The basics of an extreme sport? I am an extreme couponer. Much like any other extreme sport that gives participants that signature adrenaline rush, like say ice climbing or bungee jumping, it takes years of practice and knowledge to be able to save 50 percent or more on your household food bill. OK, you might say the comparison is a stretch, and couponing is much easier and certainly no more dangerous than vaulting off a cliff or skydiving. However, couponing may be the more dangerous of the sort in that if you're a rookie, you might make mistakes that will actually cost you the ultimate price. Money, that is. What did you think I was going to say? When I first began couponing and connecting with the coupon world, I got a little coupon happy. One of my early mistakes was buying 12 boxes of frozen Super Pretzels – I was so excited because I was getting them free through coupons. However, they took up about a third of my freezer space and no one really liked them. I kept them there for two years thinking that someone would eventually eat them, and it wasn't until I was forced by Mr. Frugal to ditch them that we could fit real food in our freezer. If you're just starting out, here are a few tips to help you avoid some couponing mistakes. Don't clip what you don't need If you don't use the product, don't clip the coupon for it. I used to cut out or print from online sites every coupon available with the thought that if I came across a good sale, I might need them. I soon learned that I was just wasting both time and ink, since more than half of the coupons ended up wasted. I now keep my coupon inserts in a basket, and only clip the ones for those products I know I'll use and leave the others intact. I'll then scour the sales fliers each week and match coupons accordingly, or go online and search for specific ones that would be useful for current sales. The only issue is online coupons could be there one day, gone the next. If you know it's an item you would normally buy when it's on sale, print it. Learn store policies It makes a difference when one store may double coupons and another one doesn't. I have three supermarkets near my house, and while Walmart and Hannaford only accept manufacturer coupons at face value, Shaw's will double coupons up 99 cents. This means a 75-cent coupon will yield me $1.50 off my grocery bill. Shaw's is the most economical option when combining sales prices with coupons. However, I get most of my health, beauty and cleaning products at Walgreens because they allow you to double dip on coupons by allowing you to use both a store and a manufacturer's coupon for the same product. In essence, knowing store policies allows you to be a savvy shopper. The brand name versus generic A lot of people think couponing is a waste of time and money because they're only for brand-name items and generic is always the cheapest. This is true in some instances, but not always. The best way to price shop is by matching up the sales circulars with your coupons. If the cheapest items are the generic ones after factoring in the coupons, that's great. However, if the brand name actually ends up costing less, you've earned your savings. In the end, the goal is to fill your fridge for as little out-of-pocket money as you can, not stock it with brand-name items that leave a little less in the checkbook. And why does "fridge" have a "d" and "refrigerator" doesn't?