With the current economic downturn, coupons are more valuable than ever. So get the most of your money and use as many coupons as you can to save some money. Continue reading to learn more.

TIP! Try not to purchase items just because they are discounted. 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.

When purchasing an item, make sure you are receiving the best deal. Sometimes, coupons can be deceiving, as they will not yield you the better deal. To be a smart shopper, you need to look at every avenue of saving money.

Coupons are most effective during BOGO sales, best known as buy one and get one free purchases. You will not only get the free item, but you can use your coupon to save on the purchased item. You may find that you pay about a fourth of the original cost.

TIP! You can find good coupons in many places. The Sunday paper usually contains many coupons inside.

Before you go shopping with your coupons in tow, make sure you have a thorough list to follow. As you shop, check each item off when you pull out the coupon. Know how many coupons you’re going to use before you enter the store.

Use your shopping list to browse the ads as you clip coupons for your shopping trip. You can often increase your savings by visiting more than one store with the coupons you clip.

TIP! You can play grocery chain competition and tactics to your own benefit. Many stores may be willing to accept competitor coupons.

Make sure you pair coupons according to grocery store sales. This is the best way to score big savings. Most coupons don’t expire for a month or so, so you have some time to wait and see if the product goes on sale. Whenever your coupons are combined with excellent sales, your savings be as much as 80-90% of your grocery bill.

Certain stores and retailers will let you double your coupons. Sometimes, you can even triple them. Ask around to find out which local stores do this. Check with friends and family, or go online to find out.

TIP! Even if your plans aren’t to use every coupon that you come across, you are going to want to bring them anyway. That way you will have the coupons handy just in case you find a special deal on an item when you get to the store.

Don’t buy every product that you cut a coupon for. This is a great way to overspend and end up with a pantry full of products that you will never use. While it could be a good deal, if it’s something you don’t use, you may waste money.

You want to get the best coupons out there. Oftentimes, companies offer many different coupons. One example would be a store that has both a 10 percent and a 50 percent coupon at the same time. While you probably won’t be able to use both coupons at one time, you should save the other for future use.

TIP! Make sure you pair coupons according to grocery store sales. That will help you save the most.

Shop weekly to get the most from your coupons. Shopping the weekly specials and loss leaders is enough to make a weekly shopping trip worthwhile. Stores offer coupons every week that you should use to save the most money.

Never be embarrassed to pull out your coupons. Forget about the people that are behind you because you’re saving yourself money. You should just take a few minutes if you stay organized.

TIP! Take time out to clip coupons. While it does require some effort on your part, the savings that result from using coupons is worth it.

Look for blogs or websites that make it easy to aggregate coupons and offers from various retailers’ websites and ads. Coupons at these sites are all put together so searching for them is unnecessary.

You don’t have to be shy when you use coupons. With the tough economy, coupons are a practical alternative for you to use. Many people are doing what they must to stretch their money. There’s nothing wrong with having the savvy to save money.

TIP! Many of the most successful couponers say they will “dumpster dive” for Sunday newspapers containing coupons. Don’t dive into any dumpsters; don some gloves and go through flyers and newspapers.

Purchase only what can be used before it expires. Should you have coupons for perishables that you won’t be using, do not buy them. Pass the coupon to family or friends who can use them.

If you are purchasing in bulk with coupons, create more space in your home for these items. When a perfect deal comes along on a product, you may be buying a lot of it. Without an organized space to keep it in, you will just be creating a bigger headache as you seek to store it.

TIP! There are many places on the Internet for coupons. You might even find a deal on coupons that give you free things.

You may be surprised to learn how much money you can save by building a stockpile of the items you use most with your coupons. You may not want to buy so much, but when you calculate it, you will save more money by stocking up on an item when it is on sale.

Expired Coupons

TIP! Shop on a weekly basis to make your coupons stretch further. Even if you only buy weekly specials, it’ll be worth shopping weekly.

Do not throw away coupons that are expired. Take them with you to the store and ask the clerk or manager if they accept expired coupons. The number of locations that are happy to take expired coupons will surprise you.

Use a baseball card holder to store your coupons. Such holders are transparent, which makes it easy to read, collect and organize coupons. Also, there is no need to pull the coupon out of this holder because it is easy to see if your coupon has expired. They are small in size, so you will not have any issues bringing them with you when you go shopping.

TIP! Organization can cut couponing efforts in half. A lot of people sort their coupons by category to make things simpler.

No one can deny the power of couponing. By using the right approach, you can save large amounts of money every month. By using this information, you can become educated at using coupons.