How to Start a Successful Coupon Train

With all of this extreme couponing going on, more and more people are discovering the power of coupons. In order to save money using coupons, you need a steady stream of coupons to use at the store. I will let the experts give all their advice on how to use the coupons to their fullest potential, but those of you that are interest in increasing your coupon stash then continue reading.

I am going to outline the simple steps you can take to create a coupon train. First let me define what a coupon train is. A coupon train traditionally consists of anywhere from 3 to 10 participants, the fewer the easier it is to keep track of where everything is. It starts by a conductor, the person in charge of the train, sending out an envelop of coupons they are not going to need that are still dated well in advance so that by the time the next person gets them they are not expired. Each week, each car of the train sends their coupon envelope to the next car on the train, with the caboose sending to the conductor of the train.

Now for the simple steps to have a successful coupon train.

1. Use your social networks to announce that you would like to start a coupon train and any couponers out there are welcome to contact you to be added to the train. Make sure to get email and mailing addresses.
2. Organize the list of participants by region/location, if there are more than 10 people on the list, break the train up into two equal parts or more if you have many participants. Make sure to consider where each person lives, to make the best of the mailing system.
3. Send an email to each participant letting them know how the train order is going to be and with the name and address of the person they will be sending their envelope on to each week.
4. Include any rules you want to enforce, for instance if you want people to send every week, then state that and the terms if someone isn't sending each week. Also include the simple rule golden rule of couponing, and that is replace what you take and send on what you won't use that have dates at least two weeks in advance so they don't expire before the next car gets them.
5. Set the start date and send your first envelop to the car (person) you are responsible for sending coupons to, and remember to include circular coupons as well as printed ones! 

It is that simple. Once you get the coupon train flowing you will come across new coupons that you otherwise may not have had access to. This is a great thing to get involved with and helps keep coupons you wouldn't use from going to waste.

And what do you ask should you do with all the expired coupons you will run across in your stash? Well, you can look into sending them to people that are stationed overseas, as they are able to use coupons six months passed their expiration date. If you want more information on this and how you can help families across seas please contact me. 

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