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This is the final post in our Couponing 101 series. Here you can find Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. Thanks for joining us!

Now that you’re ready to start couponing, here are some tips and pieces of advice to remember along the way.

You won’t be able to jump in head first right away. It takes time to build a stock of coupons. You’ll definitely be able to find some deals with just a few weeks’ of inserts and the Internet, but try to build up a 6-week stock of inserts.

Don’t search everywhere on the Internet for match-ups. I wouldn’t recommend using more than two sites, because most of the deals will overlap. I personally only use one site. If you’re scouring all the deal sites to find every single deal, you’re wasting your time. You may end up with a free salad dressing you wouldn’t have otherwise known about, but is that really worth an extra hour of your time?

Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a great deal. You can’t get them all every time – but remember, if it’s a good deal now, it’ll be a good deal again a few weeks down the road.

You don’t always have to use coupons. Sometimes I just don’t have the extra hour or two to do match-ups, and that’s okay. I do hate paying full price for groceries, but I don’t feel too guilty when I spend more than usual because I’m saving the rest of the time. Paying full price does, however, make me thankful for coupons – so I’m happy to make time for them the next week.

Likewise, it’s easy to burn out on couponing. You may not feel like getting papers, printing coupons, or finding the match-ups. That’s okay too. It’s healthy to take a break from it now and then.

It’s okay to splurge. If you’re only spending $20 for $50 worth of groceries, and you really want something that’s not on sale – it’s okay to buy it now and then because you’re saving so much.

You don’t have to have 12 bottles of ketchup or enough toilet paper to last 3 years. Remember that sales cycles are usually about 6 weeks, so just try to get enough to last until the next big sale. True, if I get toilet paper for $2 or boxes of rice for free, I buy more than a 6 week supply – but I also have room to store it. If that’s the case for you, go for it – but only if you’ll end up using it. (In fact, back in July there were such good sales on toilet paper that I really stocked up. I still have 3 rolls of that left. I don’t remember exactly what I paid, but I know it was well under $15 for a five-monthly supply of TP!)

Forget brand loyalty if you’re couponing. You’ll be buying tons of different brands and trying many products you might not have otherwise tried.

Above all else, remember that just like anything else, couponing takes time to learn. You probably won’t save 80% off your grocery bill the first time you go, but aim to save as much as possible. You’ll get better at it as you go along, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the coupon policy at your grocery store, and you’ll be very happy with the amount of money you start to save at checkout. Good luck!

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This is Part 6 of our Couponing 101 series. Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. The final post in the series can be viewed here.

Our next shopping trip example will be to a store that doubles coupons. We’ll pick Harris Teeter. Harris Teeter doubles coupons up to 99 cents, and anything above that is redeemed at face value. Review your coupon matchup site to see what’s a good deal this week, and let’s get ready to go to the store.

You’ve got a sore throat and notice Ricola cough drops are on sale, or maybe you want to stock your medicine cabinet. They’re BOGO for $2.19, so the price of one bag is $1.09 (remember, BOGO at HT means ½ off each item). Our coupon is for 75 cents off. Since HT doubles coupons, our coupon is actually worth $1.50 off the price of one. That means the cough drops are free! Remember, if you have two coupons you can have two free bags – good for stocking up your medicine cabinet or donating to a local charity.

Remember that some stores double coupons up to different amounts. The Kroger in my area doubles up to 50 cents, and anything above 50 cents is worth face value. But that policy varies even by store, because some stores will double up to 50 cents, and everything from 51 cents to a dollar is worth one dollar. Be sure to ask your store about their double coupon policy.

Some of the stores that double coupons occasionally have special coupon events. Every couple months or so, Harris Teeter has either Super Doubles or Triples. At Super Doubles, all coupons up to $2.00 double. This really lets you get some amazing deals. Suppose you have a coupon for $2 off a Digiorno frozen pizza, which is on sale for $4.99. Your $2 coupon doubles to $4, and your pizza would cost 99 cents!

Triples is just like doubles, but instead of doubling coupons, all coupons up to 99 cents are tripled. So a 75 cents off coupon would be worth $2.25 off. So if you have 75 cents off Axe deoderant, which is on sale for $2.99, you only pay 74 cents! Recently, Harris Teeter held a “Super Triples” event where they even tripled $1 coupons!

Coupon events usually last a week, though sometimes they may be as short as a single day. They’re usually filled with freebies, but freebies and the lowest-price items tend to sell out very quickly. I would recommend going to the store as soon as they open on the first day of the event to get the most deals. Most stores offer rain checks that never expire, so if a sale item you wanted is out of stock, the store will issue you a certificate stating that you can have it for that price – for example, Healthy Choice frozen meals for $1.99. If you had a 75 cents off coupon that would have tripled to make the meal free, you’ll be able to use your rain check at the next coupon event. Your coupon might be expired, but remember that new coupons for the same products tend to come out every 6 weeks or so.

Coupon events do have restrictions, so again, be familiar with their policy. Pay attention to make sure all your coupons scan and multiply at check out. Most importantly, have fun while you’re learning how to do it and you’ll see that coupons really are worth it.

Stay tuned for our final post, where I’ll give you some last minute tips and tricks to help you on your couponing adventure!

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This is Part 5 of our Couponing 101 series. Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, or click here for Part 6!

We’re about to hit the store, but I would suggest organizing your coupons before you go. I try to keep mine in an order that makes sense for the layout of the store so that I’m not running back and forth trying to find everything. This is easier if it’s a store you frequent so you know the basic layout, but you can still do it even if you’re shopping at a new store.

First, categorize your coupons. I put them in stacks for pharmacy items/toiletry items, grocery (anything not produce, frozen, or refrigerated), refrigerated items, and frozen items. If you’re familiar with the store, you may want to further organize – put the grocery section items located near each other together in the stack. Then figure out what order you want to shop. I usually do pharmacy/toiletries first, then groceries, then refrigerated food, then frozen food, but do whatever works for you. I stack my coupons so that the first ones I’ll use are on top, and I carry them in an envelope – no fancy coupon organizer for me (but Christmas is coming soon!).

Now let’s head to the store. Let’s say we’re going to a grocery store that doesn’t double coupons – Food Lion. So let’s imagine your first coupon is for Dove Body Wash, on sale this week for $3.99. You have a $2 off coupon. Grab the body wash for $1.99, start a stack of used coupons in your cart, and cross that off your list.

Eventually we come to Hamburger Helper meals, which are on sale buy-one-get-one free for $1.49. Food Lion’s coupon policy means that each box would ring up at half price. You don’t have to buy two to get the half price deal. I buy one for 75 cents. I also have a 50 cents off Hamburger Helper coupon, so that makes it 25 cents. Suppose I have another 50 cents off coupon, so I pick up another box for 25 cents. That’s two boxes of Hamburger Helper for 50 cents, when the regular price of two boxes would have been $2.98!

We pick up some other items, then hit the frozen foods section. We want to buy Jimmy Dean breakfast biscuits. We have a coupon for $1.50 off and they should be on sale for $3.99, so we should get them for $2.49. But when we look at the price in-store, they’re not on sale. They’re at regular price, $4.99. This does happen sometimes, especially when the matchup blogger lives in a different region where occasionally a sale doesn’t match up. It can be disappointing to find out you won’t get the great deal you were expecting, but it happens from time to time. At this point, it’s up to you to decide if $3.49 is too much to pay for the biscuits. Did you specifically need breakfast food? If so, pick something else as a cheaper alternative. If you normally buy Jimmy Dean biscuits for $4.99 anyway, then $3.49 is still a great deal. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth it in the event the price doesn’t match up.

Now we’re ready to check out. Give the cashier your store loyalty card first, ring up the items, then hand over the coupons and watch your total drop! If you notice any problems, ask questions and don’t forget that you should have a copy of the coupon policy on hand. Now it’s time to enjoy those groceries and especially the savings!

In our next post, we’ll visit a store with double coupons.