You can save some serious money if you use coupons when you go shopping. Many people neglect to take the time to utilize them, but they are very beneficial and can make a huge difference. Until you try it, you’re not going to know. Heed the following tips for consumers and coupons.
In order to get as many useful coupons as possible, you should not confine your searches to conventional sources alone. By expanding your coupon hunting beyond newspaper circulars to include online resources and coupon trading groups, it is likely to maximize the products for which you can receive discounts and realize the greatest amount of savings.
Take advantage of combining coupons with B1G1F specials. You will get the free item, and you will get the coupon discount for the one you bought. Many times, you’ll pay under 25 cents on the dollar.
Don’t rely only on your Sunday paper. Look for deals on several different weekend newspapers, and purchase them. This will help ensure that you get the widest variety of coupons possible. In addition, you may be able to get more than one coupon for an item that you use often, allowing you to stock up when it is on sale.
Use competition between stores to your advantage. One store will usually honor coupons from another store. Use this fact to your advantage and save the gas you would have used travelling to another store. By doing this you also take advantage of the savings in gas that you otherwise would have spent while driving to the other store.
Request all the free sample offers you can find. Not only will you get the free sample in the mail, but often times you’ll receive a coupon for the item as well. Coupons that come with free samples tend to be higher value than others, so you’ll get a great sample and a great deal!
Buy the Sunday paper. This is one of the best ways to get coupons. If you know someone who gets the paper, but doesn’t use coupons ask them for their coupon inserts. Even though the newspaper costs money, the money saving coupons in it will more than pay for the price of the newspaper.
If you are looking for a great way to collect coupons for items, you use regularly, find the website for that item and sign up on their mailing list. Many companies send out exclusive coupons to those on their mailing list, and those coupons often offer great savings. This is a terrific way to save on the brands you are most loyal to.
Get familiar with coupon acronyms. For example, “BOGO” means when you buy one, you can get one free. Or that ‘MIR’ is short for “mail in rebate”? These are just a few of the acronyms used to describe coupons. By learning the acronyms you can maximize your savings.
Compare coupons of competing stores. This works great for things like food and office supplies. One store may offer bananas for 79 cents per pound, while another store offers them for 60 cents a pound. Compare and look around to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible.
A great idea you can make use of is finding deal websites that gather all the best current coupons from the entire Internet. This will help save you time instead of spending hours searching and comparing them.
Be a conscientious coupon-clipper by never wiping the shelf clean, especially for-sale items. Buying the last two of a given item is understandable, but purchasing twenty of an item with limited stock is frustrating to other shoppers. If you know that you will be purchasing several of the same item, call the store a few days in advance to see whether they will order extra.
To really get the most you can from coupons, you need to get out of paycheck to paycheck living. When you don’t have disposable income or extra cash, you can’t take advantage of the deals you find. You can still use coupons on your regular grocery items, but you will miss out on valuable opportunities to stockpile your favorite toiletries, paper products, or other dry goods.
Before you buy anything, look for a coupon. Oftentimes, there are coupons available online that are not advertised elsewhere. Use a search engine to see if there is a coupon you can print for that next purchase. Do this even if that purchase is small. Even the small savings add up quickly.
Try to only shop with stores that let you double coupons. Doubling means that a $.50 coupon would actually be worth $1.00 off the single item. That can be helpful for buying higher priced items that only give coupons for small amounts, like dish soap or bath tissue. Look closely at your coupons because some of them will have special instructions.
Don’t just go after the advertised deals when making use of your coupons. Check other products in the store for reduced prices that may not have made it into the sales flyer. These can either be small price changes or, in the case of overstock or discontinuation, drastic cuts to the cost.
Stop spending the full amount on things that you buy. All it takes is five minutes to look up if there are any coupons online, and by doing this you can save a bunch of money whenever you buy anything. Look in magazines, online, or through articles to find coupons.
Now that you know what to do, it’s your turn to utilize the information you’ve learned. Put a smile on your face when you see the bottom line on your next shopping bill. The power is in your hands to save yourself some money, so make sure you do just that.
