Your Beginners Guide to Couponing

If at any point I find new information to add to this post, I will add it. The last time this post was updated was on 7/26.

Are you a beginner couponer or possibly someone who hasn’t even attempted to coupon yet? Perfect. This page is for you.

This is where I’m going to explain all the basics of couponing, step by step. It will be long but please read each and every bit because I don’t type this stuff for no reason. All of it is important!

Note: Before beginning, please take in account that coupons are a legal form of payment. Purposely using coupons incorrectly can lead to legal trouble.

Step One: Fail

The absolute first thing you have to realize is that no matter how many resources you read, you will fail at first. I am 7 years in when it comes to couponing and I even still have times where things just don’t go right. If you are not someone who is okay with failing, or stops something after failing just once, this hobby is not for you.

Chances are you won’t fail as much as me, so no worries. When I first started couponing, I self taught myself everything by watching what other couponers did and then repeating their actions. Through copying what they did, I would fail and I paid attention to why I failed. If you do not pay attention to how you fail, it will not help you learn the math and the computer systems behind couponing.

Since I was self taught, I did not have the resources that you will have on this page. I am gathering everything I learned from my failings and giving them to you in hopes that you will be able to be successful in the future.

Once you are mentally prepared to both fail and win, you may head to step two.

Step Two: Gather Your Resources

When people think of couponers, they think of someone who uses coupons. Although, yes, this is true… we use much more than just coupons. We have paper coupons, printable coupons, digital coupons, multiple cash back apps and online shopping tools. Each of these resources help couponers save money.

Paper coupons: Paper coupons are coupons that can be found in the Sunday newspaper. Sunday newspapers can be found in different areas in town. I, personally, buy my newspapers at my local Dollar Tree. There, I can buy newspapers for $1. Other places such as gas stations or supermarkets may sell newspapers up to $4 each. These prices are determined by where you live. Each newspaper will have a set of inserts (coupons) for that week. Many couponers buy multiple newspapers so they can have many of the same coupons at once.

Internet printables: Internet printables are legal coupons you can print off the internet. These can usually be found on either www.coupons.com or a brand’s website. For example, if I want a coupon for Purina dog food, I may go directly to Purina’s website and find a coupon to print out.

Digital coupons: Digital coupons are usually (but not always) identical to paper coupons. The only difference is that they are on our phones instead of on paper. These can be found on a store’s website or app. For example, if I want to coupon at Walgreens and I want to use digital coupons, I would download the Walgreens app to get them. Not all stores, such as Walmart, have this option.

Cash back apps: Cash back apps are very popular in the coupon community. Many times these types of apps offer freebie deals or give us money for things that we already plan on buying. Each app has their own way of working. Here is a list of cash back apps:

1. Ibotta – Ibotta has been around for a very long time. If you follow me on any social media, you will see me post many deals that involve using Ibotta. Click here to download Ibotta.