Overwhelmed newbie - what if I don't get circulars?

[EmK]

I love the "deals" lists -- but can I use them, if I don't get a Sunday paper?? Our local paper is awful, and the nearest metro area paper is too expensive, so I get NO coupon circulars. Is there a way to do this with the online circulars (especially if I'm looking for deals from past weeks)?

Thanks for any help (I did try to search, but "circulars" just returns too many results!).

Em

[vagabond2]

Originally Posted by EmK

I love the "deals" lists -- but can I use them, if I don't get a Sunday paper?? Our local paper is awful, and the nearest metro area paper is too expensive, so I get NO coupon circulars. Is there a way to do this with the online circulars (especially if I'm looking for deals from past weeks)?

Thanks for any help (I did try to search, but "circulars" just returns too many results!).

Em

if you got a newspaper for $2...I pay $1.50 for Sunday only.....then you would definitely get your money's worth x 100fold

where area are you in..... perhaps someone close to you can advise

[Sylvia]

I agree. Even if your sunday paper was $3.50 each you are still getting a bunch of money in Coupons.

Most Stores these days have an online version of their advertisements and most have the ability to create and print a shopping list.. Just go to their website and search for the online ad. Some even have their own printables.

I am not aware of any online "circulars" but... you can try calling and emailing companies for coupons. Praise their product and ask for coupons. Often you will get coupons for FREE procucts or nice high dollar ones.

Just remember even if the savings is small at first it's a step in the right direction.

[Frances A]

Money is extremely tight for me so I don't usually buy the Sunday paper but have three people saving the ads for me. I try to look at the coupon previews each week and decide whether to buy the newspaper.

Keep trying the lists and using coupons. It is worth the time to just watch the sales and start stockpiling even if you don't have all the necessary coupons. Try to focus on a few items each week to stockpile that your family regularly uses (ie peanut butter, Chex Mix, cereal, etc.) and watch your savings add up.

[Kristinemomof3]

If I didn't have access to good papers, I would just order weekly from a clipping service. Pick the coupons that you want, several have the weekly inserts listed, just do it weekly, or else you'll not get organized and won't have the coupons when sales come around.

[Jenng]

I agree, I have used a clipping service and it was awesome. Coupons were cheap and came really fast. It made it easy for me to stock up when the sales came because I had so many of each coupon. They usually come in sets of 20.

[ddf]

Also, sometimes an insert will look like it doesn't have any good coupons....until later, when you could have used some of those coupons to get the "deals". You WILL use some out of those inserts, and you WILL save way more than the cost of the paper. And you really NEED one set of papers/inserts for each member of your household. It really makes stockpiling so much easier. Hang in there, it will get easier.

[Djane]

I agree with the others check out a clipping service or ebay.

[ameeker]

I was also very overwhelmed at first, but after about 2 months I was completely hooked. I've now been doing this for a year and am still learning, so it's definitely a learning process and it takes time to get it down pat. You might try making a commitment to this for a specific time period, say 3 months or 6 months etc. You should also concentrate on making a price book, the directions for which are in Stephanie's ebook. A good price book takes at least 12 weeks, maybe longer for some items, and you don't need coupons to make it.

Now on not having coupon inserts, that's trickier to overcome. On this website under "grocery deals by state", if there is a printable internet coupon for the product there's usually a link in the listing, so yes you can use this site even if you don't get the newspaper, at least for some items. In terms of getting the paper I generally buy 4 copies of the Detroit Free Press which cost $2.00 each, and it saves me about $100-200/week on my groceries, so an $8 investment for a $100+ savings is well worth it to me. When we visited my brother I ended up having to buy the Chicago Tribune which cost $3.50, so that week I only bought 3, just because it was such an expensive paper. Can I tell you how often I wished that I'd bought that 4th Trib? I used so many of those coupons (and I could tell they were from the Trib because I only had 3 instead of the usual 4), that I know for a fact the Trib coupons saved me many times over the investment cost of the newspaper.

The other way you can save money without newspaper coupons is to get membership cards at your stores. Many grocery stores have these, as well as CVS and Kmart - to name a few. You can sometimes load on-line coupons on to your store card, and frequently once you've given them your contact info they will send you store coupons (either thru email or snail mail or if your lucky BOTH). The e-coupons loaded onto your store card can frequently be used with manufacturer and store coupons, so they can really save you a ton of money in the long run. The only downside to e-coupons is that typically you can only get the deduction on one item, not multiples for stockpiling.

Just take it one step at a time, and when you feel overwhelmed come on to the forum and vent a little or a lot as the case may be. Also I should confess that even after a year of doing this I still make mistakes and occasionally get the seriously inept, coupon resistant cashier and let's not forget the frequent register errors. Only now I know when I'm being robbed blind, so I get my fanny to customer service and demand my money back. Good luck honey.

[cboyer]

what about redplum, isnt that available to mail now?