Even a casual coupon person can shave 15 percent off of their grocery bill without hardly trying. Real coupon geniuses can save 50 percent or more. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of those coupons.
Use your coupon on the smallest size of the product. Sometimes this will allow you to get products for free!
Compare the savings after the coupon with the generic version of the product. Sometimes the name brand is less, sometimes it is not.
Combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons to get the best savings. Many stores allow you to do this. Even warehouse stores, such as BJS will combine these coupons. This is known as “stacking” in the coupon world.
Know where to get the best coupons. The Sunday newspaper is a good source, but you can also trade for them online, get extras at the recycling center, pick up coupons from the machines at the store, write to the product companies to ask for coupons and print coupons online.
Check the grocery sales flyers and combine the coupons with those sales to get the absolutely best deals. Again, sometimes you can get products for free.
Don’t be tempted to buy a lot of junk food or prepared meals, no matter how good the coupon is, unless you can get the items close to free. Not only is this type of food less nutritious, but it is also so much more expensive than home made versions and fresh ingredients. I recent example is a sale and coupon combination for hot pockets. I would have saved 75 percent off of the regular price. That might seem a good deal, but the package contained two hot pockets. I could make at least 20 of our own version for the same price from scratch.
What are your favorite coupon tips?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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