May 1st for Beginners

Step 1: Purchase Newspapers

• Our area has 4 papers I'm aware of that always carry coupons. Times News, Washington Post, The Sun, and The Sunday. I strongly recommend buying 1 of each. 

• Do not start clipping yet! I am making this easy for you because I know you want to learn but if you overwhelm yourself you're likely to give up so just trust me =)

Step 2: Organize Inserts

• This week has 4 inserts. 2 from Smart Source, 1 from Red Plum, and 1 from Proctor & Gamble. Sort your 4 piles and mark each booklet with the date "5/1" so you can reference this in the upcoming weeks. You can view a detailed list of the coupons here.

Step 3: Search Sales & Coupon Matchups

• The best place to do this is online because there are thousands of bloggers who have done the work for you. And to make it even easier I have linked the exact websites you need for this week. Click here and view the very bottom of the blog for the abbreviations list.

CVS Deals & Matchups for 5/1          Rite Aid Deals & Matchups for 5/1

• For CVS and Rite Aid these sites have already matched up the coupons with the sales. You will see lists of available coupons under each sale item. Because you may not have any coupons before today, you should only pay attention to coupons marked "5/1" or if you have a printer you can also print alot of coupons to match these sales. The links are usually included.

• Here is where you may start clipping from your inserts. As you do so, keep track of your shopping list for each store, what you're purchasing, the price, your coupons, and keep this all together so you are organized and stress-free when you go shopping.

Martins Deals for 5/1 (No Matchups Yet)

• Here is a post I found for Giant/Martins sales in our region. Like you, I won't know that these prices apply to our store until I see our local store's weekly ad, but it's good to have a general idea, that way you can make a basic list of any groceries you need.

Family Dollar Store Coupons

• I could not find a preview for Family Dollar's 5/1 weekly but I did find that they have lots of new printable coupons available. Because these are store coupons, you can stack them with a manufacturer's coupon. This is when you can use 2 coupons on 1 item and really increase your savings.

Here is my new favorite website: CouponTom.  Say you see a sale item but you don't have a coupon for it, just search under the "Coupon Search" tab and you'll have an instant list of every coupon available for that item and where to find it, even printable coupons!  Now if you have a coupon that you want to use but you don't know which store will have the best deal, look under "Price List" and search for "Bounty" or "Ragu" or whatever and again you'll have instant access to every store that carries the product along with the current sale price. Voila! This site is an excellent resource and I hope you all bookmart it =)

So that's it. You all are free to contact me anytime and I'd love to answer your questions. Don't let yourself get discouraged. This is such a rewarding hobby and I hope you all can learn to enjoy it as much as I do  =)