Couponing for Beginners: Step-by-Step Guide & Transcript

[00:02] much for tuning into the video. I hope you're having a good day or night whenever you are watching. So yes, yes y'all, we are reporting live from the stockpile because in today's video, we are getting back into our couponing 101

[00:17] series. And this is a video that has been on my to-do list for a long time. As you can see from the stockpile behind me, my passion is couponing. And I am an extreme couponer, but you definitely don't have to be an extreme couponer to

[00:31] really get some value from the knowledge that I want to give you today. Because today, we're just going to talk about the basics of couponing. Everyday couponing that you can utilize is a tool to really change and improve your life.

[00:46] passionate about. I started couponing in 2010, so it's been almost 15 years at this point that I've been couponing. And when I started couponing, it was out of sheer necessity. I had just had my son and I was a young mother really figuring

[01:03] out how expensive it was to be a mom. And now that I'm in a much better place financially, I still coupon every single day because I have to I just have to be a good steward over my finances. Just because we have more money doesn't mean

[01:19] that we shouldn't still spend it very wisely. And I think that that is what couponing is about. So, I'm really not into long intros. I really like to jump wanted to give you a little background on me. And now, let's get into it.

[01:33] Before we get into the nuts and bolts of what couponing is, I want to share with you the importance of couponing and why I think that everybody should be a couponer, honestly. And it doesn't have to be extreme. I think that's one of the

[01:47] Couponing doesn't have to be extreme. For me, couponing is a lifestyle. It doesn't matter if I'm shopping for some new shoes, if I'm shopping for candles at Bath & Body Works or if I'm shopping for my weekly grocery haul. Every single

[02:01] time, every place I'm spending money, I am looking for a coupon. The reason I'm doing that is because things are constantly going up in price. We are living in a time of hyperinflation where everything is so expensive. And in order

[02:17] lives, I feel like we really just have to be really smart with our money. And another thing that I really like about couponing is when you have an abundance

[02:29] of resources like this, you can use that to help other people and also have some community and social impact. So those are just some of the reasons why I think that couponing can be a very, very positive tool for your life. Now, let's

[02:43] talk about what couponing is. So I think before you can really you know do something you have to understand what it is. So for me my personal definition of couponing and I think the definition that everyone should have is when you

[02:58] take a coupon and now in 2025 what a coupon is can kind of look a little bit different. It's not necessarily what you know we would have back in the day where you're clipping that Sunday paper. Sometimes a coupon can be a rebate on an

[03:12] app or it could be a coupon in your store's app, so a digital coupon or it could be a paper coupon. It just depends on where you're shopping. But when you take that coupon and you match it up with a sale price or a clearance price,

[03:28] you want to shop for something that is not at its regular price. we're matching something up with a sale price or a special price or a clearance price to special price or a clearance price to get it for its rock bottom price. As a

[03:41] couponer, when I'm shopping for things and I'm stocking up for things, I'm and I'm stocking up for things, I'm always looking for a sale plus a coupon to come together to stack to get double savings to get items for their rock

[03:55] bottom price. And when I get an item at its rock bottom price, then I need to stock up on that item. So that's where stock piles come from. You want to stock price so that you don't have to pay for

[04:08] it when you need it and it's at a higher price. And when you do that, you have really mastered the art of couponing. So now that you understand what couponing is, I also want you to understand what it's not. Cuz I think a lot of people

[04:22] and buying a product that you don't need because you have a coupon for it. and with a bunch of things that you've probably overpaid for because you're into that store just because you have a coupon. That is not what we do over

[04:38] here. Couponing and especially extreme couponing is very strategic. We are taking time to go through weekly sales flyers to actually walk through our stores and find items at the lowest possible price and then we are adding in

[04:54] a coupon for double savings. And if you can, if you can add in a rebate on top of that or a store coupon. So if you have a store coupon, a manufacturer coupon, and then you can add in a rebate for even triple or quadruple savings to

[05:08] get items for the lowest price possible. We want them down to the floor or even get paid to take them in some instances. And that is when you take the time to build a stockpile and stock up on an item. And just because you have a

[05:24] need to be going to the store cuz that's not what this is about. We want to be strategic shoppers. We want to be empowered shoppers. And that is the art of couponing. So now let's talk about the types of coupons that there are

[05:37] the types of coupons that there are because now in 2025, there are lots of different types of coupons. So the main type of coupon is a manufacturer coupon. And this type of coupon is actually issued from the manufacturer. And these

[05:51] coupons now come in a lot of different forms. So the old school uh insert coupons or the Sunday paper coupons, those still exist in a lot of different kind of been phased out, but they do still exist. I still use Sunday paper

[06:07] coupons every now and then, but you can actually coupon now with no Sunday paper coupons. You can find manufacturer coupons in digital form as well. And you get those digital manufacturer coupons by downloading the store app that you're

[06:22] going to be shopping at and clipping them to your customer account. So, if you would go through their coupon section. If you're stop shopping at a store like CVS, you would download that CVS app or go on the CVS website and

[06:36] manually clip those manufacturer coupons. But the manufacturer coupons could also come in a different form. So, they may be a coupon that prints out for Walgreens and you will have a manufacturer coupon in the form of maybe

[06:51] a register reward or you could have a manufacturer coupon that you find on a product at the store. So, manufacturer coupons can look different. They could also be printable. If you have a product that you really, really love, I suggest

[07:05] that you go on that manufacturer's website and sign up for their emails because a lot of times manufacturers will email out coupons that you can just about every week I have a printable coupon in my stash that I've printed off

[07:20] from an email from a manufacturer. So, they also come in that form as well. And then we also have store coupons. And store coupons come in different forms as well. The thing that I love the most about store coupons is that most stores,

[07:34] not all, but at most stores, you can actually stack the savings. So, if you have a store coupon, you could use that coupon, like at a store like CVS, I can take my CVS store coupon, and I can use it with my manufacturer coupon on one

[07:50] product and get double savings there. So when I have that store coupon plus the sale plus the manufacturer coupons, we have tripled up our savings. So it's a very key thing to learn the difference between what a manufacturer coupon would

[08:06] look like versus what a store coupon would look like. And thankfully with most manufacturer coupons, they actually have manufacturer coupon written on them. Even if they're in digital form, if you look, you will see the

[08:19] manufacturer information. that'll let you know that it's a manufacturer coupon versus a store coupon will usually have just the store name or won't have that manufacturer info listed on the coupon so that you know that you are safe to

[08:33] stack and get those double savings in 2025 they have pulled away from a lot of manufacturer coupons and really switched towards rebate apps and so what I love

[08:46] the most about rebate apps is rebate apps allow you to completely completely experience. So, if you're someone who's like, "Oh my goodness, I cannot hand the cashier a bunch of coupons. I would be embarrassed." A rebate app, what it does

[09:01] is it allows you to completely normalize your shopping experience. So, you can shop like normal. No one would ever know that you have some coupons. You're clicking the offers on the rebate app that you want to submit for. You shop

[09:14] like normal. You pay for those items. And then you upload your receipt after you get done. and then you receive reimbursement from the rebate app that you can actually send to your PayPal account or your bank account or you

[09:28] could redeem for a gift card depending on the app. And so there are about five or six rebate apps that I think that every new couponer should have that because you want to save money especially if it's a product that you're

[09:42] already buying anyway. Ibata is a main one that you definitely want to have as a new couponer. You want to have Fetch Rewards, Shopkick, Swag Bucks, Checkout

[09:54] 51. These are all rebates that you want to download to your phone. And every single week when you're doing your shopping, go through those apps and see are there offers for the things that you are going to be picking up for your

[10:07] family, once you make that purchase, you just upload that receipt and you get that money back. So, rebate apps are something that are a must. And I also like rebates because they are a tremendous stacking opportunity. With

[10:21] some rebate offers, not all, but with some rebate offers, you can actually stack the savings. So, if I have an app like Fetch Rewards, for instance, if I go into the store and I use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon, and I

[10:36] had that sale price, I can also scan that receipt if there's an offer on that receipt if there's an offer on Fetch and I can quadruple those savings. So, rebate apps are a magnificent tool that everyone should be using,

[10:49] extreme couponer or you just want to save some money every now and then. You should be uploading those receipts and getting that free money from Rebate. Let's talk about some basics to get started. So, the first thing that you

[11:03] want to do that I recommend is you want to pick out two stores, just two, to get started so that you do not overwhelm yourself when it comes to couponing. Every store is completely different when it comes to their coupon rules, their

[11:17] coupon policies, and I want to make sure that you're not overwhelmed when you get started. So, I usually recommend picking one store that you do your grocery shopping at. So, maybe you shop at a store like HB or Kroger or Publix or

[11:31] Walmart. Pick that one store that you do your grocery shopping at and your food then pick one store where you're going to get your household and your personal items. So, this may be a store like CVS or Walgreens or Dollar General. Now, I

[11:47] personally like to coupon at drugstores for my personal care items because I like to roll drugstore money. and drugstore money is things like your extra care bucks at CVS or your Walgreens cash at Walgreens. When you

[12:02] build up a bank of funds at those stores, you can roll that money from week to week and not actually have to spend your own money every single week. And so that is why I have a preference for drugstores, but I feel like stores

[12:14] like Dollar General are great, too, because they are easy, just so super easy to learn how to coupon at every single week. So, pick whichever store resonates with you for your household items and your personal care items. And

[12:28] then also pick one where you are going to grab your food. And then next, you want to set a couponing budget. And this may be a hard concept for some people to budget when I'm going to be getting so many things for cheap when it comes to

[12:42] couponing. That's why you need a budget because everything is starts to get really really cheap when you start couponing. And people I've seen so many people start couponing and actually start spending more money than they did

[12:55] you're like, "Oh my goodness, this is 50 cents. Let me get a hundred of them." you're like, you're so wowed by the price of something that you can get with a rebate or a coupon. And I think that's why they give us a lot of rebates and

[13:10] coupons so that we are encouraged to buy more products. And that is why having a budget is key cuz remember, we are strategic around here. We don't believe in overspending. So set a budget based on your family size that you are

[13:24] comfortable with that you are using to build a stockpile of whatever size. It doesn't have to be a stockpile that covers your garage like mine. It could just be a little mini stockpile that you keep in a pantry corner or a closet. But

[13:37] set a goal and shop with intent. Have a purpose for your couponing. So maybe you're couponing just to save extra money for a vacation. Or maybe you're a little bit more room in your budget. Or maybe you're couponing to save up for

[13:52] a child to go to college. Whatever the reason is, remember that intent every single week why you're couponing. You could be couponing just to give back to your community. I think there are a lot of great reasons to add this tool into

[14:05] your life. But always remember that reason when you're shopping from week to week. And remember that reason when you're setting your budget so that you don't overspend. So now it's time to start putting all of this information

[14:18] together for some concrete steps to get you started couponing. So the first thing that you want to do to get started is download the apps for whichever two have the apps or you may not, but make sure you have those two apps downloaded

[14:34] make sure that you're signed up for the rewards program for that store. Most of them are always going to be free.99 for you to sign up. So, sign up, link your phone number and email to those accounts

[14:48] so that you can start getting rewards and offers and then go into the digital coupon section for that store and clip up all of those digital coupons in your app. And then you want to continue week after week making sure that you go back

[15:04] to those store apps and clipping all of the new coupons that come out. So, an interesting thing because I am a coupon content creator, I am constantly posting deals that come up at the different stores that I shop at. And one of the

[15:19] things that I hear all the time for from new couponers is, "Oh my goodness, I don't have the digital coupon that you're using for this deal." When that happens, what has happened is that that person did not go into their app and

[15:33] clip the digital coupon during the week that it was available. And then that coupon became no longer available. It was only available now to the people who have it clipped. So, that is why I'm telling you to go in week after week,

[15:47] clip those coupons, and actually save them to your account because when the deals pop up for those items, you want to make sure that you have your coupons loaded. You have those store apps loaded, make sure that you have all of

[16:01] those rebate apps that we talked about downloaded to your phone as well. So, your phone is going to become a money-saving machine. So, make sure you have Ibata, Swag Bucks, Shopkick, Checkout 51, Fetch Rewards, all of those

[16:15] rebates loaded to your phone. And just like with your digital coupons, always be going through making sure that you're selecting and saving those offers because those can disappear well as well if they are not saved to your account.

[16:31] So, that is the second thing. And then the third thing that I want you to do is start watching coupon content creators on social media. So whichever social media platform you love, whether it be Tik Tok or YouTube or wherever you like

[16:46] to spend your time on social media, Facebook, find social media content creators who create those that couponing content at the store that you've selected. So whether it be HB or Kroger or Walmart or Target or wherever, find

[17:01] couponing content creators. There are so many great ones, including myself, who make weekly videos, and start to watch them. Especially those of us that make intore shopping videos. I'm somebody who actually records my whole process, even

[17:16] me checking out the register so that you can see the total go down. I show you all of my receipts and I take you step by step in store with me. watch some of those couponing trips online just so you can get a feel for how couponing works

[17:30] in real life just so you can get a feel for how it all comes together. I have so you know, I've been watching you for a month just trying to get a good feel and

[17:42] a good grasp for everything before I go into the store. But there are tons of great couponing content creators that you can watch for whichever store that you selected that you can start to watch just to get a feel for how couponing

[17:56] works in real life. And so once you have all of your tools and you've watched a couple trips, then it's time to look at your deals and put some things together. So now let's talk about actually planning your first couponing trip. So,

[18:10] the first thing that you want to do before you even step into the store is you want to learn when the sale starts for the store that you're shopping at. So, stores like drugstores like Walgreens or CVS, their sale can start

[18:24] on Sunday. And knowing when the sale starts is important because if there's a hot deal or a hot coupon coming out, if you don't shop early in the sale, you may miss the deal. So, you want to know when that sale starts so that you can

[18:37] get there really, really early in that sale cycle. Or if you're shopping at a grocery store, the sale may actually start in the middle of the week. Like my local grocery store, our sale starts at on Wednesdays. But if you're shopping at

[18:51] a store in a different state, it may start on Thursday or Friday. So, learn when that sale starts so that you can get there early in the week. Then you want to go through the sales flyer for that store and start to match up the

[19:05] sale prices that you see for the items that you want with the rebates and the coupons that you see in the app. Now, when you're just getting started couponing, you may not be very good at this part. So, I also encourage you to

[19:18] find a couponing blog or couponing website that posts deals for that store as well, just so you can kind of double check yourself. And there are a lot of

[19:30] good couponing websites to do that on. Or again, go to social media and find going to post those deals every single week and look at the deals that they come up with just so that you have some additional deals or a more experienced

[19:45] eye who is posting some deals that you can follow as well. And a lot of times when you're new couponing, it's easier just to follow the deals that others are posting while you're learning how to put the deals together yourself. Next thing

[19:58] some time to figure out your organization method for couponing. Now, even though things are almost all digital when it comes to couponing, it is still very, very important to be organized. I've been couponing for a

[20:13] long time, but I am still a very organized couponer because when you are not organized and you are trying to coupon and keep up with all of these different factors, so you got the coupons and the store coupons and the

[20:26] rebate apps, if you're not organized with what's going on, it is so easy to become overwhelmed. So, organization is key. So, you want to start out with a shopping list to keep you organized. And you can do that just based on whichever

[20:40] way that you're comfortable. I have a good friend. She makes a old school notebook where she writes out everything, the coupon, the rebates, the items, and she goes in with her notepad and she gets it done. Me, I make a

[20:55] Google doc every single week. And I actually share out my Google Docs on my blog couponwinstar.com. I share out those Google Docs every single week so that you can get just a cheat sheet to everything that I'm doing

[21:10] as an extreme couponer and you can actually follow that just if you shop if you're shopping at the stores that I'm shopping at. So whichever way it is for you to make out that list and be organized, you definitely want to do

[21:23] that before you step foot in the store. And when you're making that first couponing list, I recommend starting very, very small. Do not start out by trying to extreme coupon anything. Start small. Get a feel for how coupons work.

[21:40] little small deals where you can really save big on a product that you love. So, start with those very small deals with just a few items. And then once you get comfortable typing in your phone number at the register and uploading those

[21:55] receipts to the rebate apps, then you can start to increase the volume of those trips. But start small with a small list as you go into the store and small list as you go into the store and then take your time once you go into the

[22:08] very important and I think that's very beautiful with digital coupons is with most digital coupons and store apps, this is another reason why those store apps are important. You can actually scan the barcode on the product to make

[22:25] sure that it's the right product for the digital coupon or the rebate offer that you are trying to redeem. So, not just with the store apps, like if you're at Kroger or Publix, you can scan the barcode of a product, but even with

[22:40] rebate apps like Ibata or Swag Bucks, you can scan the barcode on that product while you're new, especially, but just anytime that you're redeeming a coupon or rebate, scan to make sure that that item attaches to that coupon in store.

[22:56] So, take your time, scan your items on your list to make sure that you have it all right. And then once you've loaded up your cart after you've scanned your products, all you have to do is go up to the register. If you have any paper

[23:09] coupons, you can scan them at selfch checkckout or you can hand them over to your cashier and then you type in your phone number at the register to make sure that your digital coupons come off as well. You pay as normal and then you

[23:25] can upload that receipt to the rebate apps to get those additional savings because hopefully you downloaded your rebate apps and you got some offers that you're going to redeem as well. And something else that's super important is

[23:39] where you downloaded some digital coupons in the app, you went and typed in your phone numbers and the coupons are not couponing. Your total is not right. you're like, "Oh, no. I was supposed to save $7 or $10 here and

[23:53] something is not working out right." Don't complete that purchase. Go ahead at selfch checkckout, call over the cashier and say, "Hey, I need to cancel this to figure out what's going on with my coupons." But don't complete that

[24:08] purchase until you rectify the situation and figure out what's going on with your will figure out, you know, the total won't be right and they'll just say, "Oh, I'll just pay for it." And you end up overspending. And again, we don't

[24:22] like to overspend. We don't like to do that. Be patient with yourself. And don't be afraid to double and triple check yourself to make sure because even now after 15 years, there will be a time when I did not clip a digital coupon

[24:36] that I thought I clipped and I have to go back in and clip it and then type in that phone number again after trying for the second time. So, just be patient with yourself and, you know, just don't be afraid to say, "Hold on, I need to

[24:50] figure out what's happening with my coupons." Because it'll happen even to the most experienced of us. But the savings that you're going to get week after week, those concrete monetary savings that are going to be added back

[25:03] into your budget are so well worth the patience and the time that come with this. And then after you've completed that first couponing trip, I want to make sure that you take the time to reflect on it and also adjust as needed.

[25:18] So when it comes to couponing, couponing is one of those things where you're going to get better and better over time. You may start out saving just really small amounts. Maybe you're saving $10 here or $20 here, but over

[25:31] time those amounts really, really grow. I remember when I first started on my very first couponing trip years and years ago, I ended up saving 50% at Kroger when I was shopping. And that couponing trip honestly was a mess. I

[25:45] didn't know what I was doing. But I saved 50% off of my grocery bill. And I was so so happy to save that 50%. And now I'm to the point now where I can save a lot more than that. I know how to get everything for free if I want to. So

[26:00] over time it does get easier. It does get better, but you have to be patient with yourself while you learn. You just make those adjustments. You learn your stores. You learn the staff at your stores and you just get better. So take

[26:13] the time to just reflect on the things that you're learning and increase what you're doing over time. Thank you so much for tuning in to this presentation. I hope that the information that I have given you today has laid a solid

[26:27] foundation that you can build upon to start bringing couponing and smart shopping into your life. It does not matter what you're buying. From this moment forward, I want you to start looking for those coupon savings, for

[26:41] those rebate savings, for those opportunities to get items for the lowest price possible. Because when you start to look for it, I promise you, you will start to find those savings. Couponing for me is a lifestyle and I

[26:56] hope that it becomes a lifestyle for you where you are constantly maximizing the money that you save. So let me know if you have any questions and also remember to follow me on social media. So follow me at CouponWithstar

[27:12] on all social media platforms and go to my blog couponwithstar.com my blog couponwithstar.com for even more resources. Thank you guys for even more resources. Thank you guys and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.