The Sunday paper is one of the best sources for coupons. Most Sundays there will be more than one coupon insert. There are three different types of coupon inserts. They are: Smart Source, Red Plum (Valassis), and the P & G Saver. The first two typically come weekly and have varying expiration dates. The P&G Saver is usually a once-a-month insert and the coupons generally expire within 30 days.
The Sunday after a holiday, there will be no Smart Source or Red Plum inserts. This happens on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Sometimes you will still find a P&G Saver in these papers though.
You can either subscribe to the newspaper, pick up an early edition on Saturday or pick up the regular edition on Sunday. Do whatever works best for you. I personally do a Sunday only subscription. This way I can clip the coupons before I leave to run my errands.
Once you have the paper, clip the coupons. Now, here’s the thing: I clip every single coupon. I do this because you never know what you can get for free or what a store will pay you money to take. But if you are a beginner, it will very likely be overwhelming for you to clip every coupon. I recommend, just clipping the coupons for products that you currently use. You can also clip coupons for products you aren’t brand loyal to. For example, if you usually use Crest toothpaste but you wouldn’t mind using Colgate, then clip both Crest and Colgate coupons. Once you become more familiar with the process, you can start clipping more coupons.
The biggest money saving mistake coupon novices make is this. You find a coupon for those Pillsbury Savorings appetizers. You think, I sure would like to try these and gosh $1 off seems like a good deal. So next time you are at the store. You put a box of them in your cart. You pay the $3.79, give the checker $1 off coupon, pay $2.79 and think you got a good deal. You just fell into a trap! Do you really need to buy these? Save the $2.79 and only use coupons to buy things you really need that aren’t on sale or things that are free with a coupon.
Once you’ve clipped all the coupons you want from the paper, recylce it! Then read one of the other topics to find out what to do next.
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