Want to learn how to coupon but don't know where to begin? In a few easy steps you will be on your way to saving money at Publix!!
Step 1 - Learning to Shop Sales
When most people shop they usually will make a list of what they need and go to the store and purchase the items. What most people don't realize is that by shopping in this manner there is little to no chance of saving a significant amount of money since most of the items on their list will not be on sale. To realize a significant savings you will need to start paying attention to and planning your shopping list around sales and pricing trends of the store. By doing this you can purchase items when you don't immediately need them for a discounted price so that when you do need them you won't be paying full price. Initially when you start this process you will more than likely see an increase in your shopping bill because not only will you be purchasing items that you need but also sale items that you don't need. Within a few weeks time period, however, you will start to see your stock pile grow and your list of "needed" items will go down along with your overall grocery bill.
Step 2 - Using Coupons
Here is where you can start saving a substantial amount. By pairing sale items with coupons you can save as much as 100% on an item. So where do you find coupons? Here's a few places to check!
- In the store - Publix has two different sales fliers that they put out each month. One is green in color and focuses on health and beauty items. The other is yellow in color and focuses on food, cleaning and paper product items. In each of these fliers there are usually several coupons that you can use. These coupons are Publix store coupons and can be used with manufacturer coupons and in some instances competitor coupons. This means that for one item you may use up to 3 coupons (one Publix, one comepetitor and one manufacturer coupon)!! Publix also from time to time offers special coupon booklets. These are usually found in the kiosk with the sales fliers or may be in the main isles of the store. In most cases these coupons are Publix coupons that can be paired with other coupons for huge savings. Publix also has several Smart Source "blinkie" coupon dispensers, hang tags and tear pads for items. These coupons are not necessarily available during a sale so you will want to pick them up while they are available and put them into your stash to use at a later point.
- Online - There are numerous sites you can access to print down loads of coupons. Click here to view our list of free online coupons. You can also visit facebook as many manufacturers will provide you with a coupon if you click to "like" their item.
- In the Sunday Newspaper - This is a great source to receive a variety of manufacturer coupons. Most Sundays you can get as much as $150 worth of coupons from the inserts. Typically in each paper you will receive two different inserts - Smart Source and Red Plum. On occasion you may also receive a special P& G Insert as well.
- Magazines - All You is a great magazine to get coupons and savings tips. In each issue you normally get about $70 worth of manufacturer coupons. They also have a website where you can print down coupons that are only available through All You.
- Coupon Swaps - Join or start a coupon swap group in your area!! You can swap out coupons that you don't use for coupons that you do.
Step 3 - Organizing Coupons
So now you have a whole mountain of coupons, what do you do with them? There are several different ways you can organize your coupons. Review each method and determine which make the most sense for you.
- Check Organizer File - This organizer is typically used to file and store checks, however you can also use them to organize coupons. There are usually 12 different tabs you can customize to separate your coupons. Most who use this system will organize and group coupons according to type - dairy, frozen, bread and cereal, etc... This system works really well for someone who is just starting out with coupons or is not intending to maintain a large number of coupons.
- Accordian File - This is a very popular way to organize coupons. When using this method you will use an accordian file that can hold standard size sheets of paper. You will label each section by date. When you receive coupons from the News Paper or Publix Green and Yellow Fliers you will file them according to date. You then can visit sites such as www.iheartpublix.com or www.southernsavers.com and review their coupon and sale matchup lists. Their lists will tell you what coupons that you need to pull according to date and insert type and then you only cut out the coupons that you need for that week according to their list. This method is fantastic for someone who does not want to invest a large amount of time cutting and organizing coupons either by type or alphabetically. The major down fall to this system, however is that if there is an unadvertised sale in your store, chances are you won't be able to take advantage of it because you will not know whether or not you have a coupon for the item and if you do you will have great difficulty finding it.
- Binder System - This is by far the best organizational system for someone who has a large amount of coupons, likes to swap coupons with other people, and/or likes easy access to finding coupons. This system is set up using a binder typically used by school aged children to hold lined paper. Inside your binder you use a series of clear holders to place your coupons in. Most people who use this system place baseball card holder pages and clear photo holder pages in their binder and will organize their coupons either alphabetically or by type (dairy, frozen, snacks, etc....). The downfall to this system is that it takes a lot of time to cut out and organize your coupons. The plus side to this system is that when you need a coupon it is already cut and you can find it in just a matter of seconds. Unadvertised sales don't present any problem for this system. The picture below is an example from Coupon Magic Organizer. Visit there site for more tips and tricks to set up an organizer OR purchase their system to get your binder set up!! You can also visit http://thekrazycouponlady.com/kclcouponbinder.pdf to get a copy of their binder categories and separator pages for free!!
Step 4 - Putting it All Together
Now that you have your sale fliers, and your coupons organized it is time to put your couponing skills into action!! To help you get started with matching up your coupons with sales visit www.iheartpublix.com or www.southernsavers.com to find a list of all of the advertised sales and the available coupons to use. These sites give you a great start in getting prepared to shop and save money at Publix. Also check back with our site each week to learn what items you can get for free or for less than a dollar!!
