The Coupon Clippers

While the best way to get coupons is for free, there are times when investing a little money in coupons will save you more in the long run. One way to do that is with The Coupon Clippers. They buy lots of Sunday papers (yes, the entire paper) and clip all the coupons, then charge a handling fee for their efforts (coupons themselves cannot be bought and sold). You pay anywhere from $.05 to $.30 for each coupon (from what I've seen), pay a $.50 administrative fee (covers credit card/PayPal fees), and pay for the stamp. Some coupons have a minimum order (must order 5 of this coupon), others have a limit (can only order 10 of this coupon). You also must have a $3 subtotal (before shipping and administrative costs) before you check out, meaning the least amount of money you can pay is $3.92 ($3 order, $.50 admin fee, $.42 shipping).

Be sure to factor everything in when you decide if ordering coupons is worth it. I have to already know what I'm going to use a coupon on before I am willing to make an order. This means it's either an item we are loyal to and will be buying anyway (say you only buy Huggies), an item that I know is on a good sale in the coming weeks (did you know that you can peek at Walgreens and CVS ads for the coming weeks?), or an item that I can almost guarantee will be on sale in the coming weeks. I especially watch for coupons I can use on items with a rebate (you get a reabate on the price before the coupon) or items with special deals (free after ECB at CVS, for example).

Saturday morning is when the new week's coupons are available to order, though you can view them the day before (under Tracker). Some of the coupons go pretty fast.

Here's an example of what I'm planning to order tomorrow:

$1.00 off Steamers @ $.12, limit 10
so 10 coupons for $1.20
**I can guarantee that Steamers will go on Sale for $1 before the coupon expires in January. That means you can get 10 bags of steamers for $1.20 (not including the admin fee and shipping)**

$.40 off Skippy peanut butter @ $.08, limit 10
so 10 coupons for $.80
**I am already planning on stocking up on PB when Skippy is 2/$3 next week at both CVS and Walgreens, so I know I will be able to use these coupons and save $3.20 ($4 - $.80)(not including the admin fee and shipping)**

I'll need to find another dollar's-worth of coupons to meet the minimum, but even with these two coupons it is worth it for me.

If you're planning on making an order this week, I would recommend coupons for Thanksgiving weekend at CVS (many things are free after ECBs, so coupons will make for a profit). Also, there is a coupon for $1.00 off Sure deodorant that will work great in conjuction with an EasySaver coupon at Walgreens the week of Nov 23 (=free deodorant plus $.50 overage). I already got these coupons for myself, my mom, and 2 sisters all at the same time.

I know this can be confusing, especially if you're just starting. Please comment or email me if you're having trouble. I am happy to help!