Learn The Art of Couponing: Couponing Decoded with FTM – Week 4
Welcome to week #4 of our Couponing Decoded Classes!
Each Saturday we will post a topic and we will all work through that topic together throughout the week. That will give us all time to discuss and work through any questions that you may have. The goal here is for everyone to share feedback and ask questions, because we all interpret things differently and learn differently. The main discussions for this class are going to take place over on our Kroger Facebook page. Click here to join in on the discussions.
We’ve covered quite a bit over the past few weeks and hopefully you are beginning to understand it all. Feel free to reference back to the previous week’s lessons for any refreshing you may need, and remember practice makes perfect!!! Here are the direct links:
- Week 1 – “Learning the Basics” CLICK HERE TO SEE THE POST
- Week 2 – “Getting Started” CLICK HERE TO SEE THE POST
- Week 3 – “Rebates & Digital Coupons” CLICK HERE TO SEE THE POST
This week’s focus is: “Planning Your Shopping Trip”
This week we are going to discuss prepping for your shopping trip and how to have a successful checkout. One thing I learned a long time ago is that you cannot just wing it. You need organization and a clear cut plan in order to be successful at this. If you don’t have a plan you will end up filling your cart with unintended items and you will have no clue what your total should be at checkout.
Organizing Your Coupons:
Each of you will need to find what method works best for organizing your coupons. Some prefer to leave the inserts whole and pull out of them as needed. Others prefer to clip all the coupons out of the inserts and put them in a binder storage system. One thing you will want to keep in mind is that you will be holding onto these coupons for a month or more waiting on a sale to hit. The key is when that sale hits, being able to easily find your coupons. Here are a few of my favorite storage methods:
Binder with Baseball Card Storage Sheets:
This system gives you the highest level of organization, in my opinion. You will want to start off by getting a sturdy, ZIPABLE binder. Do NOT take the cheap route on this step! This binder will take a beating like no other and you don’t want to have pages, or coupons, falling out while shopping. Next, you will want to get some storage sheets to put your coupons in. Baseball card storage sheets work great, but coupons come in all different shapes and sizes so I recommend getting a variety of different types of storage sheets to accommodate them all. Another recommendation is to get a paper trimmer to cut all of your coupons out with. This will make clipping so much easier and you will end up ruining less coupons than clipping with scissors.
Buy: Case-it Mighty Zip Tab 3-Inch Zipper Binder $23.99 {Reg $29.99}
Buy: Coupon Binder Pages – 100 Page Assortment + Bonus Sleeve $18.99 {Reg $39.99}
Buy: Fiskars 12 Inch Portable Scrapbooking Trimmer $14.99 {Reg $27.59}
Accordion Style Storage Folders:
Some of you may find the above option to be too time consuming for your lifestyle. Another great option is using a large accordion type folders to store your whole, un-clipped inserts by date. I like this method because it makes it very easy to go back and find an insert containing a coupon you need., since all of the coupon inserts have the issue date printed right on the outside on the spine! You will also only be clipping what coupons you actually use which is a time saver as well! Smaller accordion folders work well also for those wanting to start on a smaller scale. I personally have a smaller accordion folder for each store that I shop at and I keep rain checks, receipts, and all my hottest coupons I want to use at that store in there. You can also find these at most dollar stores!
Buy: Smead Step Index Poly Organizer, 12 Pockets $4.99 {Reg $11.65}
Buy: C-Line 13-Pocket Expanding File, Coupon Size $8.99 {Reg $9.99}
Planning Out Your Shopping Trip:
Now that you have some sort of organization system for storing your coupons, it’s time to start planning your shopping trip! Still to this day I make a list and organize all of my coupons in advance… EVERY SINGLE TIME! This will help you stick to your plan once you hit the store. I found that when I take all of my coupons into the store I end up grabbing WAY more items than I intended on just because I had a coupon. Once I started planning out my trips in advance I began saving WAY more $$$! Write or type out a detailed list of the items that you intend to buy, the quantity you want to get of each item, the sale price, the coupons you will use, and the total price. This will help you know what to grab, what coupons to use, and will tell you what your final price should be at the register! If something doesn’t ring up correctly at checkout, you are going to know! Here is an example of my shopping list for today’s trip to the Kroger Mega Sale:
Clip Your Coupons:
Now that your list is ready it’s time to start clipping. When you make out your list, be sure to also list where the coupons came from so that you can easily go back through and get all of your coupons ready to go. If you need help finding where a coupon is located, use our COUPON DATABASE to do a quick easy search! I like to clip all of my coupons that match my list and keep them all together, wrapped inside my list, inside a small accordion type folder. When I walk in the store I simply grab out my list and start knocking it out! As I place the items in my cart I will pull the matching coupons that I pre-sorted and set them in my cart as well. That way when I get to checkout I have all of my coupons in my cart and ready to unload right along with my groceries.
Be Prepared to Change Your Plan:
Always be prepared to switch up your shopping plan! If an item is out of stock, for example, and you are shopping a Kroger Mega Sale your counts will get all messed up and so will your total. I like to always have a few cheap fillers in mind to make these situations a little less stressful. Choose a few cheap $0.50 – $1.00 items that can be thrown in to sort out any variances you might have when finished getting the items from your list.
Now, GO GO GO!!!
Once you are all organized and have a detailed shopping plan, it’s time to head to the store to score your deals! Grab your list and your pre-sorted coupons and most importantly… Stick to your plan!!! Even if you need to go in and do your couponing list, load it in the car, and go back in to grab non-coupon items. Whatever will help you stay focused on your pre-made list, do it! I might occasionally add in a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread, but in general I try to stick directly to my list and have seen amazing savings as a result!
Once you’re finished getting organized and making out your shopping list, come over to our Kroger Coupon Deals Facebook Page to ask questions, show us your shopping list and join in on all the discussions!
Happy Couponing!