Things to Know As You Start Using Pocket Your Dollars was originally based on Barbara Clark’s personal experience growing from a Pocket Your Dollars’ newbie to a Pocketeer (aka an avid Pocket Your Dollars’ follower). She learned these things over time and hopes others will benefit by having them compiled together. Since this post was first published in August 2010 with 7 things to know, Pocket Your Dollars has grown and Carrie has added a few more helpful tips for getting started.
Stop Clipping Coupons
Did you hear that? You are using a website that advocates the use of coupons, but you are encouraged to stop clipping every coupon that comes in the Sunday paper. Instead, you will only clip the coupons you need that correspond with sale items for the week or other household necessities. The shopping lists on Pocket Your Dollars cross-reference which coupons you need for the different sale items, so clip what you need, or find coupons for non-sale items in the Pocket Your Dollars’ coupon database.
Each Sunday pull the coupon insert magazine thingys out of your newspaper and write the date of the Sunday paper they came in on the front (if you forget to mark them you’ll find the date in teeny print on the exterior spine of the insert). You’ll notice that the insert’s publisher’s name is printed across the top – whether Procter & Gamble, Smart Source, Red Plum, General Mills, Unilever, or Kellogg’s. Taken together, you’ll be able to find any coupon you need using the date and publisher’s name.
Barbara keeps notes about which coupons she uses from an insert. On the front of each coupon insert, she writes the word “Gone” or “Used” and underlines it. Whenever she cuts out and uses a coupon from the insert, she writes the name of the coupon under the appropriate caption. This way, she don’t need to page through looking for a coupon that I have already used.
Every few months you’ll want to purge your collection of coupon inserts following Carrie’s coupon purging system. You don’t have to throw out your expired coupons, instead re-purpose them following these ideas.
Round Up Extra Coupon Inserts
Talk to your neighbors, friends, co-workers, to see if they receive the weekly newspaper and are willing to give you their coupon inserts. Otherwise, consider purchasing 2 or 3 home-delivered copies of the paper since one $2 in coupons pays for the pay itself. Having multiple copies allows you to buy a couple of any item that is on sale at an amazing price. There’s no need to buy enough to get through to the end of time, but it is nice to buy enough on sale to get through to the next sale. Rearranging your grocery shopping so that you move to buy everything on sale at rock bottom prices, then buy enough quantity to get through to the next sale, is an important strategy to reducing your grocery budget.
Carrie here: If you want to order more Sunday papers, check out Discount Newspapers or, if you live in Minnesota or Western Wisconsin, order a Star Tribune or St. Cloud Times subscription via Pocket Your Dollars to get a free gift with purchase (our offers change over time, but we always share the best ones available in our weekly Sunday Coupon Preview posts).
Create a Second Email Address
Set up a new e-mail address that is dedicated to online deals, offers and coupons. Use this email address when websites require you to register as part of a freebie offer or in exchange for providing you a coupon. It keeps your primary email account from getting bogged down.
Besides an email address you may need to enter a phone number in some online forms. Use Google Voice to create a new number that you’re comfortable giving out.
Bring Extra Coupons to the Store
Yes, I already said that you only clip the coupons you need that correspond with items on your list. No more lugging around a big coupon file box. However, you may find value in allowing yourself to bring a few, and I literally mean a few, extra coupons with you.
This strategy is particularly important if you shop at a store where a certain number of coupons are doubled in value or if you need to buy $xx of product in order to qualify for a particular promotion. If an item you intended to buy is out of stock you will want or need a replacement on the spot; a rain check isn’t a suitable alternative in this instance.
I, Carrie, am a rule-follower at heart and like black and white limits, so I allow herself no more than 5 extra coupons in her binder at any time. Plus, I always clips coupons for completely free products, no purchase necessary, and keep those in expiration date order in the front of my pocket-sized binder that I bring to the store.
Print Coupons As They Are Available
Coupons that are available for printing from the internet are almost always available in limited supply and/or on a time-limited basis. If you hear of a coupon that you’d love to have, then you may want to print it right then and there. We provide printable coupon round-ups throughout the week that highlight the newest printable coupons.
I, Carrie, used to print all the internet coupons, but couldn’t find a coupon organization system that kept me from throwing away 75% of them. Now, I print the very best of the best online coupons and those that I know I’ll use because the best coupons are short-lived.
Learn Rock Bottom Prices
Not all sales are created equal. There’s only way to tell the difference between a great sale price and a mediocre one and that is to learn the rock bottom prices for items. I recommend printing out a copy of Aldi’s everyday prices, found in any Aldi shopping list, and bringing it to the store. It will help you know if something truly is a good deal. Carrie aims to beat Aldi’s price with a sale combined with a coupon. Aldi’s regular prices are updated twice per year.
Read the Frequently Asked Questions
Read through Pocket Your Dollars’ Frequently Asked Questions to learn even more about the most commonly asked questions.
Your turn: What other tips should those just starting out with Pocket Your Dollars know?
About Carrie Rocha
There are times I end up not using a coupon at the store (wrong size package for example). What I’ve learned to do is to write the insert description on the back of the coupon when I cut it out (for example, 8/8SS) so when I get home from shopping I can find that insert in my file and put the coupon back into it for next time. This way I do not have a bunch of loose coupons and if I need the coupon again I can find it in the correct insert.
I only print coupons for products I know I will use. I’ve been discarding way too many coupons, and ink and paper is expensive. I do, though, leave coupons next to products if I know I’m not going to use them and I hope other people find them and use them!
I have, thanks.
I want to use the coupon and save some money but always forget to take with me and not being prepared before i go shopping. I don’t have the habit to use it since I’m not used to this. But I really really want ot use it. This text is great guidline, however implementing is hard for someone.
Carrie– if you don’t have any it would be great to open up Voluntary Chapters to help out indivituals like me. I know for sure i’ll join.
Or someone can help me to get into this habit, I live in Rogers. Thanks !
I also keep each insert type in a folder with the type of insert marked on the folder. In the folder I have the inserts ordered by date with the newest on top.
I think catching Carrie on her TCL spots is helpful. She talks about a couple good deals each time, and they are fairly easy to get, at least when I have seen them. I also think laying it out in terms of your integrity (not lying to get coupons, or mobbing tearpads, for example) helps set a tone … free isn’t just free.
I still clip my coupons and put them in a binder. I have my binder sorted (tabed) by the store map at the SLP Rainbow (do about 95% of my shopping at that store)
I find so many unadvertised sales – or 50% off deals weekly, that if I only went off PYD Insert Method, I would miss out on money maker deals!
I waffle back and forth between clipping and not clipping, so I end up doing a combination of both. I really like to have coupons with me when I go to Target, because of all the clearance items and random sales. My husband will also think of things that he needs for cooking (he’s a stay at home dad and does most of the cooking) while we are at the store, so it’s nice to have them on hand. If I have multiple copies of the inserts, I usually only clip one set and file the others, that way if I’m planning to something that I want multiple coupons, I just go and clip those, but I still have some handy when I go shopping too. I think the key is figuring out what works best for you! :)
I also waver between clipping and not clipping coupons. I still haven’t figured out a system that works 100% in order to stick with it. While I love PYD’s site many of the deals aren’t for me. I use it as a guide but like others mention I love being able to have access to my coupons for the unexpected deals. Like once I was in Target and a very expensive brand of salad dressing was clearanced. Well, I knew I had coupons for that exact brand and was able to get them for less then .25cents each!! Had I not had my coupons I wouldn’t have gotten them. But I’ve tried the according style sorting of coupons and it’s never enough room. So then I went to the binder style system and well it’s just so big. So now once again am in a quandery as to what to do. Any other suggestions?
Just a thought-if you don’t have the appropriate coupons with you at the time you see a spectacular sale, just buy the items and bring in the coupons later with the receipt. This is helpful if you frequent the same stores regularly because then you KNOW you’ll be back to that store eventually so set the coupons and receipt aside.
Mary-
Good idea as long as you know how much time they give you to go back in with your missed coupons. My Target will only do it the same day as the purchase was made. What have other people found?
This is good – thank you Barbara and Carrie! I’ve been a Pocketeer for about a year and hadn’t come across all of the tips listed.
I keep my coupons in the glove compartment of my car. I pull the ones I think I’ll need before I go into the store. I don’t cut nearly as many as I imagine most people do, though. This is just what works for me. I’m trying to be more mindful of printing coupons I’ll never use and buying stuff I don’t need, so limiting the coupons to the glove compartment is helpful for me. I know if I had small children it would be a totally different story for me.
Like others, I go back and forth on clipping. For now, I am still clipping. I clip them and then put them into two different envelopes: food/taxable items. Within the envelopes I sort them by various topics (meat, liquids, frozen etc). Then as i make my grocery list, I take out the coupons that I will use at a particular store and attach them to my list (Paper Clip). I still bring my two envelopes with me to the store (business size envelopes) bc they fit into my purse. This way I am not sorting through the envelopes while at the store but if I need to they are there for me.
I disagree with not clipping coupons – this is a waste of time to me, as it takes longer to research what deals there are and then search for the coupon. For me, when I clip coupons for things I regularly buy (or items I would buy if they were cheap enough) I get a better understanding of what coupons I have, and then when I see an ad I can often recall that I have a coupon to add to the sale price or store coupon for additional savings. Especially since PYD doesn’t do the match ups for stores in my area, if I only did the insert method I would pretty much have to search the database every time I wondered if there was an additional coupon.
I also agree with PP that having the coupons clipped and with me means that I can get great steals on clearance items – Target is classic for this!
I cannot install your program so I cannot print my coupouns can you tell me why? Thanks Colleen