Things to Consider When...

Dealing with Coupons.

In the holiday spirit, I have become obsessed with coupon collecting. Not going to lie, it's super fun :)
Here are a couple of tips and tricks that I have found helpful :

1- Get your priorities straight...

Before I even go looking for coupons or deals, I make a general list of the things that I want to look for and I prioritize them. This helps give you a direction and it makes it easier to say "NO" to something that you don't need that may be on sale. Lets face it, yes that DVD player is on a really good deal, but you don't have a TV.
Why on earth would you spend your hard earned money on something that you might not ever use. 
Use the list.
Let the coupons work for your wallet, not against it. 


2- Check your Receipts and Do Some Research... 

Go ahead and dig out your old receipts and ask yourself some questions; 

Where do I spend the most?

On average, how much do I spend and in what ways?

Finding the answers to these questions gives you something to build off of. Figure out if your favorite stores have some type of membership rewards. Do your research and see if getting one will actually benefit you in the long run. 
I shop at Target a lot (I also work there, ha) and so I got a debit red card. Now every time I shop, I save 5%. It didn't cost me a dime and I get to save money! 


3- Get your Sources Right


So you are in line getting rung up when one of two things happen; your coupons don't apply or you have them from the wrong store. How can you keep this from happening? Read the fine print and prepare what coupons you are going to use by reading your list (that you made earlier). 
Coupons ALWAYS have catches.
Make sure you know the catch for each one. 


4- Check out the Printables!


One of the easiest places to find coupons is online! You can either check group coupon sites or go to a specific companies webpage. Here are some of the places that I like to visit:
http://www.coupons.com/ (has general coupons)
http://www.retailmenot.com/ (you can find amazing deals on here, you just have to sort the good sources from the bad)
http://coupons.target.com/ ( okay okay, more target stuff. But there are some really good ones on here!)
http://www.couponmap.com/ (This one has more coupons for smaller places, but there are still some really good ones on here)


5- Fake Email


Hate getting junk mail? 
So do I. 
But occasionally that company that keeps sending you stuff will send you a coupon. I actually have a separate email account that I use just for getting coupons. I will give this one out to the cashier that asks (and sign it up online) to get coupons. That way it helps separate my personal mail and then everything else. But when the time comes that I need coupons, I have another place to check for them. 

.......................

Well I hope this has helped some. I haven't been couponing for every long but I plan to continue, and to find more ways to save. 

Thanks for reading, you are wonderful! :)
Kendra Ann