If you are new to couponing, here is a look back at how I started.

I have always collected random coupons and clipped them to my refrigerator just in case I wanted to order pizza or eat out at one of my favorite restaurants. I was excited to discover a couple of blog sites that specialized in identifying great deals and people were buying their groceries for up to 90% off retail prices. I was intrigued and decided that if they could save that much money so could I. I researched the best techniques to optimize the discounts and started flipping through circulars to find the best deals. I have saved over $500 in three weeks on grocery and drugstore items by clipping coupons, watching for sales, using my store loyalty cards, submitting rebates and piggybacking savings. Here are a few steps to optimize your savings.

Where do you find coupons?

* Buy a Sunday paper and clip coupons from the inserts. Sunday papers offer circulars from Red Plum, Smart Source, Proctor Gamble, store grocery ads and store ads.

* Internet sites like coupons.com offer Internet printable coupons that many stores accept. Some stores like Winco do not accept internet coupons so check the policies at the stores you shop at their web sites or check out this site for more coupon policy information.

* Buy coupons for really great deals on Ebay. People offer specific coupons or packets of coupons for $1 or $2 and they can save you big money at your favorite store.

How do I organize my coupons?

* You can place your clipped ads in an envelope or you can purchase a coupon wallet for $2 or $3 and create categories. You can also use a binder system if your have a large family or prefer a more thorough organizational system.

How do I find the really great sales?

* Most grocery stores run sales starting on Wednesdays, while stores like Fred Meyer often start their sales on Sundays. If you don't subscribe to the paper, be sure to pick up a Sunday paper and Wednesday paper if possible. Look for special sales and promotions in the ads. Make a shopping list based on the sales and then flip through your coupons to find coupons for the items you are purchasing.

* Bookmark your favorite Isitreallyadeal,
Thekrazycouponlady, CouponingtoDisney and Fabulesslyfrugal. There are many great deal blogs out there. Let me know if you have a favorite deal site. I would be happy to add it to my list.

How do I save 90% on my groceries?

* Stock pile items you will use when the sales are great. During a recent Albertsons promotion you could buy $30 worth of food and receive a coupon at checkout for $15 off your next purchase. You could used your coupons to drop the $30 to $15 and get free food. You could then bring your $15 in coupons or catalinas and purchase groceries again. This time, after coupons you had little or no money out of pocket and you received $15 toward your next purchase again that printed at checkout. You could do this transaction as many times as you wanted. I was able to stock up on everything from ice cream, peanut butter, mayonnaise, crackers, frozen vegetables, frozen pizzas, rice sides dishes and many more items. I spent $40 out of pocket and purchased $400 worth of groceries. I usually stockpile a few months worth of groceries when the prices are great. Product sales usually run in a 3-4 month cycle so if you can stock 3 months worth of items you should rarely need to pay full price for an item again.

* Use double coupons offers. Many stores will offer double coupons where they will double the value of a coupon up to $1 or $2. This can save a great deal of money. If you are buying $1.99 ice cream and you have a coupon for $1, then apply a double coupon and now your item is FREE.

* Watch for FREE food promos like the Kraft promotion where you can get $25 in free food with a $5 coupon toward you next purchase and a $20 rebate.

* Walgreens offers what they call register rewards which are coupons toward your next purchase when you buy certain items. You can often get items free or nearly free with these offers.

* RiteAid offers a monthly rebate program where you can get free or discounted items and their rebates are fast and easy to submit. They also offer a prescription transfer promotion where they offer your a $25 gift card for each transfer up to 2 per person.

If I can save $500 in less than a month so can you. During the first month, it will seem like you are making extra trips to the store to get the great deals, but once you stock up you can shop your freezer and pantry rather than the store which will save time and money. If you a have a little time to clip coupons and look through the fliers, you can save 75%-90% off your grocery bill. Don't forget to subscribe to my updates or bookmark this site or the latest deals.

If you have an article or a story about how you started couponing, link up here.