Sharing the Wealth (of Knowledge)

After reading more into the coupon blogs about actual coupon basics and not just looking for specials I have learned some invaluable knowledge that not only helps me save time but will also save me money in the end. Plenty of the coupon blogs have a dedicated section about the beginnings on couponing. Currently I have 9 different coupon blogs in my bookmark folder, but I only use a few on a regular basis due to region savings, knowledge know-how, and invaluable information. I check out The Krazy Coupon Lady for coupon beginnings, Southern Savers for region savings, and Sunday Coupon Preview for invaluable information.

The Krazy Coupon Lady is actually a blog site managed by two different woman and they have been featured on TLC's Extreme Coupon. I really enjoy their ability to explain in simple terms the process of coupons and that not every shopping trip is an Extreme shopping trip. They also inspire "couponers" to give back to the community with their stockpiles after their personal goals have been reached. If you stockpile for 150 years worth of use then you are hoarding! No average person will live that long and you need to realize that stockpiles have expiration dates. So what is the point in saving and stockpiling if all the products go to waste? The blog also goes into binder organization and they have printable table of contents and dividers that make it easier for a beginner. My favorite post so far that I have found has been the Sale Cycles. This breaks down month by month of what you can expect to be on sale.

Southern Savers is one of the few coupon blogs designed for the southern shopper in mind. It features the Southern grocery store and drug store chains. A lot of blogs are featured out west so many if their store ad previews have nothing to do with the Southern East Coast stores. Southern Savers features Ingles, Bi-Lo, Food Lion, Publix, Krogers, and Harris Teeter to name a few. The blogger of Southern Savers also travels around the south doing workshops about how to be a better "couponer". I am currently registered to attend one at a church in Blowing Rock, NC. Even though I have already gathered plenty of info via the web, I'm sure I will still gain plenty of info with a person to person workshop.

Sunday Coupon Preview is a site that provides invaluable information. For one it does a yearly schedule of the coupon inserts that will be featured in your Sunday Paper. So you know when to buy and when not to buy. This is great info considering my newspaper doesn't due weekend only delivery and as a beginner I had no idea that Sunday papers during the Holiday do not feature coupons. There are also 4 different coupon inserts and while SmartSource (SS) and Red Plum (RP) are the most frequent, the papers can also carry Proctor and Gamble (PG) or General Mills (GM). The preview will also let you know what coupons will be in your upcoming Sunday paper, but be advised that smaller rural towns like Marion could be lacking or have a few change in coupons due to the major cities like Charlotte,NC - Atlanta, GA - and Jacksonville,FL being the main target cities in the South due to a higher volume of people. Since my town does get the Observer I will test this a few sundays in a row to see if the coupons are slightly different and I will be posting my results in another blog.

After all the knowledge I have learned so far I have concluded that the best bet for me in Marion is to keep my shopping to one grocery store (Bi-Lo) and to two drug stores (CVS) & (Rite Aid). I have actually started a small coupon binder and the more familiar I get with the stores and my coupon strategy I will re-organize accordingly. So if you are like me and have decided to save money in this harsh economy then please join me on this adventure and I look forward to the company!