Couponing 101, part 1

Hi there!

your friendly neighbourbood coupon lady, here :)

to start off with, the basics of couponing? there are only TWO things i will suggest that you pay for.

1. a newspaper subscription.

if you already subscribe to your local paper, with a Sunday delivery, then great! you're halfway there!

if you don't have a subscription to your local paper, i'd look into a Sunday-Only subscription service to the next major city's newspaper.

for example, we get our local city paper delivered every day, but we also have a Sunday subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

and what i have noticed is that the AJC's coupon inserts have more pages than our local paper - oddly, our local paper doesn't always get some of the more high-value coupons!

every six months or so, Groupon has a deal for a six month Sunday Subscription to the AJC for about $30; and there's also this deal for $28 for 3 months of Sunday only delivery.

i'm sure there are other deals out there (especially if you're not near Atlanta!), and there's

always the option of picking the 'paper up yourself, of course.

if you don't currently have a newspaper subscription, and don't particularly want one, you can use the Sunday Coupon Preview to get an idea of what coupons will be released, and decide if you want to head out and pick up a 'paper -- or if you already have a subscription, decide if you want to pick up extras.

the catch is that "Regional coupon inserts & value differences are to be expected!" so sometimes only certain areas (of a city/state/region of the country) will get certain inserts and/or specific coupons (like i said before, sometimes our local paper doesn't get all the same coupons as the AJC!).

write the date on the front page to make your life easier later, and KEEP the coupon inserts! 

i have an accordion type file folder that i keep the inserts in, one month's worth per tab.

2. All You magazine.

it is so totally worth the subscription price ....you can find subscriptions on Amazon, and you can pick it up at newsstands, but for the best price get it here. where the price is 15 issues for $15 or 30 issues for $25 (so $1/issue or 83¢/issue).

i really do have two subscriptions, and it really is worth it.

don't expect to be wowed by the articles, but some of the recipes are actually okay - and there's a two-page pullout calendar month in each issue which is sort of handy.

you can check this list to see all the coupons in the May issue, to get an idea of whether or not you're interested :)  

...there's one other 99¢ item i suggest, as a good value, later on, but it may not apply to you or your shopping area.

now, it doesn't matter if you're the type of coupon user who has a few coupons tucked into your wallet, if you have all your coupons in an envelope, if you use the small accordion organizer, or if you've graduated into a three-ring binder - i've done ALL of those, and you have to find the way that works best for you!