Advice needed for getting started

[lawschoolsaver]

I do not have my local newspaper delivered on Sundays. Is there a special advantage to having the paper delivered as opposed to getting it in a store? My local paper, The Times Picayune, has a newsstand price of $2.00 and delivery is $12 a month. Would it be worth it to have one delivered in addition to the copies I buy?

How many papers should I buy for the inserts? I can get one set from my in laws, but the rest I have to buy. What's a decent number for someone just starting out?

Should I get a subscription to All You Magazine? Are the coupons usually worth the price of the magazine?

Thanks!

[everprincess]

This all depends on alot different things-

(1) How much are you buying for your family?

(2) Does your region get good values on coupons?

(3) Look at the insert preview-are these good coupons you will use?

Same with the All You Magazine-you can look at previous issues and see if you think you can use the coupons.

Hope this helps.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Delivery vs. Buying at a newsstand - yes there is a benefit. You are more apt to have your coupon inserts in the home delivered paper while the ones in the newsstands may be missing. You are only guaranteed inserts in the home delivered papers the ones in the newsstands may not have them because they ran out or, unfortunately someone stole them. You may want to call up your local paper and ask them if they offer a special for couponers - usually multiple Sunday papers delivered or for pick up at a discounted rate. Not all newspaper companies offer this but it is worth asking for.

I reccomend 2 papers worth of inserts for each person in your household. So if it just you, 2. If your a family of six, 12. You can always get more if you feel you need more for your own stockpiling needs but that is good starting number.

AllYou Magazine costs under $2.00 an issue when you subscribe to it and I think it worth the subscription as I usually save $10-$15 in the coupons each month, sometimes more. Plus they have really good money saving articles and tips.

Welcome to HCW by the way!

[lawschoolsaver]

Thanks for the helpful advice!

I am married with no kids (so far), so it's just my husband and me. I'm thinking of starting off slowly, mainly focusing on stocking personal care/medicine items from drugstores like Rite Aid/Walgreens. None of the grocery stores in my area double coupons, so that is a pain when it comes to couponing. I have already missed out on a few free-with-coupon items because of my lack of multiple inserts, so I definitely need to start getting several! I'll definitely see about a discount for multiple papers in my area. Thanks for the suggestion (and the warm welcome)!

Does anyone know of the cheapest place to get an All You subscription? It seems to be 19.95 a year no matter where I look. I don't mind paying that but didn't know if there was some kind of lesser known place that would have a deal.

[motherofmolly]

all you....see my bottom siggy to get a special rate from this site. proceeds help our helping hands program.

as far as inserts, trading bulk with our traders, or purchasing from ebay or a clipping service will get you better bang for your buck.

[lawschoolsaver]

Thanks! I subscribed through the link. Great price! :)

[lawschoolsaver]

The bulk trading, clipping service, and ebay things might be over my head at this point. I wouldn't know what to buy or when yet. I'll have to learn the ropes hehe :)

[shellf0969]

My Dollar Tree has the Sunday papers for $1.00. I live in Maryland so I am not sure if all Dollar Tree's offer them.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Here is an article I did on how to get extra inserts, maybe it can help and give you some ideas. How to Get Extra Coupon Inserts

[JulieDB]

I have my paper delivered on Sunday and I also get my dad's inserts when he remembers to save them for me. Alas I go over there on Saturdays and so I always get the inserts a week behind. I don't usually need any more than that. Most of the coupons are for things I don't buy anyway.

I do get the All You magazine. I usually find 2 to 3 coupons in there that I can use.

I have bought coupons from Ebay a few times. Note that I'm not telling you to do this. I found what I thought were good deals. Each time I got about 50 to 80 coupons each time. I was able to use about 20% of what I got.

Note that we are not the typical family. My husband is in the military and away a lot. So most of the time I am shopping for two. We do have two cats. The cats do not eat regular cat food. They will eat treats but only the crunchy ones. I am picky about cat litter. I am picky about cleaning supplies. So most of those coupons are never used by me. I am also picky about health and beauty things and do not usually use air fresheners. Plus we have food allergies. So most of the food coupons won't work for us.

Now back in the days before we knew about the food allergies and when my husband was home, I would use pretty much all of the food coupons I could find. I would try to combine these with sales. And when we lived on Cape Cod, there was a store that tripled the coupons on one day a week. So I would do my shopping then.