krazycouponlady.com is a great place to learn because she has actual videos on how she shops ect.
She also posts weekly deals for most of the major stores (with which coupons are available) under "Find My Store" that I find really helpful.
coupons.com is a good source for printable coupons, but krazycoupon lady has links to other sources and I'm too lazy to go through my bookmarks this morning. lol There are several. I don't invest in more than 2 newspapers per week. As far as I'm concerned if I'm going to put out too much to save money then I've killed my purpose. I often print the same coupons that can be found in the paper.....so not much need for additional papers, at least for me. easy child limits herself to 4. Nichole has found that by subscribing to the local paper for sunday only, somehow she gets more coupon inserts......now I don't understand how or why, this is just what she tells me. She has subscribe to 2 sunday papers per wk. The 3 of us often swap coupons, easy child doesn't have a dog, but I have 3 and Nichole has one. I have no use for diaper or baby coupons, but Nichole needs them and easy child likes the pull up ones. Know what I mean??
It takes a while to catch on and really get the hang of it. Like anything, it takes practice. Once you do, you'll never stop, trust me. You just can't see paying full price for something that if you wait you can get for half the price or less if not for free. Set aside storage space, you're going to need it. To really make it work for you, you'll be buying per sales in bulk to wait for the next sale/coupons on that item or items and buy in bulk again.
I have enough person hygiene items to last more than 2 yrs. Most were under a dollar and many many of them were just plain freebies. Now I don't actively buy them unless they're free, I don't need to. I'll pass those coupons on to Nichole who is just getting her own stockpile started as she finally has room to do so. I have enough food.........well, I could (and have) eat off it for a year, even while still adding to it. I rotate the stock. It is good food. I haven't paid more than 2 bucks (and I hate to pay that much) for boxed cereal in more than a year......it rarely goes over 1.50 and this is name brand. My stockpile is such now that I can be super picky and pick up even food at next to nothing.
If you don't have a deep freeze, you might consider investing in one, even if it's a small one. Meat prices are going to soar due to the drought, right now there are good sales due to farmers reducing livestock they can't feed. I picked up 5 (yes 5) whole chickens at kroger last week. They were .98 cents a lb. They are tucked away in my freezer.
It took a few months to really get the hang of it, so try not to get frustrated and give up. You'll make mistakes on deals or miss deals, it happens. You'll learn from it and do better next time.
These are some items I no longer pay for: tooth brushes, dental floss, toothpaste, deodorant, sometimes razors (although this is changing due to price hikes), often shampoo & conditioner, body soap......these are just a few actually. I couldn't name them all. I've given stuff away too when the stock pile gets just too full and I need storage space, especially the freebies.....and I get a LOT of freebies now. Those food pantries we mention can really use any overstock you happen to pick up for free or even food that will expire soon and you just can't eat if fast enough. This takes much practice though, and it's taken a year for me to get to this point........with a stockpile that let's me wait for the deals I want.
I live on less than 600.00 per month income with bills that total more than twice that. I have a teeny nest egg that is dwindling away while I search my rear off for a better job. Without this knowledge on how to shop this way......without my stockpile.......I could NOT, would NOT have survived. It lets me put every dime coming in onto bills, with very little going out to restock what I've used out of the stockpile.
Not only is it great to have all that extra in case of emergency, whatever that emergency is, it saves you a TON of cash to put somewhere else. Win/win. It's hard work and it can be time consuming until you get the hang of it, let the kids help too. It's worth it. Now my grandkids.........are little couponers. lol Darrin even bought his own newspaper last week so he can have his very own coupons. The kid is NINE. lmao He was proud to tell easy child he was going to go buy himself some Wolf brand chilli at krogers for .20 cents a can. It catches on........lol