Couponing

If you've seen the show, "Extreme Couponing" you might want to know how to do it, and if that is your model, you're probably going to be disappointed. As near as I can tell, getting stuff for free is difficult until you've been at it a while.  Finding time to organize is not easy either. Learning how to find the deals -- well, that isn't nearly so hard as it used to be.

There are three sites I use a lot:
Couponmom.com
couponing101.com
southerncalisaver.com

It is the last one that helps me the most and that's because I live in Southern California. Deals are different depending on where you are. Stores are different depending on where you are. Coupon policies are different, even within the same chain, depending on where you are. So if you're not in Southern California, that last one might not help much. Find one for your area that is equal to it.

What I like about Southerncalisaver is that you can click on the store and get the coupon match ups for that week listed. They even have a handy list maker that allows you to click to make a shopping list and has printable coupon attached where applicable. My shopping trips always start there.

Get your coupons started, but don't spend money on someone's expensive organizing system. Instead go to Target where all the baseball cards are stocked and get a baseball card binder (they come complete with card holders) or repurpose and old binder in your house and fill it with the baseball card holders. They aren't perfect. They won't fit every coupon, but they will fit a lot and the rest can be folded so that you can still see the item and the expiration date.

Don't go stockpile crazy. Stockpiling is necessary to make the coupon thing really work. But even non-perishable foods aren't actually non-perishable. After a few month, only canned items are truly trustworthy, and though they say cans can last up to 30 years, that isn't really very safe either. You definitely don't want to trust a leaking or bulging can. Stockpiling 50 rolls of paper towel seems excessive too. Keep your stockpile to six months worth max. When you add to the stockpile, make sure new stuff goes in the back and old stuff gets moved up.