Serious couponers almost always practice the art of stockpiling. Simply put, stockpiling means building up a large supply of products. Sales are seasonal. You probably know the basics, soda is always on sale for Memorial Day, 4 of July and Labor Day. So, when you see coupons in the stores or paper for these items, check the expiration date. If you can, save the coupon and use it during this time. Now, if you see this great coupon, take a bunch! People will trade you for them if you can't use it. This is a great way to get the product coupons you need but we will talk more about trading later.
Lets use a real life example. It is back to school time and every little darling has boxes of kleenex on their school supply list. Safeway had these cute little Olympics brochures and in them were coupons for $.50/1 (50 cents off 1) box of kleenex. I grabbed a handful of these coupons-lets say I got 20 of them. Kleenex is on sale EVERYWHERE this time of year and just because I found the coupon at Safeway doesn't mean I have to use it there. King Soopers has kleenex on sale for $.99 a box. King Soopers doubles coupons to $1. This means that they will
pay me 1 cent a box to take them. Of course, I have to pay tax on non food items so I end up getting my 20 boxes of kleenex for about 25 cents. I send some off to school and put the rest away. I don't need to buy Kleenex now until the next time I see a deal like this.
If you can slowly build up a stockpile, you have less you 'have to' buy each week. If you are just starting, try to set a goal to stockpile at least one item that you regularly buy each week.
To see what coupons are coming out in the papers read here:
Coupon 101: Upcoming Coupons
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