it $1 for $1.
They can be confusing and I don't recommend trying one before you have been coupoing for awhile.
There is a train and trading forum on this site, feel free to check it out. The best forums for trading and Trains is called SmartCanucks.

Trading

It is hard to find good coupons sometimes and it is worse when you find a good one but want more. If you do not have friends who coupon it will make things hard to trade. There are thousands of people in Canada and Hundreds in your province who have the same passion for coupons as you do and understand your seriousness for them. When trading coupons just simply List all your coupons with: name, dollar amount and expiry date then make a wish list of certain coupons you would like and that's it, people will message you for trades as well as you can message others. Exchange addresses in private messages and then send them out through mail. Wait a few days and you will now have coupons you need instead of ones you wouldn't have used.

These are just a few great tips on how to get started couponing, Thanks for reading and you can find lots of great information through out the rest of my site.

- Happy Clipping