All about savings articles

I write articles for an online community. Many of these are about savings and coupons. When getting started with couponing it is best to read a few articles and a few opinions to get a better sense of what you are doing. Please visit here to read some of the following titles:

How to keep up with the bills on a low income

How to cope with being flat broke

How to plan your grocery list to avoid impulse purchases

Finding baby products bargains, freebies, and samples

Little ways to earn extra income

How to budget for a new baby

Signs of excessive frugality

Are the savings from coupons worth the hassle?

Money-saving tips: How to use coupons

How to make rebating a worthwhile venture

Simple ways to save money

Are savings from coupons worth the trouble of collecting them?

Standards for frugal lifestyles

Tips for living a frugal lifestyle

How to save money on clothes for your family

Where can you get coupons other than the Sunday paper?

Become a coupon savvy shopper

Four off-brand products that can save you money

Money saving tips: Common myths about coupons

There are a lot more than just what I listed, please feel free to browse and read them all! I love sharing information that I have with others, so this is just another outlet for me. If you have questions or comments on any article, please post them here for me!

Step TWO, getting familiar with WHAT you buy.

Once you know your coupons, your store's policy, and where you would like to use them, now it's time to move on to what you get with them.

MAKE A LIST:

Start by making a list of NEEDS. The things that you need to get, even if it means no sale price or coupon. These would normally be your perishable items like fruits, veggies, bread, milk and eggs. Note on the list how much you would normally need for one week. (for example: milk - 2 gallons, eggs - 18)

Next make a list of WANTS. The things that your family likes, but they could manage without these items if need be. This would be things like snacks, chips, candy, and the like. Again, note how much you would normally like for a weeks time.

MAKE A PRCIE BOOK:

Know what you buy, and how much you need. It may seem silly, but go to your grocery store and make a list of what you normally buy (like milk, eggs, bread, etc) and their regular price at that store (for example bread = $1.00 per loaf at grocery store). If you shop at more than one store, take the same list and mark which store has the lowest original price. (for example, your grocery store may sell bread for 1.00 per loaf, but you can get the same loaf for 0.95 at WalMart). This is called a "price book".

Once you have the original prices marked, you would then want to start watching sale prices. You may see that although WalMart has the bread cheaper at the original price, your grocery store has a sale for 0.50 per loaf. Mark the lowest sale price that you find, and at what store on your price book. This may take some time to manage to find lower and lower prices on each item, but it is worth it. Why you may ask?

STOCKPILE:

If you have the room, stockpiling is a wonderful way to get things that you need for cheap, and get as many as you can so that you make the most of the sale and your coupons.

You are again grocery shopping, and you know from your price book that the lowest price you normally see on bread is 0.50 per loaf. Well, your grocery store is having a blowout sale, and the bread is now only 0.19 per loaf! You know that this is a WONDERFUL savings. You can now see that you should buy as many as you would use, and have room for, while this price lasts!

This can be hard with some perishable grocery items, but works very well with those shelf stable or items that you can freeze to use later. Good items to stockpile are your condiments, paper goods, personal needs, medications, and canned items. You can always freeze meat, bread, milk, fruit and veggies as well.

FINISH IT UP:

Now that you know what you need, and how much a good sale price is, go out and stockpile what you can. If you see an ad for a store that you wouldn't normally shop at, but it has a GREAT price, it may be worth it for you to take the time to visit that store. This is the beauty of knowing what you normally buy.

If you do stockpile items, make sure that you rotate your stock, and store them properly. Nothing is worse than items you stockpiled, that are ruined from their storage method. Keep them in a dry and safe place.

Coming next... using your coupons to the max!