~Basic Training~

The first thing you want to do when learning to bargain shop is get coupons. How else are you going to get a good deal? Start by getting the Sunday paper (major city paper is best). Now that you subscribe to the paper you have 1 set of coupon inserts each week. Great if your only after 1 great deal a week. I recommend asking friends, family, co-workers to bring you the inserts from their paper if they won't be using it. Another thing you can do is go to a local convenience store and speak to the person who usually works late Sunday nights, and ask if they are willing to give you the inserts from all the left over papers each week. This will require you to make a trip there late on Sundays but can be very worth it.

You can also purchase coupons from clipping services. This can be good because if your only after a few coupons you can purchase them in bulk. This has to be handled correctly. You have to be sure that if you are matching it with a sale that your coupons have plenty of time to arrive. Some sites that I have used and have worked great for me are The Coupon Clippers, The Coupon Master, Online Coupons, and of course Ebay. I believe ebay is the best place to start and might be the cheapest.

Another good thing to do is look for blinkies (the little red machines at the store that blink and have coupons coming out of them), catalinas ( the coupons that print at the registers when you buy something), peelies (coupons that you can peel off products your buying).

Check any and all magazines you get. Some of the best coupons are in them. You can also go through your cabinets and visit the websites of some of your favorite products get on mailing lists they will send you great coupons. Also email to compliment or complain to those same company's the love the feedback and will usually provide you with coupons for taking the time to do so.

Now that you have all these coupons you need a way to store them. This is where this can get tricky. What method of coupon organization should you use?
File Box - It's kinda like a recipe box. One with a coupon that is easy to carry would be ideal but are very hard to find.
Binder Method - I have used this method. It is a basic 3 ring binder (preferably one that zips closed) and you add some card collector pages to it. This can be tricky because you will have to cut the coupons just so they fit and that can get tiresome.
Coupon Holder - These can be found at just about every dollar store or walmart. They are small and compact and can easily stay in your car or purse.

So now that you have chosen a way to store them how about how to organize them. I have tried all different ways and to be honest they all work.
Alphabetical - This can work to a great advantage because not all products in the store are in the aisle you would expect it to be.
By Aisle - Exactly like it sounds. Go one by one and organize them by the aisle in your stores. Again that not all stores are the same so if your looking for a coupon you may over look it.
By Expiration - Just load them in to your holder with the soonest expiration date to the front. But again it can get cumbersome when looking for a coupon.

A few of my suggestions would be to go with alphabetically by product name NOT who makes it. Example you have a coupon for a Glad Light Show. I wouldn't store it under G it would go under L that is the product name. My most important tip yet would be to take all coupons with you at all times (leave in your car if possible). There is nothing worse than getting to a store and seeing something on clearance or an unadvertised sale and not having that coupon with you.

So you got all your coupons clipped and organized and you want to know what to do now. First find out when your local stores have sales. Like CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Target all of their sales start each Sunday. Most of my local grocery stores sales start on Tuesdays.

Once you get that sorted out get your hands on the ads. Go to the website or stop in and pick one up if you don't get it in your mail (which you usually will). Take a pen (red is best as it can be seen easier) and circle all the products you want or need to buy, even if that doesn't seem like such a good deal. Now take those ads and compare them with each other. Is the same product on sale at more than one place? Take the cheaper of them and get out your coupons.

Some stores double or triple coupons, although I am unfortunate and don't have that near me. So if you have a $.50 coupon for chips and your store doubles that coupon would be worth $1. You may want to find out if your stores do this and if they do up to what amount do they do this.
Another great thing stores do will be to have store coupons and they can usually be combined with a manufacturer coupon (like the ones you just organized) so be sure to know that when looking through the ads.

So there you have the basic training.