Coupon Armageddon Pt 2: Go Surfing

Welcome to my second post for those of you interested in starting out with coupons BY someone who has just started out with coupons.  Remember that I will be linking to sites that have amazing content, great deals, and a whole wealth of knowledge that I don't.  This is just my user-friendly take.  

Part Two: Go Surfing

After you start clipping and organizing your coupons, the next step is a digital one.  GET ONLINE.  This is a multi-pronged approach and is probably where I spend the most time, for now.  I'll break it down into the types of sites you need to be checking and what to do when you're there.  

Coupon Match-Up and Bargain Sites

These sites will be your new best friend.  Basically, this is where I go on a daily basis, both to find what to buy in the grocery stores and to find daily deals.  It's amazing: they do the work for you.  You will find what is on sale at what store and what coupons to match for the best deals.  There are billions, but here are a few of my favorites:

Money Saving Mom

Couponing 101

Passion for Savings 

Wicked Cool Deals

You'll find lots of links within these sites, so if you don't like the format or the site doesn't do as much with the stores you use, you can easily find another.  Often they integrate and one site that doesn't do Kroger match-ups links to another site that does and so forth. There's lots of couponing love to go around.  Even if you're not ready to hit the stores yet, go to these sites daily to see what great deals they've found, and on a weekly basis, check the sites for deals at your favorite stores.  You can also find great resources and hear testimonials on frugal living like how to pay cash for you home and how to plan and freeze meals to save money.

Digital Coupons

These are coupons that will load to your Kroger and Randalls special customer cards.  Basically, you'll create a username and password, give them the digits from your valued customer card, and then you can go through a list of digital coupons to add to your card that will go through AUTOMATICALLY when you check out at the store. (Wait an hour between adding and shopping, just to be sure.)  You can also do this at Kroger's site for their store. 

Cellfire

Shortcuts

Kroger

I'm really bad about remembering to load coupons, and I still save money without them.  But recently I MADE some money on items at Kroger by loading these coupons on my card. I had a paper coupon for $2 off, plus a digital for $2 off and the item was only $3 total.  So I got $1 credit for that transaction.  (If you ever have an overage, it will only apply to that transaction.  You will not receive store credit.) Even if you're also using a paper coupon, these digital coupons will work for the SAME ITEM.  That's called being stackable, and stacking coupons is one of the best ways to save.  It's also super easy and requires nothing of you in the store but to use your card!

Printable Coupons

In addition to online digital coupons, there are online coupons that you can print at home.  Not every store accepts these, and recently, my Kroger stopped taking them, so I rarely use them.  (Every Kroger is different, so yours might work--you need to ask!)  Target and CVS for sure accept them, and Target has its own digital coupons that work only for Target.  You will need to install a program on your computer so that the bar codes will print correctly, but it's easy and the sites will direct you toward the software when you go to print.  I think the limit for one computer is two of each coupon.   There also may be a limit of the number of coupons that can be printed, period, so if you see a site talking about a HOT coupon, it means that the coupon will be popular and may run out quickly.  

All You

Coupons.com

Kroger

Target

Tips:

-Do NOT click "print all" when you go to the coupon site.  I did this once because there were like 12 pages and I didn't like going through clicking each one.  It printed 55 PAGES of coupons and emptied out my ink cartridge. 

-If this seems like a lot of work, do what I do.  If you are checking the coupon sites and see a great deal using a printed coupon, the site will almost always include the link to that coupon.  I usually ONLY print these if a site presents a good deal that I want to use.

-Know your store before you print coupons.  As I said, my local Kroger does not accept them.  My next post will be about how to choose your store, so stay tuned!