Prepare for Kroger Coupon Armageddon!

Okay, that sounds a little frightening.  It's actually exciting!  There are one billion great coupon sites that will do this better than I could, and I will definitely link to them.  I am not turning into a coupon site, don't worry. But I've decided to write my own series only because I've had a bunch of people ask me, and sometimes it's just better to hear it from someone you know than a stranger.  Plus, since I've just started out, I'm not far off from where these lovely new people will be.   I'll be linking to more expert sites, but let's get started with my take!

Here are a few great links to get you started.  Really, they all do a much better job than me.

-Tipnut's basics on coupon options

-Couponing 101's getting started guide

-Five Dollar Dinner's take on using a binder

Getting Started:  The Very Basics

Before you even hit the store, there is a lot of prep involved.  This gets easier after the first time, so don't freak out.  I'm going to break it into bite sized actions.  Here's stage one.

Clip Coupons
I'm a dummy and honestly didn't know what the coupons from the paper looked like.  Before I took the class, I was told to clip coupons.  I pulled the Kroger weekly ad from the paper because I thought that it was coupons. It was confusing because I didn't SEE coupons, but I didn't know what I was looking for.  Here you can see what you might find in your Sunday paper.  Usually it's either Red Plum, Smart Source, or Proctor & Gamble.  There might be one or two in a paper.   If there are great coupons, you may want to grab more than one Sunday paper. You can also buy coupons online at places like Ebay, A Full Cup, or The Coupon Clippers.  Coupons are also available online at places like Coupons.com or Smartsource.com.  Target has their own printable coupons that you can use alongside other non-Target-specific coupons.  (More on that later.)  In addition to paper coupons, you can load digital coupons from Kroger or Cellfire.com.

Sort Coupons
Some people like a binder for this, but I prefer something like a recipe box.  Mine came from the dollar store and works really well.  As for tabs, here's a list to go by.  You might want to make your own.  I have something like 30 tabs for different things.  If you think you might not want certain tabs listed, start out with them all and then see after a few weeks--if you have a few empty sections, dump them.

Here is the list of tabs I got from my coupon class.  I've adapted my box to fit me better.  For ex:  I don't use the "bags" tab and use the term "drinks" rather than "beverages."  You might want to cut out some of the hygiene tabs, but DON'T.  You'll get a ton of coupons and do want them separated. 

Baby

Bags

Baking

Batteries

Beverages

Boxed

Bread

Breakfast

Candy

Canned

Cleaner: dishes

Cleaner: household

Cleaner: laundry

Condiments/Dressings

Crackers/chips

Dairy

Dental

Fragrance

Frozen

Hygiene: Body

Hygiene: Deodorant

Hygiene: Shaving

Hygiene: Face & Makeup

Hygiene: Feminine

Hygiene: Hair

Hygiene: Soap/Lotion

Jelly & Peanut Butter

Kroger

Meat

Medicine

Mexican

Misc.

Office Supply

Organics

Paper Products

Pasta & Rice

Pets

Pillsbury

Popcorn

Produce

Restaurant

Spices

Snacks

Target

Yogurt

More on coupons hopefully tomorrow.  As I said, little bites!  Sunday is coming just around the corner, so get that binder or box ready for your coupons.