Help taking it to the next level

[funnyface12345]

I am having a problem taking this to the next level. Right now I am saving about 40-50% of my grocery bill, but I KNOW I can do so much better than that. I get a couple papers a week, I've tried buying them off ebay but that was a big flop, and trading isn't working out so well for me because I don't have anything anyone wants. I've walked all through my grocery stores and there are rarely ever blinkies or tearpads. I just don't know how to get a hold of coupons that people actually want which it turns keeps me from getting the coupons that I want.

Any suggestions would be great. I really want to start saving the big bucks and really need to get my budget down.

[Andra]

My suggestion is to buy more papers to get more of the deals. When you see a hot deal you want to "stockpile the savings" by getting as many as you can reasonably use. I buy 4-6 papers per week and that amount works well for me.

Also have you looked for a "free" source of inserts? Dumpster diving in recycling bins (if legal in your area) or asking around at gas stations if you can get any leftover inserts after sunday.

You might also look into a clipping service for getting only the coupons you know you will use in bulk the week they come out. Rather than trading coupon for coupon it might be better to just pay pp for people to clip and send what you need.

[pinkproverbs]

What coupons did you buy on Ebay? What I do is as soon as I see the ad for next week I match up any items that are going to cost around $1-$2 and then try to match them up with coupons on Ebay. I search specifically by the name of the product. I only buy the "buy it now" so that I can make sure to get them in time. Then I buy enough papers on Tuesday to give me the amount of double coupons I need to get the best value.

Depending on when I get the coupons I've bought, I will go to the store and to a few separate transactions to be able to use the double coupons. A lot of times I go on Tuesday evenings to do my shopping for a couple of reasons: 1) There are less people shopping at night which makes the cashiers more likely to accomidate me with doing multiple transactions 2) I always check the clearance meat because this is when the butchers discount it the most because they're getting ready for the next week's sales 3) If I end up needing more double coupons, I can purchase more papers from the current Tuesday.

Hope this helps. Also, I didn't think there were a lot of peelies and blinkies, etc. at my store, but now that I'm aware of them, I see them a lot more.

Blessings!

[Learning2bfrugal]

I'm new to couponing and I just got my first two coupon orders off of Ebay and have already used them. I'm using the same philosophy as Pinkproverbs, buying the coupons only at the "buy it now" price.

I actually stumbled upon this approach:
In my first two orders I had 20 coupons a piece. I ordered the coupons after the ad already started and luckily got them in time before the ad week ended. Since I was shopping at the end of the ad week, stock was low and I was able to get rainchecks. This also allowed me to spread out my purchases so that I don't have to buy all 20 at one time to use the coupons on top of the sale prices. Heck maybe by waiting I'll get a better sale price. Now all I have to do is to remember to use my coupons before they expire ;).

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I really struggled until I learned all the coupon policies of stores in my area (limits on #of like coupons, doubling/tripling amounts, etc) and when I realized that I could buy as many newspapers as I wanted! OMG I could have 10 free boxes of pizza rolls instead of only one!

Good Luck!

[sindy9002]

I buy some papers then I will get some double coupons.