This post is mainly for those located in the United States. Sorry but I have no idea about couponing in other countries

So anytime I twitter about couponing or a great deal I got that day I get bombed with questions. Really it’s not a secret on how to coupon and be successful. Success = very little money out of pocket! And in this economy that is crushing so many & leaving so many to either pay for groceries or a car note I thought I would try my best to guide you guys through my coupon world. I started off looking so hard for great deals and just becoming really frustrated with all the information out there (like a lot of you). But I found this cool site called The Grocery Game & it is a lifesaver! But I did make a few mistakes in the beginning & would like to flip that around to help everyone else! Listen to my advice and you’ll be hooked on saving money (and eating might fine)! By the way TGG (the grocery game) costs $1 for the trial but after that it depends on how many lists you have, I currently have 2 lists & pay $15 per 8 weeks (I save WAY more then that a week).

What I paid is highlighted in yellow, highlisted in green is how much I saved!

How-to Coupon with TGG!
- For a week or two prior to signing up to TGG collect 1-2 newspapers per person living in your house by either buying your weekly paper, getting inserts from friends & family, etc
- Sign-up for your $1 trial (which is SUPER easy to cancel if you don’t like it, I promise!!)
- Each week you’ll login to your account to find your lists & it’ll tell you exactly how much you’ll save on each item, how great of a deal it is, etc.

Tips on making Coupons a Success:
- Buying multiples of papers gives you multiples of your coupons & that is great for when there are great sales on that item (or when they end up FREE!)
- Stockpiling is key when couponing, sure it seems crazy to buy 15 boxes of your favorite cereal but at $1 or less a box, it’s worth it so you won’t have to buy it full price later!
- Check the expiration dates when stockpiling & if you can stockpile until the expiration date.
- Try to stockpile 3-4 months in advance, it’s really great to not have to worry about food & necessities when you get sick or lose your job.
- If it’s free I ALWAYS get it (if I don’t use it I can give it to someone around me or to the needy)…I’ve only not gotten ONE free item & it was this past week…. pimento cheese (ew!)
- HotCouponWorld (HCW) is a great source to help couponers but takes a bit more time then TGG because you have to search for deals put your math to good use, etc
- One forum I always frequent on HCW is the CVS board because they have fliers before hand so I can see what coupons I might want to order extras from on ebay.
- When ordering coupons on ebay pay attention to the price & you can almost always get the best deals with Buy It Now. And you don’t have to linger around hoping you win or get into a bidding war. When ordering coupons do the math to make sure it’ll still be a super deal in the end.
- Oh and don’t say you don’t have time. You go grocery shopping? You have time. I would suggest strongly TGG for those of you with “no time”. It takes maybe an extra hour to get your lists, prep your coupons, print your lists each week. If you save just $50/week…wouldn’t you say it’s worth it? You just paid yourself $50 for a hour of grocery prepping!
- If you are apart of TGG or even if you are thinking to join, you should go sign-up to the forum that is linked with it! It can be of great help!

Oh and a big myth of couponing is that the coupons are only for junky, carb filled, bad for you foods….uh NO. My husband would kill me if that’s all we had in our house, we have a bunch of organic frozen veggies (okey we have only corn because we enjoy raw veggies more) that cost .$69 each (usually $4/box), chicken & turkey in the freezer, fresh veggies, yummy cereals (mini wheats are my fav!) and not just the brightly colored super sugar cereals are cheap. We also have more shampoo, conditioner, razors, baby oil then we will ever know what to do with but I got because it was free.

By the way TGG & HCW didn’t pay for this post, this is a sincere post about how I do my coupon thang! Watch out for a post on how I organize my MANY coupons & stay sane!