I personally save any coupon for a product that I will buy if I can get it dirt cheap or even free. For example, we don't usually use Land O'Lakes butter,but I will put it in my coupon holder just in case. So, this week I do have a coupon for it for $.55 and I found it on sale for $1.69. It can be doubled at this store so I will paying $.59 for a pound a butter. Pretty good price huh? You know those coupons they have near products in the stores (they are called blinkies), grab a couple of them if it is for a product you might possibly use. Usually the product is not on sale anyway, so just put it in your holder.
Most store ads come out on Sunday. What I do to prepare on Saturday night is go through my coupons and throw out expired coupons. Besides getting rid of bad coupons, I am also refreshing my mind on what coupons I have. I also personally have a spreadsheet where I keep track of what coupons I have, when they expired and the quantity. I can easily delete and add more coupons and when I want to find a coupon I just click on control-f. I can also print this off and take it with me when I have a lot of coupons in my holder (which is the current state).
Many store ads are online, but you may have a local store that is not. I find it easier to look at a paper ad anyways, plus I am buying a paper for the coupons so why not make my life easier. The front page of the ad is where you will mostly find the best deals, these are commonly referred to as loss leaders. These are meant to lure you to the store and get you to spend money on other things that aren't on sale. Don't fall for this trick. Only buy things that are on sale!
Look through the ad and write down anything that seems like a good deal. You may want to start keeping a price book or a spreadsheet where you can write down who has the best regular
prices on things. Be careful, because sometimes they may say it is on sale, but you're only saving pennies. Make sure you only write down things that you may use or eat. Buying stuff to only throw them away is wasteful and you are throwing your money in the garbage.After looking through the ad, look through your coupons and see if any of them match the sale price. A $.40 coupon may not seem like a lot but if your store doubles coupons then that is really $.80 off that item, which may end up making it a pretty good price. Check with your store about their coupon policy. After looking through your coupons, go online to A Full Cup or CouponMom and see what printable coupons are out there that match your sale prices. Again, check with your individual store to see if they accept Internet coupons (Some Walmarts do and some don't).
Don't forget to look at ads for CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid if you have any of these near you. Many times you can get products for really cheap or even free. Walgreens has Register Rewards where if you buy a certain product or products you can get money off your next purchase at Walgreens. CVS also has a similar program, although I do not know the name of it since there is none around here. Rite Aid has rebates where you can get a certain amount back or you can even get it for free. Walgreens has rebates also, but they are ending and this will be the last month.
Put all your coupons that you plan to use in one spot. I usually paperclip mine together by store and place in the front pouch of my coupon holder. An envelope labeled with the store would also work really well. As you're walking through the store, don't forget to look at clearance items and other unadvertised sales while you are picking up the things on your list. You can really save some money if you can combine these with a coupon. This is really why I cut out any coupons I could possibly use. If I find something on clearance and have a coupon in my holder, I can usually get somethings for cheap. Plus you really never know what you will find on clearance where.
What I usually do as I am putting my items on the conveyor belt is keep a running total in my head. So then I know about how much my total is going to be. I can't always do this, because of the kids or whatever else, but I like to when I can. Make sure you give the cashier your store bonus card if there is one for that store before ringing up. Try to watch the prices as they are ringing up. It's a lot easier for the cashier to fix them at that point, then for you to have to wait at customer service for them to do it. After everything has been rung in correctly, hand the cashier your coupons and watch your total go down.
You may not pay $5 for $100 worth of products, but you will save. The more you use coupons and sales, the better you will get at it. Usually at grocery stores I can save about 50%. At drugstores, it is usually 60%-80%! Your savings will also depend on how good the sales are and what coupons are out at that time. Sometimes, you are just not going to find that good of deals and other times there will be tons. Make couponing and saving money a challenge and it will make it more fun. Shop several different stores as long as you are not going out of your way.
Happy couponing!
Please leave me any questions or comments.
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