Printing Coupons Is It Worth It? Tutorial #4

Alot of people assume that printing coupons is just not worth the cost of a printer or ink to print them. If your stores accept internet printable coupons this tutorial is for you. Is Printing Coupons Worth It? The Answer is Yes, you just need to know what printer to buy, and what coupons are worth printing.

The Printer

I love my HP F4480 Inkjet printer. The coupons scan at the register everytime and the printer only requires two ink cartridges, one black and one tri-color.

Right now, you can get the HP F4480 Printer for $31.99 on Amazon here, normally $99.00

The ink cartridges HP 60 are around $30.00 for a two pack or $15 per cartridge. I luckily have a Staples that gives me $3.00 credit per ink cartridge I recycle with a Staples Rewards Card. You have to wait for the certificate to come in the mail but it then costs me $24.00 for the cartridges. I also watch for sales on cartridges online.

I only use my printer to print coupons. I DO NOT print anything else with my printer.

So what you want to look for in a printer is how many ink cartridges does it require to run and how much does the cartridges cost? You can also catch great deals on cartridges on eBay. Don't buy a no name printer try to catch a sale for a name brand printer.

Coupons Worth Printing

I only print coupons that are B1G1 Free, Coupons that I know when I print them that will get me the item more or less for free, and high value coupons that are $1/1 or higher. I also print coupons from retailers like Rite Aid, Target and Walgreens for you can use their store coupons and stack them with a manufacturer coupon saving you more money on one item.

I watch for the high value coupons and watch websites like A Full Cup and Hot Coupon World for shopping deals they tell you what coupons to print, and how to get the best deals in stores.

Just to show you an example of what coupons I print and why it is worth it.

Coupons I have printed so far this month:
$2/1 Viactiv
B1G1 Free Nestle Nesquick (Printed Twice) Free Item $1.99x2 = $3.98
$3.99 New York Style Snacks which makes them free
$3/1 Schick Quattro for Women Trimstyle
$2/1 Clearasil which I used with in ad $2 Rite Aid Coupon that made my purchase free
$5/1 Zantac Coupon made my purchase $0.99
B1G1 Free Vitaminwater ($1.79 for the free item)
B1G1 Free Pedigree Food For Dogs (Printed Twice) $1.09x2=$2.18
$1/1 A1 Steak Sauce
$3/1 Afrin Nasal Spray free at Rite Aid 1/30
$0.75/1 Shake N Bake (my store doubles so I will get $1.50/1)

So I have printed 13 coupons with $29.44 in savings already, just 13 coupons, I have already paid back the cost of the ink cartridges and made a profit, hardly used any ink and have alot more I can print.

Alot of B1G1 Free Coupons come out periodically on Facebook and the coupon websites. I just watch and wait. Plus the coupons that come out on Facebook you will not find in your coupon inserts on Sunday or anywhere else online. We tell you when there are great deals printing coupons and when high value coupons and B1G1 Free Coupons are available, taking the work out of it for you.

By printing the coupons the way that I do, I save hundreds of dollars a month on items that I buy and need every month. So is it worth it printing coupons. Yes it is.

So in addition to manufacturer coupons you collect from Sunday Newspaper Inserts, printing them also will help you save more money at the grocery store for items that you buy plus it is a fast and easy way to get coupons for the items that you use, and build your coupon stash.

Tutorial #3 Buy One Get Free Coupons Explained

Scenario #1

Buy One Get One Coupons (BOGO or B1G1)  are in my opinion the coupons you want to get your hands on either purchasing them off of eBay from coupon clipping services or printing them when they are available. Why You Ask? See why below

When a buy one get one free coupon comes out in coupon inserts or on the internet  in means that somewhere there is gonna be a B1G1 Free Sale relatively soon.

For an example: CVS Runs B1G1 Free Sale On Bic Razors
You pick up 2 packages of  razors
Hand the cashier your B1G1 Free Bic Razors Coupon
Final Price: FREE (both items are free with coupon) of course you have to pay sales tax on the free items.

Scenario #2

Rite Aid has a great sale on Bic Razors  2/$5  look at it as  $2.50 Each
You pick up 2 packages of razors
Use B1G1 Free Razor Coupon meaning you are paying for one item $2.50 and getting the other $2.50 item free
Use $1/1 Bic Razor Coupon (you are using this on the one you are paying for)
= $1.50 for both packages of razors or $0.75 each package

B1G1 Free Coupons are a great way to get FREE items and build a stockpile of items you use often, but also realize that when a B1G1 Free Sale starts you better get to the store the first day because the shelves will empty quick. Some stores limit how many of a coupon you can use, some don't. So ask a cashier, manager if there is a limit or for a copy of their coupon policy.

These are the items generally you will find B1G1 Free Coupons for throughout the course of a year: Stayfree, Carefree, Reach toothbrushes, gum, candy bars, Met Rx Bars, Protein Bars, Cesar dog cuisine, Mighty dog, Temptations Cat treats, air wick refill products, febreze fabric refresher, Aussie and Herbal Essences Products, Axe products, Old Spice, Bic Razors, Schick Razors, OB tampons, Gillete deodorant ,Edge shaving cream ,arm and hammer laundry detergent, Nivea products, ketchup, frozen tv dinners, and more.

On Facebook manufacturers like to release B1G1 Free Coupons  on food, which when that comes about you will be notified on the page to print them .Usually you get one print, sometimes two.

Take a look around at eBay type in b1g1 free coupons or buy one get one free coupons to see what they have. For example you can get b1g1 free Reach toothbrushes coupons that do not expire until 12/31/11, so you have from now until the end of the year to find a buy one get one free reach toothbrush sale to get them free for your entire family. Extreme Couponing was correct in telling you they are certain items you should never ever have to pay for.

Tutorial #2 Where To Find Coupons

If you watched Extreme Couponing on TLC one of the questions you may have had was how in the world do they get all those coupons to overflow their coupon binders, and purchase 100's of boxes of cereal for close to nothing?

 They showed dumpster diving for coupon inserts, and going door to door asking for them. Here I will tell you where to locate coupons without digging through the garbage.

1) Magazines  If you subscribe to any magazines be sure to flip through them and see what coupons you can find.

Recommendation: Purchase All You Magazine monthly found in Walmart and other stores. All You Magazine is $2.49 an issue and are loaded with coupons each month. The magazine pays for itself, a million times over in my opinion, just because of the coupons , advice, recipes and more.

You can purchase a 6 month subscription for $10 or 1 year subscription for $20 ($1.66 an issue) here
Generally there are anywhere from $50 - $120 of coupons in each issue. I highly recommend this magazine.

2) Coupon inserts found in Weekend Newspapers.  I suggest buying 5,  depending on the number of inserts in that weekend's  newspaper (Redplum, SmartSource, P&G) and the cost of the newspaper.  I will post a link each week where you can preview what coupons will be included in the upcoming newspapers, and how many inserts there will be to see if it is worth for you to buy multiple inserts that week. Also to see if the coupons are on items you will buy. But if there are coupons, great coupons and say 3 inserts in the paper that weekend, you buy 5 papers that's 15 coupon inserts full of coupons. Great way to stockpile coupons quickly and build your stash.

3) Ask your family and friends. Just tell them that you are trying your hand at couponing and if they would save them for you. You will be surprised how many will save them for you.

4) Blinkies - usually they are red found in grocery aisles. They dispense coupons. If you find a coupon you will use, grab multiples.  Plus you can use them at any store for they are manufacturer coupons.

5) Tear Pads- Generally found on end caps or displays. You tear off the coupon. You can also find rebates on tear pads. So pay attention when you go shopping next time. You would be surprised the amount of coupons up for grabs right there at the stores you shop at. So Look Around.

6) Join Coupon Exchange Trading Boards - I will be doing a tutorial on this, but I am trying to get one started found in discussions tab on my Facebook page. This is when you are looking for particular coupons on items you buy and trade or share with others.

7) Request coupons online from the manufacturers websites. Tutorial coming soon.

8) Requesting Free Samples. Generally they will send a coupon or coupons with the free sample

9) Peelie - Found stuck to a product that is removed to use at checkout.

10) Coupons from Coupon Clipping Services Online - Tutorial coming soon. You don't buy the coupons, the coupons are free you pay them for a service, their time finding, sorting, cutting and packaging them. I will have a tutorial on what coupons are worth getting this way.  I will list only services I have used and purchased from that ship to you within 3 days, that I used when I was a Powerseller coupon clipping service on eBay. I will also be opening a store on this blog that you will be able to get them from that will only have the coupons that will get you as close to free in stores using them. It is inexpensive and a great way to score great deals on the products you buy plus you don't have to sort and clip them. They are done for you.

11) Printing Coupons- There are many places online to get printable coupons. Will have a tutorial on Internet coupons called Is it  worth printing coupons, how to print them inexpensively, where to find them online.  Most of you know of the big ones SmartSource, Redplum, Coupons.com, Target, Rite Aid Video Values, and more. Of course you have to find out if you store accepts printable internet coupons. Some do, some don't. Also I will tell you how to get an inexpensive printer and printer cartridges.