Couponing 101
The money saved by using coupons isn’t apples-to-apples. It’s better. Just think – if I save $100 by strategic shopping, that is a full $100 that stays in my bank. Not at all like every $100 earned on my paycheck that then has Federal & State taxes applied to it before the remaining amount hits my bank account. So, if you’re interested in giving coupons a try, read on below for some of the tips I’ve learned:
1. The #1 key to saving with coupons is to set a spending limit and stay within it. If you use the coupons correctly, your money will go a lot further, but don’t buy something simply because you have a coupon.
2. Organize your coupons and keep them with you. I’ve tried several different methods of organizing and what I’ve found works best is to organize by type. Here are the categories I use: Bakery, Beauty, Bottled, Boxed, Candy, Canned, Cereal, Dairy, Frozen, Health, Household, Meat, Services, Snacks, Refrigerated and Restaurant. I also have separate categories for store-specific coupons: King Soopers, Old Navy and Walgreens being the 3 I use most, so I have separate sections for those. Don’t worry about alphabetizing or overcomplicating it.
3. I don’t use printable online coupons as a general rule. This is because they require installing their software to print and I find it annoying. The exception to this is www.oldnavyweekly.com and www.valpak.com which don’t require any sort of install (some of the Val Pak coupons do, but most don’t).
4. Visit stores that have a coupon doubling program and combine a rock-bottom-sale price with a coupon. For instance, a grocery store offers a sale on Nature Valley Granola bars — buy 4 and get $4 off, making it $1.50 a box. You have 2 coupons for $0.70 off two boxes of Nature Valley Granola bars. These will be increased to $1 each through coupon doubling (which cuts off at $1). So, you purchase 4, using 2 coupons and your end price is $1.00/box.
5. Go through the Weekly Ad found online or in the Sunday Paper for each store you will visit. Flip through your coupons and pull any that you can combine with a great sale. Clip to your shopping list. There will likely be additional unadvertised sales once you’re at the store, so keep your coupons with you and flip through them in the store to see if you have any that combine with those offers as well. Having them organized by department will help keep this from being a difficult process.
6. Periodically weed out your expired coupons (I tend to do this just twice a month).
7. You will often receive a coupon upon check out — sometimes for money off your next shopping order. These coupons are typically valid for only one week after purcahse. If you have time right then, head back into the store and buy some sort of essential item (i.e. milk) so you don’t forget to use it before it expires. Walgreens advertises which items will produce a Register Rewards coupon upon purchase, so I typically will ask to do two separate transactions – I purchase the Register Rewards item first, collect the coupon and then purchase my remaining items immediately after, applying the RR coupon to that transaction. Note that if you’re expecting to generate additional RR coupons in the second transaction apply just one RR coupon or the others won’t print.
8. Don’t forget to bring your own bags! Most stores will give you $.05 to $.10 off per bag, and you’ll be eco-friendly besides!
Enjoy your shopping — I save anywhere from 40% -60% off my shopping orders when I’m strategic with my coupons. For me, the tax-free money in the bank makes it well worth the effort.
(c) 2009 Sarah Mendez www.nocoonthecheap.com. Use only with permission.
