Where to start...

Ok, I am here and there is so much to tell you...where to start?
I guess the first thing that you need to know is that saving the amount of money that you see me saving will not happen overnight.  I have been collecting coupons for about 3 months now and have finally collected a great database of coupons and resources.  Here is where I am going to be sharing them all with you.
What do you stand to gain by reading and following this blog?  MONEY!  More of YOUR money in YOUR pocket every week.  Dont' do anything until you have completely read this post - there are "tips" that I will give you throughout this blog!
COLLECTING
Here are my sources for coupons (in this order):
1.  Atlanta Journal Newspaper - you can find these at Spectrum on Lafayette Parkway, Publix Grocery Store, Piggly Wiggly at Lee's Crossing or you can travel to Grantville to the gas stations by the interstate and get them there as well.  GET ONE EVERY SUNDAY MORNING (before they are gone)!!!  "Tip" Check the paper before you pay for it to make sure that the coupon inserts are there, I have found that some of the papers are missing the inserts, whether they were never put in them or maybe someone else took them out...BUT ALWAYS CHECK THE PAPER BEFORE YOU PAY!
There are usually 2 sources for coupons in the paper:  REDPLUM & SMARTSOURCE  http://www.redplum.com/  & http://smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO  Sometimes there will be a 3rd from PROCTOR & GAMBLE  http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/index.jsp  (this a good one because this is usually Tide, Downy, Crest, Nyquil/Dayquil, etc.)  My goal is to post every week before the paper comes out what you can expect to see in your paper so you will know...there may be a week that there are NO inserts and you want to know this BEFORE you go and buy a paper.  **Before you start signing up for all these websites I strongly suggest that you create a new email address with gmail to catch all of these emails.  I did this to keep all of these emails as well as other spam that will be generated for smashing my regular email** yes, this is one of those "tips" that I was telling you about!
2.  Websites:  http://www.coupons.com/ is the first one that you should sign up for.  This site is available 24/7 for you to access and they update the available coupons the first day of every month.  I set a calendar reminder to check the site around 6am on the first of every month for new coupons.  You will get an email from Coupons.com that will say your new coupons are available but if you don't check it early and often all of the good coupons will be gone.  Easy to use - just put a check mark in the coupons that you want to print and then click the print button and they will print.  *If it asks you to run a program to print the coupons say YES, I have not come across one yet that has harmed my computer, these are legitimate sites and are safe.
3.  Grocery Stores: 
Publix - go to their website and sign up for all the newsletters.  Here's the link - http://publix.com/clubs/ClubsAndPrograms.do  even if you don't drink wine...sign up for the wine guide...they send you coupons too!
There are also 2 other papers at Publix inside that you want to get - these are on the inside foyer of the store where the buggies are.  In the tower that has all the recipe cards and the cute kids coloring books (that are FREE and great to entertain kids while you shop...if they ride in your buggy).  There is a GREEN FLYER AND A YELLOW ADVANTAGE FLYER.  Get both of these!!  I'll explain why later!
Publix will DOUBLE any of your coupons that are 50 cents or less. 
Example:  Price on French's Worchestershire Sauce $1.49  I had a coupon for the item that was for $.50 off - registers automatically double that to $1.00 off so that meant that I paid only $.49 (cents) for the bottle!!
OK - here's why you need the 2 other flyers from Publix...they will let you "stack" your coupons.  What does stacking mean?  Stacking means that those little coupons that you cut out of their flyer are store coupons and the ones that you cut out of the paper inserts or print online are manufacturers coupons and they will let you use one of each per item.
Example:  Last week Publix had a Yellow Advantage coupon for $.75 off one Breyer's Yogurt and I had a manufacturer's coupon for Buy One Get One Free (BOGO).  I was able to use both coupons and do the BOGO plus take $.75 off of the price as well.  So I got 2 packs of Breyer's Yogurt with the crunch topping for $1.44 TOTAL!

Kroger - at the store make sure you have a Plus Card and that the store has your email address and home address so they can mail you the store flyers when they send out coupons and advertisements.  Go to the website and sign up as well.  Enter your Plus Card information into the website and go to the link to start loading e-coupons to your card.  These coupons will automatically download to your card and when you slide your card at the register it will automatically take the coupons off of your total bill as well as all the store sales that say "with plus card". 
Kroger will DOUBLE any of your coupons that are 50 cents or less. 
Example:  Price on French's Worchestershire Sauce $1.49  I had a coupon for the item that was for $.50 off - registers automatically double that to $1.00 off so that meant that I paid only $.49 (cents) for the bottle!!

Piggly Wiggly - will ONLY take coupons that come out of the newspaper!!  They will not take ANY computer printed coupons!  I DON'T GROCERY SHOP THERE...but I do occasionally go there to get the Atl Journal :)

Ingles (in Hogansville) - I shop there when they offer TRIPLE coupons.  This doesn't happen very often and so I don't shop there often.  They do double them as a rule every day but I just don't make the drive up there...unless they TRIPLE!

3.  Other websites:  These websites are all manufacturers of grocery or general merchandise items.
http://www.bettycrocker.com/
http://www.pillsbury.com/
http://www.conagrafoods.com/
Those are just a few of the websites that I have signed up for.  You can also become a fan of other companies facebook pages to see what coupons they offer.  Quaker Oatmeal, Ball Park Hotdogs, Zattarans, Hefty as well as many others offer coupons for clicking their "like" button on their page.  Not all of these pages offer coupons all the time.  They do have a limit on the number of coupons per month that they give away.
ORGANIZING
Once you have started to collect coupons you will definitely need a way to ORGANIZE them.  If you don't start organizing them from the beginning you will spend an enormous amount of time trying to keep up with them when you are trying to match sales papers with what you have.
There are 2 methods that you can use:
1.  The index box method is what I use.  I have a 3x5 index box (that I am about to grow out of) that has tabs from "A" Air Freshener to "Z" Ziploc organized by the company or by the type.  For example, Air Freshener for me has everything from Glade, Febreeze, AirWick, etc., Baking, Condiments, Dairy, etc.
I do have certain companies with their own tabs just because I find that I use them more or they may have a greater variety of products to keep up with.  Examle:  Pillsbury - I have tabs for Pilsbury Canned Biscuits and another for Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls and another for Pillsbury Crescents and specialty breads and another for Pillsbury Cookie Dough...and another for Pillsubry Freezer Items (toaster strudels, frozen biscuits, etc.) "tip" It doesn't matter how you sort them...just sort them and organize! 
2.  The notebook method is another good method.  Get a 1"-2" notebook and baseball card clear protector sheets.  Start with alphabetical order again and put coupons in all the slots you will have 9 slots to a page - 18 if you put them front and back.

HOW TO COMPARE TO SALES PAPERS
When each store sale starts:
Publix - starts every Wednesday and runs thru the following Tuesday
Kroger - starts every Sunday and runs thru midnight on the following Saturday
I do make a list of what I NEED because there are still things that you NEED like toilet paper, toothpaste and many other things and that is what I look for first to see who has what product on sale and what coupons that I might have to go with it.  Then after I have determined that what I NEED is either on sale with or without a coupon I start looking at everything else in the sales paper.  We have learned to use products that we hadn't used in the past (switched namebrands on some things) and I can tell that just yesterday I cleaned out my pantry, fridge, freezer and deep freezer and I have TONS of food in all of them! 
I make my list for each store and pair up the coupons with each list.  I take the current sales flyer, my list and coupons with me in hand when I walk into the store...my index box of additional coupons is in my purse and I take it out and check when I see an unadvertised sale to see if I have a coupon matchup!  Once you have been doing this for a while you will remember certain items that you have coupons for because it will be the ones that you use often. 
Before you shop - check out the stores coupon rules!  or email me with questions and I will find the answers for you.  It's a proven fact that the cashiers don't like "us" and they are going to try to refuse coupons that don't easily scan or pull up.  So if you know the rules you can answer the question for them before the manager even gets to the register...and YES I will have them call the manager and YES everyone behind me is looking at me...but when I tell them how much I am saving using my coupons they all gather in a little closer to see what the verdict will be and I have them asking me before I walk out...how much did you save?

I know this is a lot of information for some of you since it is the first time that you are doing this.  Most of you have my number, call me, text me, message me... I am here to help!

You know those little warnings that come on products.....well, here is my warning...
YOU ARE BEING WARNED IN ADVANCE - WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO IS ADDICTIVE AND CAN (AND PROBABLY WILL) BECOME HABIT FORMING, CONSUME MORE TIME THAN YOU MEANT FOR IT TO SOMEDAYS AND IS CONTAGIOUS.  PROCEED WITH VIGOR AND DETERMINATION AND YOU WILL SAVE MONEY!

Look for more postings soon!