Kim's Couponing 101

Okay, let me preface this post by saying I have a killer cold so I really hope that everything is coherent. Also, it's a long post so I am breaking it up into two sections.

I coupon to have a baby. That is the super short version of things. My husband and I will hit the 4 year mark next month of trying to get pregnant. Four years! It has felt like an eternity trying and waiting and praying for a child. I won't bore you with all the details of procedures and medicines and diagnoses, but here is where we are at now- in order for us to have a chance of getting pregnant we will have to undergo a $15,000 procedure called ICSI, and that is only if I am medically cleared with my diabetes and heart issues. So yah, that's the story in a nutshell! I want to save at a faster rate than we have been so I decided to jump into the world of couponing. My husband and I made the decision that we will not go into debt to have a baby. We want to be able to pay for everything up front. I am not condemning those who do finance their fertilty procedures, but it just wasn't the right decision for us. Saving for ICSI is my number one reason for couponing.

Both my husband and I are deeply religious. We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One thing our church advocates is personal preparedness. It is recommended that everyone have a stockpile of food and essentials in case of natural disaster or financial struggles. Couponing helps me build up my stockpile. First I want to be able to have a 3 month supply of everything from food to toiletries to cleaning products etc. Eventually I want a full year's worth. This is my other motivation for couponing.


Okay, now that you know my life story :) I will walk you through my process. Keep in mind that I've only been couponing for a couple of weeks! I have made some mistakes but I understand the general idea and I hope that my tips help! I will try and explain the best I can but please leave a comment or send me an email if you have questions. My email is nksmithfamily[at]gmail[dot]com.

Step 1: Getting Your Hands on those Coupons!
I get my coupons from two sources, my local newspaper and online.
Each Sunday I get four newspapers delivered to me. Why four? Because that means I get four sets of coupons. If you look at my previous post you will notice that I bought four of most items, that's because I had four coupons. The common standard is that you order one newspaper per person in your household. So if you have four kids you order six papers, one for you, one for your husband, and one for each of your kids. I hope that makes sense.
I also print some coupons from the internet. The best sites for coupons are coupons.com
smartsource.com
and redplum.com.
You can print each coupon twice per computer. If there is a coupon I want I print it from my laptop, my husband's laptop, and from his home office computer, that gives me a total of six coupons. As far as the online coupons go, I only print ones that I know I'll use. For example, we don't drink coffee or have pets so I don't waste my time on those coupons.

Step 2: Cutting the Coupons
This is my least favorite part of couponing, but alas, it has to be done. For my newspaper coupons I pull apart all the coupon pages and stack the identical pages on top of each other. That way when you cut them, you are cutting all four at once. Make sure you get coupons from both sides of the pages! Once they are all stacked and ready it doesn't take too long. My husband usually will help if I bribe with some cinnamon rolls or some cookies. Just a suggestion :). As far as online coupons go I use one of those slide track cutters that are usually used for scrapbooking. I told Nate that I want to get one of those heavy duty handle cutters that can go through like 20 pages at once.

Okay folks, this cold is killing me and I've got to stop, but stay tuned tomorrow for steps 3, 4, and 5 and some pictures!