The ins and outs of couponing

What extremes would you go to to save a buck? Many people shop sales, Do-ItYourself (DIY), prepare budgets down to the last detail and hunt the clearance aisles for a great deal. It doesn’t matter where you are in life, everyone wants to feel like they are getting what they are paid for and there are many ways to make your dollar stretch.

For me, personally, I coupon.

Most people have seen the show “Extreme Couponing.” These individuals go in with this very large and intimidating binders and leave with 4 buggies full of groceries that they paid less than 5 dollars while the world looks on in a strange sense of awe.

From my experience people either react one of two ways. They either think these people are insane. (I mean who needs 57 bottles of Ketchup?) Or they want to become one.

For me, I wanted to be them. When I became the sole provider for my household, the want became a necessity.

My one problem was I had no idea where to start.

I found beginners guides to couponing on Pinterest, Facebook groups where the women would answer my millions of questions, and started out small with a list of what I needed with what coupon to use on it in order to maximize my savings.

This was the beginning of my fall into the rabbit hole.

One of the first things I learned to do was how to read the fine print. The verbiage that is used on the coupons can be kind of confusing.

For example, “one coupon per purchase” DOES NOT mean you can only use one of that particular coupon in a transaction.

It means that you can only use one coupon on one product. If there were a coupon limit it would say something like “Limit 4 coupons per transaction.”

Another thing that is easy to get confused on is the coupons expiration date. If a coupon says that it expires 10/23/16, that means it is still good up and on the day of the 23rd.

When I first started, I accidentally threw away good coupons that made a product free. I beat myself up for doing that for days.

Also the more you coupon, the more you will love the word “any.” The word “any” gives you the freedom to choose any of the manufacturers products and go for the cheapest thing they have. The cheaper the product is initially, the less you pay out of pocket.

These types of coupons are also ones that you can possibly achieve overage on. “Overage” is when a coupon has a larger value than the product you are buying. Most stores let you take that overage and apply it to other things you are purchasing and bringing down your whole total.

Another thing that most people do not realize, not only does the manufacturer pay the company the amount that you are saving on the coupon, but they also get paid a handling fee. Standard fee is 8 cents per coupon.

So not only are they getting reimbursed for the coupon, but they are making money off of them. Think of coupons as an IOU from the Manufacturer to the Store. It is just as good as money, and you should be taking them to your advantage.

If you’re really interested in saving your household money, look into couponing.

It helps you buy name brand products cheaply and is beneficial to making sure you get all that you can from your paycheck.

Take it from this self-proclaimed “Coupon Queen,” it’s worth the time.