Make sure you’re not buying something just because you have a coupon. A lot of the time, people spend more than they save because they’re buying things that they don’t need and will never use. Just use coupons on items you plan on buying to begin with to avoid unnecessary spending.
Understand coupon policies for wherever you shop. Does your favorite store double the value of certain coupons or accept ones offered by a rival store? If you’re not sure of how their policies work, it will be difficult to figure out if you’re allowed to use all of your coupons you’re taking with you.
Try Google or another search engine to search for coupon codes or promotions for different online retailers. Many times, you can find codes for free shipping, a percentage off or other deals from a website you were going to shop at anyway.
Seek out stores that are willing to take coupons from all sources in order to avoid wasting time going store to store. For the maximum benefit, look for a store that will not only take all coupons but also accepts double value coupons.
Don’t use all your coupons as soon as you obtain them. You do not want to spend a bunch of money on items just because you have coupons for them. By doing this, your savings could be doubled, which will make your item extremely cheap. At times, you could even obtain the item free of charge!
Take advantage of grocery-store competition. Some stores accept coupons from their competition. By using this to your advantage, going from place to place to save the most can be avoided. This can also save you money by cutting fuel costs that would go towards traveling to several stores.
Bring all of your coupons when you go to the store even if you don’t plan to use it. You never know if there’s an in-store sale and you want those coupons you need to be accessible when you shop.
Coupons Expire
Keep track of when your coupons expire. Some coupons expire within a matter of days. Some may last for a month or so. It’s good practice to review your coupons once a week to weed out the expired ones. Use any that are close to their expiration dates. You can make the most with the coupons that you get.
Make sure your coupons are paired up with the special sales of your grocery store. By doing this, your savings will be maximized. Many coupons you have won’t expire for at least another three months, so keep them around until that good deal comes along. You might be able to save an insane amount of money if you stack coupons with in store sales.
There are a number of stores that double up or triple coupons. If you don’t know what stores in your area allow you to do this, speak with others. Those around you may know which stores will let you do this.
Don’t be embarrassed by having a stack of coupons at the checkout counter. The saving that you earn should bring you satisfaction and pride. If you’re organized, it won’t take you that long to check out anyway.
Ask your friends and family members to save their coupon inserts from the weekend newspaper and magazine subscriptions. You can also tell them to email you about the coupon promotions that they find online as well. In order to encourage their support, consider giving back by offering up items you are able to purchase with the coupons.