Coupons Tips and Advice

Couponing for the Clueless

I thought that one of the first pieces of content that we should publish here is a list of coupon tips and advice. Some of the tips about couponing that I've included below are common sense, but some of them will be ideas that you might not have thought of. When it comes to saving money, I can never get too much good advice, and I'd imagine you're the same way.

Tips on Couponing

Here's a list of my best tips on couponing.

  1. You should ALWAYS get the Sunday newspaper. There is still no better source for coupons and information about sales than the Sunday newspaper. The easiest thing to do is to have it delivered. If you're lucky enough to live in a city that still has two newspapers, take both of them.
  2. Look for in-store coupons too. I'm always amazed at the large number of coupons that are just sitting there in the store waiting for me to pick them up. Some of these coupons are available in dispensers along the bottoms of the shelves, some of these coupons are in a newspaper like publication in the front of the grocery store, and some of these coupons are on the back of your grocery receipt. But all of these coupons are opportunities to save more money.
  3. Coupon Tips and AdviceFind coupons on the Internet. You probably already figured this one out, or you wouldn't be reading a website about coupons and couponing. But I should point out that you'd be surprised at what kinds of coupons you can find on the Internet. ANYTHING you buy is potentially available with a discount from a coupon. Just try Googling "product name" + "printable coupons" and look at all of the possibilites.
  4. Organization is the key to success. Some people keep their coupons in an envelope, but honestly, to maximize your couponing success, you'll need a binder with folders and pockets in it. You'll need to come up with an organizational plan that works for you, but I don't think you'll have too hard a time of it if you stick with something that's intuitive and makes sense in your life. If you organize your grocery list, then you can organize your coupons.
  5. Use the grocery store loyalty card. But grocery stores aren't the only places who offer loyalty cards. Even casinos have slot club memberships, and you can get a lot of money back in the form of rebates. Many restaurants have a frequent diner program where you get a free meal after buying four meals. Those kinds of savings are too good to ignore, and when you combine them with your new couponing hobby, you're really saving some serious money.

  1. Don't buy stuff that you don't want or need just because you have a coupon for it. The biggest beginner mistake that new couponers make is to start buying stuff they wouldn't normally buy just because they have coupons for them. Yeah, you should try Pepsi instead of Coke if you have a coupon for it, but don't stock up on a canned soup that you hate just because you can save a quarter per can. Stick with buying stuff that you'll actually use.
  2. Don't take the kids to the store with you. You'll enjoy grocery shopping a lot more if you leave your children at home, especially if your children behave anything like mine. It doesn't make sense to go to the trouble of saving 25% or 50% of your grocery bill by couponing if you just spend the same amount buying crap you don't need or want just to keep your kids quiet.
  3. Don't get discouraged. The coupon queens that you see on television have spent years stockpiling coupons and practicing, and they don't walk out of the grocery store with $100 worth of groceries for $5 every trip. Give yourself time to learn how to best save money with coupons, and understand that couponing is a skill like any other. It takes practice to master it.
  4. Don't overstock. Stocking up on stuff that DOESN'T perish makes a lot of sense if you can save a lot of money doing it. But don't buy so much of something that's perishable that it will rot before you eat it. And keep in mind that no matter where you live, you have a limited amount of storage space.
  5. Stay alert. Cashiers at grocery stores work long hours, and they have a dull job. They can easily make mistakes and forget to include the discount from a coupon. They often make mistakes even with the original prices, and they sometimes make mistakes when counting change. (I'm not criticizing cashiers; I'm just saying that they're people, too, and they make mistkaes.) It avails you nought if you save $5 on your purchase only to have the cashier short you $10 when she's making change.
  6. Some things are cheaper without a coupon. A lot of times, if you're willing to buy a store brand or a generic product, you can get a cheaper price on a type of product than you'd be able to get if you bought the name brand product with a coupon. Suppose a 12 pack of Coke costs $2.99, and you have a coupon for 50 cents off. That 12 pack of Coke still costs $2.49. If you can get a generic brand of cola for $1.99 a 12 pack, you're coming out way ahead with the generic.
  7. Don't suffer just to save money. I've made a point of saying you should be flexible about brands in order to save money, but don't do it at the expense of your happiness. For example, when it comes to coffee, I'm only satisfied with Folgers or Starbucks. It doesn't matter to me how cheap Sam's Club coffee is, it's not worth the savings to me, because I won't enjoy it. And I WANT to enjoy my coffee in the mornings.

I hope these 12 couponing tips are helpful.