Couponing tips

[mikandmari]

Please help! So many of you do really well with couponing. I guess I stink at it!
I've starting buying the Sunday paper, so this costs me about $6.00 each month. A couple questions:

Where else can I look for coupons?

What kind of coupon file is the best/easiest to carry around?

Any other tips are appreciated. Thanks!

[inneedofhope]

This is my system.
I only buy the paper if I also have time to read it. We get one at the office and my mil gives me her extras.

Only clip and save what you will use! You can get overwhelmed with coupons for items you might pick up just because.

Check to see if you can use printable coupons from the internet at your local stores. Unfortunately, mine does not honor them. If they do, start with store sites, then check manufacturer sites for products you know you want.

Always look inside the packages and under the labels of stuff you buy alot. They sometimes will have coupons in there.

You can also sign up for a coupon train on the forums here.

Once a week I go through my coupons, my shopping list, and the flyers to plan out my shopping. I like to carry all the coupons with me, though because my stores will often have unadvertised mark downs.

I've tried several organiser strategies, but haven't found one that is simple enough for me. By focussing my coupons to specific things I regularly buy and weeding out frequently I don't have a ton to carry. I'm not a big stckpiler, either, with a family of 2 I don't need more than 12 jars of spaghetti sauce per year for example, so no need to carry around tons of sauce coupons.

I'm sure you'll get some great tips here, and try out some things til you get a system that works for you!