Coupons
One
of the most important rules to remember about coupons is that not all
of them are worth using. In fact some coupons are just horrible. Many
times you'll find a coupon for a certain percent off an item that may
be way overpriced to begin with. So just because you have a coupon doesn't
mean you have to use it. I've seen plenty of retailers raise the price
of an item just so they can then go ahead and knock the price back down
10-25 percent. The customer feels they are getting a great discount,
but they're really just paying regular price for a marked up item. People
sometimes buy things they truly don't need, but are motivated because
they think they're getting a great deal. Just because you have a coupon
make sure it really is a great deal before you use it to buy something
you might not have purchased otherwise. .
Even
though not all coupons are great, there are plenty out there definitely
worth using. Try to keep the good ones that you save organized. Grab
a little box and some envelopes and try to keep them all in one place.
Grocery coupons can go in one envelope, entertainment coupons in another
and so on. Having a box loaded with coupons you can't find, usually
means that they won't be used. Clean out the coupons every once in a
while too. Keep an eye out for expiring ones that might be good. It
can be annoying when you have a great deal on something and you just
forget to cash it in before it expires.
Subscribing
to a local paper is an excellent way to start. You can sign up for only
the Sunday edition if you want and the coupons should easily paper for
the price of the paper. Besides keeping up to date with current events,
the Sunday paper is always loaded with valuable coupons. Many times
they're for free items or buy one and get one free items. Many other
times you'll save 50 cents or more on groceries you already buy. Either
way, you're sure to make at least your $1.50 or so for the paper back
and most often much more.
A great
way to get hundreds of dollars in coupons is investing in an Entertainment
book. You can usually find these being sold to raise money for charities
or on their web site Entertainment.com.
The books generally go for about $25, but use just one of the "buy
one meal and get one meal free" coupons and you're almost already
at break even. The books usually have coupons that expire on Nov 1st
each year so make sure you try to by them when they first come out so
you take advantage of a whole years worth of discounts. Another great
idea is to go 50/50 with a friend or another family member and share
the book. There's no way to go to every restaurant in the book and maybe
a friend may go to one that you don't visit so why not help save them
a few bucks.
 Baby
coupons can be incredibly helpful too if you've got a new addition or
are expecting one. Before our baby was born we had registered with Enfamil.com.
If you're a parent you know just how expensive baby formula can be.
Every month we were getting a few coupons for $5 off their formula.
We probably received 10-15 in total. So that's about $50-$75 in savings
right there. Similac usually does the same and since our baby used Enfamil
we shared the Similac coupons with a coworker who would give us more
Enfamil coupons that he didn't use.
Many
online retailers have ecoupons out there you can apply to your internet
purchases as well. A quick and easy tip is before going through the
check out process try and spend 5 minutes just going to Google
and searching the name of the web site and coupon. There are many sites
that update these types of coupons. I find Current
Codes a great site to use. Sometimes you might get $5,$10 or more
off your purchase or a percentage off the total. I once bought a Plasma
Tv this way and got 10 percent off, saving $120 by taking a few extra
minutes searching for an ecoupon. Some coupons might not discount the
price, but they might offer you free shipping which also adds up to
more savings.
If
you ever go someplace and find yourself with more than one coupon, share
it with someone or even give it to a stranger. Especially if you rarely
go there or its going to expire. I've been a few places, such as an
amusement park or a home show, where someone had an extra $5 or $10
coupon and gave it to us. It's a really nice gesture and it's better
to have someone else take advantage of the coupon that was going to
go to waste any way. Plus maybe Karma will send it back around your
way someday. |
