One of the questions I’m asked most often is, “What are double coupons and how do I get them? How do I double?”First of all, let’s talk about what double coupons are.Most of the time when you hear “double coupons” it means that when you use your manufacturer’s coupon for 50¢ the store will double it by adding 50¢ making your savings a dollar.My favorite stores, Wegmans and Giant double coupons up to 99¢. This means that they’ll double my 99¢ coupon – making my savings worth $1.98. Exciting stuff right? You clipped one coupon and it counted as double!Here’s an example:Dawn detergent – 99¢Manufacturer’s Coupon – 20¢Store Doubles Coupon – 20¢Final Price = 59¢ (40% savings)Sometimes, when stores say they will double your coupons up to 99¢ that means that while they’ll double your coupon, they won’t do a true double if the amount will end up being more than…

For the record, this *isn’t* the coupon stacking you’re looking for. It is however how my coupons look when I get backed up. And the Diet Dr. P is a requirement to get through it. 😉 Today we start getting into the exciting stuff – the fancy schmancy tricks you may not be aware of, but all those big time savers do and use often.We’re focusing today on Coupon Stacking.What is coupon stacking?The simple answer? It’s when you can use two coupons (one store specific coupon and one manufacturer coupon) on one item.Say for example, you buy Pantene and you have a Target coupon (you know the kind I’m talking about here, the ones that print out at the register? Or maybe you got some in the mail directly from Target?) and you also have a manufacturer’s coupon that you clipped from the Sunday paper flyer. Guess what? You don’t have to choose!…

Hey guys! I’m still a smidge under the weather but I’m here! So you’ve got your container, you’ve got your coupons and you’ve done your match ups (or so kindly let someone else do the hard work for you) and you’re ready to head off to the store and snag all those deals!Whoa there sister. Wait just a minute. How do you know that sale price is really a sale? One of the big aspects of saving is knowing when to buy and when to wait. Say you have chicken breasts on your grocery list this week and you’ve checked and hey, your store that routinely runs chicken at $2.99 per pound is now running it at $2.59 per pound. Major savings right? Maybe…but you may be missing out. What if another local store runs a sale on chicken breasts for $1.99 per pound once a month? That $2.59 isn’t looking so stellar anymore,…

Hello guys and gals, are you still with me? It’s awfully quiet out there…Let’s just dive right in today, shall we? The first thing anyone ever asks me when they find out I’m a couponer is, “OK, but how much do you really save?” and then their jaw drops when I tell them I routinely save anywhere from 40 – 98% on my purchases. Here’s proof:That’s 98% off at Target folks. Now, I know what you’re saying to your computer screen right now. “Well sure Christina, you saved 98% on three of the same item. But what about big trips to the store?” Here’s the truth. I don’t make big trips to the store and I don’t spend my days running from store to store either. I simply don’t shop the way most people do and today we’ll take a look at the first step toward changing your shopping habits – matching…

Hey guys! Sorry today’s 31 Days post is a little late going up. I’ve been under the weather today and it’s hubby’s birthday so we’ve been busy. Are you ready to dig a little deeper into savings? Awesome! Let’s go!Today I wanted to take a brief moment to talk about all that legal mumbo jumbo you see on your coupons. Every coupon has terms and conditions, but I can promise you that even some stores don’t know what all that stuff means. But you will! Let’s take a look:OK consumers take a look at that picture. See where it says “limit one coupon per purchase”? That means you can use one coupon per item you purchase. This coupon also says you can use up to 4 of this same coupon in one trip to the store. So if you have four coupons you can buy four shampoos and use them all. You might also…

Did you decide on how you wanted to organize and store your coupons? Good! Now let’s talk about where you find ’em.1. NewspapersI buy several copies of the newspaper each week depending on how many coupon inserts will be in the paper or how interested I am in the coupons that should be in the inserts (coupons are slightly different by region). At the first of the month, I generally buy 4 papers. On weekends with a major holiday, I don’t buy any. (Did you know that on weekends with a major holiday there are no coupon inserts? Well now you do!)Want to find out how many inserts are slated to be in the paper each week? Check out Sunday Coupon Preview by clicking the picture below.2. Coupon WebsitesIf you don’t want the hassle of buying newspapers every weekend, you can also print coupons online. Coupon outlets like RedPlum and Smartsource (who…

OK guys, I’m back with my first “official” 31 Days post. I did notice that I have some new friends following along and I cannot tell you how excited that makes me. I can’t wait to get to know all of you. Which brings me to a little housekeeping: If at any time you have a question, please, please, please leave a comment and I’ll be glad to answer you directly. My goal is to do maybe a weekly wrap up where I answer reader questions, so keep ’em coming!Today, before we even talk about coupons and savings, I want you to focus on how you’re going to keep all of that free money (because yes, coupons are free money!) organized.Luckily, you have options. Let’s take a look:1. The Traditional Accordion FileThis type of organizing is great if you don’t plan on clipping every coupon in the universe (and that’s totally OK!) or…