How/Why did YOU start?

[Arie]

I think my biggest spenders are (And I'm sure couponers all across the world will get the 'coupon signal' flash in the back of their minds when they read this)....

Ziplock baggies, bodywash and toothpaste, paper products and snacks for lunches. It's just me and my b/f in the house and we both pack a lunch to save on money in the budget, but we end up spending rediculas prices for lunch stuff. I guess I had no idea how expensive juices and soda pops were until I started packing a lunch. And lunch meat or lunchables? Forget it!

[anaj06]

I think my biggest spenders are (And I'm sure couponers all across the world will get the 'coupon signal' flash in the back of their minds when they read this)....

Ziplock baggies, bodywash and toothpaste, paper products and snacks for lunches. It's just me and my b/f in the house and we both pack a lunch to save on money in the budget, but we end up spending rediculas prices for lunch stuff. I guess I had no idea how expensive juices and soda pops were until I started packing a lunch. And lunch meat or lunchables? Forget it!

Oh, wow....I don't spend a whole lot on any of those items and I take my lunch almost everyday also!

Ziploc baggies - go to their website under "contact us" and write them. You can either complement their product or you can just ask for coupons. The usually send a free coupon for any Ziploc product. Ziploc also has lots and lots of coupons out there....you should never by them without some sort of coupon.

Bodywash and toothpaste will be free at drugstore periodically...buy the limit when they are.

Paper products - stock up when sales and coupons overlap. 2 recent ones were chinet...they were on sale at a lot of grocery stores for $2.00 and there was a $2.00 coupon out also...buy/trade for coupon and free Chinet. Hefty is another one you can get free lots. Wait for sale or BOGO and use $.75/1 coupons doubled.

Snacks for lunches - keep your eye out...if you are flexible they are always free one way or another. I love chex mix so I am always stocked on it. Usually there are $.50/1 coupons out (currently on coupons.com), wait for BOGO sale or another good sale and buy all the coupons you have worth of them. Crackers are free/cheap all the time with $1/1 coupons and sales. You just have to keep an eye out for what goes really cheap in your area.

Juice - hit the sales cycles again. Juicy Juice just put out a $.75/1 coupon, so most of us coupons have combined that coupon with a great sale or triples/double coupons to get free/cheap juice.

Sodas - they are tougher to get free/cheap. I wouldn't pay more than $2.00 ($3.00 without a stockpile maybe) for a 12 pack of cans. Coupons are harder to come by on these, but they are always on sale somewhere.

Lunch meat - always coupons on various brands...Hillshire farms and Oscar Mayer deli select stick out in my mind. Buy lots when on sale and freeze. For example this week at Harris Teeter Hillshire Farms were on sale 2/$7.00. If you bought 2 you saved $3 in instant savings. Then there was a $.55 IP coupon which they were tripling because this is their special triples week. Then there was a tearpad coupon out for free Sara Lee bread if you bought 2 Hillshire farms. So, for $.70, you got 2 Hillshire Farms deli meat and 1 loaf of bread. I did this 3 times for a total of 5 deli meat and 3 loaves of bread for $2.10. Watch, I am sure there is something similar in your area from time to time.

Bottom line...once you get a stockpile going you should pay more than $.50 or so per lunch. There is a whole thread on how to pack school lunches for less than $.40 per day. Do a search and I am sure it will come up...lots of great ideas in that thread!

[pasharain]

I switched to the "binder" method of coupon organizing and since then I am saving like a bandit. It involves cutting all the coupons you get on Sundays not just ones you use. The coupons are filed in transparent baseball card holders in a zippered 3-ring binder. In this way I am always ready for triples, super doubles and I frequently have coupons for clearance items that I may not need but can "stockpile" for later. You can easily see what you have in order to use your coupons before they expire. I also buy a lot of coupons on ebay. If I get word on a sale ahead of time, I will go to ebay and buy coupons for that item. I frequently search for free "printable" coupons using swagbucks.com (nice because you earn "bucks" for future purchases). Google.com is great too for those who don't feel like doing swagbucks.