Getting started...

First off you have to have coupons in order to coupon :)  Sounds silly but if you don't buy the Sunday paper you should.  You may even look into getting multiple copies of only the Sunday paper so that you can have access to more coupons meaning more product for the soon to be growing stock pile.  Some cities offer a decent discount if you simply call and ask for the paper to only be delivered once a week but multiple copies at a time.  Here in Las Vegas they do offer a discount but the availability of the coupon inserts in our local paper isn't that great.  You may also find that you want to reach out to a coupon insert service.  This for me has been a better option since some of our papers only come with 1 insert instead of the 2 or 3 that were supposed to be in it.  Some inserts are regional therefore you may not receive all the inserts that are projected for that week.  SundayCouponPreview.com is a great site to check out what inserts will be available each Sunday.  

To be the couponer that gets great deals you have to remember that you don't just buy an item at the regular price with you little .25 off coupon.  You wait until the store runs a great sale or even has the item clearanced out before you pair your coupon with that item.

Some stores also double coupon values to give you an ever greater deal.  This is definitely not the case here in the Las Vegas area but some stores in other locations do provide this fabulous savings option.  Finding a store that doubles coupons is going to be your best shot at getting a greater savings on food items. Coupons that are valued at say .50 can be doubled by the store making it worth 1.00 off your product instead of the .50 the coupon actually states.  In this case the manufacturer will still only pay the store the value of the coupon but the store is willing to forfeit the extra for you the customer to get a better savings.

Also stacking coupons is another great way to save.  My favorite store to do this at is Target.  On the bottom of the target website that is a link to their store coupons.  These coupons can be stacked with a manufacture coupon.  So for example Target has a coupon for degree deoderant for 1.00 off and there is a manufacturer coupon for 1.00 off both of those can be paired together to get a greater savings.  Another store that has store coupons is Walgreens.  These store coupons can also be paired with manufacturer coupon.