What's the easiest way for a newbie to get started?

[EmilysMom]

I guess I'm just not sure what is a good price yet for certain things. I cook a lot from scratch so I tend not to buy things that are ready made/pre-packaged foods. I noticed that most of the coupons in the fliers are for this type of food item. What I want to find coupons for are things like tomato products (sauce, paste, chopped, etc...), canned or frozen vegetables, condiments (bbq, mayo, salad dressings), milk and soy milk, cheese, eggs, fruit juices (very expensive here!), and I guess meat (is there such a coupon?), toiletries (tp, tissue, paper towels). Thats about it. Since noone doubles out here I'm not sure it would be worth my time even buying some of the convenience type foods because it will end up costing me more in the long run. Oh well....

[EmilysMom]

Originally Posted by Krystalily There was a thread a while back that stated sometimes buying at the bulk stores doesn't quite save you. I had a Sam's membership for a year and maybe went 1 time. Waste of money in my case! Maybe you guys will go more often. I am not sure if they take coupons, but I can't imagine that they would or if it would even save you a whole bunch. Anyways, some people here are in LOND (Land of No Doubles) and I hope they'll give you some pointers. Do you have a CVS near you? What I did is I started a spreadsheet with all the "original" prices of foods we got most often. I've been keeping track of the "lowest" sale price I've seen the foods go to and putting in when I saw it and where I saw it, so I can track the cycle of the sales. This way I know the "rock bottom" price of these foods and will be able to know when a "good deal" is really a good deal. Good luck!

Well, I probably will still get a Costco membership for things like meats and maybe my canned tomato products and a few other items. That is so funny that there is an abbreviation for living in an area where no one doubles coupons. You should have heard the incredulous voices on the other end of my phone when I called the stores here and asked them if they doubled coupons. What a riot! At least three times they had to get the manager on the phone to speak to me as if I was from Mars!

Now I'm curious to know what parts of the U.S. have the most stores that double (and who triples???) coupons. We aren't staying here long term and are going to move again as soon as we decide on better schools, price/cost of living, etc... Now, I'm going to add this to my list of wants in a new locale! Must double coupons!!!!!!!!

[YouPdWhat]

I suggest you read the store forums for the stores you have. Each week the ads are posted & members discuss the deals available.

[mamacathie]

I am so new to HCW and I am having a hard time trying to understand it. I know I can't be that blind. I love couponing and refunding but I am having troubles understanding and reading this site. Thanks for any help you can give me.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

How can we help you?

We know that HCW has a lot of information and a lot going on. We are working very hard on making some changes to make HCW more user/newbie friendly.

I always suggest that all newbies start with our Frequently Asked Question or FAQ located in the top toolbar. This will answer many of the most commonly asked questions many newbies have.

Next I suggest that you read the rules. HCW does have a lot of rules. The nature of the topic I guess for us to help keep things legal and fair for all users.

This forum has the main rules of HCW: USER AGREEMENT WITH TERMS & CONDITIONS

Once you have read and pretty much understand the rules of the forums. It will depend on if you are a newbie to the concept of couponing/stockpiling. If you are new and are wanting to learn how to do this thing we call couponing then I suggest that you start with the valuable information in this forum: Getting Started ~ Couponing Basics for the Newbie. If you already know how to coupon shop then jump right in and find the forums for the stores you shop at. Start with the main forums for Drug Stores and Grocery Stores and find the subforums for the stores in your area. And start reading. Just about every store forum has FAQ sticky at the top which helps you learn about store policy. Then if there are other stickies in the forums read those too as it is probably important info you should know. Then find the post for for this weeks deals.

HCW is 100% member contribution. You are free to lurk and just gather information of course but we invite you to jump right in and ask questions or post your deals that YOU spot. Sharing deals is what this community is about. (our slogan is "It's all about the deals!")

Of course we have many forums that are not deal related too. Move on down the forum homepage to find freebies, coupon info, coupon trading (remember you must read and agree to the trading rules and then join the trader group in order to post in any of our trading forums! You can do that HERE), finanical forums, recipies, stockpiling, around the house stuff, and then our off topic areas. Whew!

Once you have a feel for how the forums are laid out and you are doing ok with the deals in your store forums. Then I suggest you branch out. If you are a HCW junkie the New Post link in the top toolbar will be your next best friend. If you have limited time on your hands to just find the deals then I suggest that you email subscribe to your favorite forums or just to the threads that you are interested in (instructions on how to do that should be in the FAQ link mentioned in this post.

That is what I would suggest to newbies on how to best navigate this site. And remember there are no such things as stupid questions, we will try our best to answer them.

[newcoupon08]

Im a senior in high school and stumbled upon this forum. It seems really cool to stockpile things that you need. My questions are how do you do it? Like how do you get more than one coupon??

[YouPdWhat]

Hi & welcome to HCW,

Read the "Sticky" threads in this forum at the very top as they contain a wealth of info to help get you started on your way. Anymore questions just ask.

[andreajesus10]

and AFTER you check out ALL the "stickies" on this website (GOOD stuff!), pick up a book called "Shop Save and Share" by Ellie Kay (you can probably get it online for half price!); Ellie wrote the Bible on couponing!!

[Jiji]

Originally Posted by newcoupon08 Im a senior in high school and stumbled upon this forum. It seems really cool to stockpile things that you need. My questions are how do you do it? Like how do you get more than one coupon??

Just wanted to welcome you and say Cool Beans to you for being interested in something that can change how you shop and make a big change in your budget, whether it's now or when you have 4 children.

For me, I buy extra papers when they have good coupons, or coupons that I can use for my family. Luckily, my paper sells 2 papers for a reduced price on Sundays.

Like the pp said, read all the stickies about couponing and be sure to read the info on CVS as well as I imagine a high school senior probably needs to stockpile HBA items as much as groceries.

Good luck and feel free to keep asking questions to learn.

[politjunkie]

I feel like the basics that you can get at CVS/Walgreens i have a good understanding in and I can see how Im saving a lot of money there

BUT

Im not sure on the food items from Frys/Safeway grocery stores. I feel like im saving a buck or 2 a week but not like i want to be saving.

Did anyone else run into this wall when they started and what could you do to help get you over the hump so food part of grocery bill came down too