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Some Secrets To Power Couponing

I was never the type to clip coupons. I figured out how much time I would need to spend at it versus what I would save. It wasn�t worth my time. However, I always hated to pay full retail price for food when there were coupons out there, so, over time, I developed a method of couponing that saves our family enormous amounts of money and takes very little time. Here are 5 tips to get the most out of your couponing efforts.

Power Coupon Tip #1: BOGO is your friend. This will give you the "biggest bang for the buck�. It�s one thing to get $1 off a box of cereal but if the cereal is on sale at "buy one get one� or BOGO, as it�s called, you will get the best deal. This is frequently where I end up getting something for free (or better). In a recent shopping week, for example, Zatarain�s Rice Blends were on BOGO. They were regularly $1.29 a box, so the BOGO price was 65 cents. I had 20 coupons for 50 cents off the purchase of two boxes. Our local stores double coupons so this equated to 50 cents off each box. That meant that I could purchase 20 boxes of Zatarain�s for 15 cents each. Not a bad deal. There are occasions when the coupon is worth more than the sale price of the item and I make money by buying the product. I do this frequently with Hamburger Helper.

Power Coupon Tip #2: Plan your weekly shopping with a flyer. On Sundays, take some time to gather the grocery flyers together to plan your shopping trip. It helps to keep a price book so that you can compare the sale price in the flyer to what you�ve paid for the item in the past. Sometimes, flyer sales aren�t great deals and, if you are forewarned, you can pass over these and get to the real deals. Once you have a list of the deals, compare your list to the coupons you have on hand making sure that the coupon is for the correct flavor or size. Keep all of the coupons you will use attached to the shopping list so that they are handy as you get to the checkout.


Power Coupon Tip #3: Pay someone to clip coupons for you. This tip, combined with tip #1, has given me the absolute best, most efficient returns on the time I invest in my coupon adventures. Clipping coupons myself is time-consuming and only lets me purchase one or two of the items on sale. Having someone do it for me allows me to purchase as many as I want. The only caveat here is that buying coupons is illegal. These clipping services charge you for their time to clip, sort and mail you the coupons, not for the actual coupons themselves. Here�s how I do it: I check the grocery flyers online as soon as their available. At our local Kroger store, the flyer doesn�t come until Sunday but the online version is available first thing Saturday morning. Once I list all of the deals, I check our pantry or freezer supply of the item. If we�re low on the item, I estimate how much we need to last us a certain length of time. If it�s frozen goods, that period will be no more than 6 months, but for things like dishwashing liquid, I can buy a year�s worth if it�s a really good sale. Then, I will go to a coupon clipping site, like eBay or Coupon Clippers and purchase the number I need. With eBay, I only select coupon offers that have a "Buy it Now� label. I don�t want to have to wait for an auction to end. The coupons usually cost less than 10% of the face value of the coupon, plus postage. So, for example, I could get a 50 cent coupon for 5 cents each. I never bother with coupons less than 50 cents unless it means that I will get that item for free. Usually, these coupons are put in the mail on Monday and I will receive them no later than Thursday. As grocery sales usually last until Saturday, I still have time to take advantage. This way I don�t have to hold coupons for the chance to be able to use them before they expire.

Power Coupon Tip #4: Buy groceries for the pantry and freezer. When you start power couponing, expect strange looks from cashiers and other shoppers as you ring in 20 boxes of macaroni and cheese, 10 packages of toilet paper and 30 cans of peas. You are not shopping for the dinner table, you are shopping to fill the pantry and freezer with things purchased for the absolutely lowest price. This means that your cart will not look like anyone else�s cart in the store (unless you are shopping at the same time I am!). You will feel vindicated when the cashier is finished ringing up your purchases and running the coupons and you owe less than ten dollars. Quite often, the cashiers who have rung my purchases in go back and review the receipt because they think they have rung something in wrong.

Power Coupon Tip #5: Take advantage of unused storage space in your house. Storing these great deals takes space and you will have to get creative about where to find it. Look at it this way, if someone offered to give you $100 per month to rent the space under your bed, you would take it, wouldn�t you? You�ll save at least that much if you�re following these tips so find all those nooks and crannies under beds, in closets, under the stairs, and behind the drapes.



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Maybe you know someone who diligently clips coupons every week to take to the grocery store, and maybe you still habitually flip through the booklets of service coupons that come in the mail every month. Chances are however, that many of the flyers you receive go straight from the mailbox to the recycling box. Direct mail is rarely well targeted, meaning the offers and coupons arriving in your mailbox will likely be generalized and not meet your interests or needs as a buyer.

This is where the internet comes in handy. Many companies have stopped mailing out paper coupons, which often end up in the trash, and instead make coupons available online for those interested in using them. When shopping, take note of any requests for your email address and check your receipts for website addresses; these stores may have websites or mailing lists that will allow you to check for promotions and even receive coupons directly through email. Even grocery stores and local small businesses such as coffee shops or restaurants often have websites with mailing lists, information, and promotions available to read about online.

Of course, coupons and promotions are available across most of the internet, and not just through local stores. It is popular for many large online retailers to offer promotion codes through Facebook.com fan pages or mailing lists, allowing subscribers and fans to have access to members-only pricing. Free shipping coupons and codes are another popular option to encourage shoppers to buy online without worrying about postage costs.

Internet laws require that companies ensure people are voluntarily signing up to receive promotional email, and also provide a way to unsubscribe. Whether you are shopping at an online retailer or receiving email from a local business, should you wish to stop receiving email messages simply check the bottom of the latest email you have received for the unsubscribe link.

The internet has made shopping a buyers market; shoppers can sign up for promotional information for their favorite stores, and for the most part ignore anything that does not interest them. If only it were this easy to filter paper junk mail!

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Figuring out how to get fantastic savings with coupons is one of the easiest strategies to having a few extra dollars in your pocket at the end of the month. Whether you are able to take advantage of double coupons or not, the truth of the matter is that you can save money if you shop with coupons.

It is important to carry your coupons with you no matter where you go. Otherwise, you are going to miss out on a lot of potential savings. Of course, you can leave your coupons home or in the car when you attend a wedding or funeral, since you won�t need to use them there. Nonetheless, if you don�t carry your coupons with you nearly all of the time, you are going to miss out on fantastic savings that can turn into piles of money.

Depending on the number of coupons you clip and save, you might be able to get away with a single business-size envelope to transport your coupons. If your handbag is roomy, it is better to invest in a coupon wallet that comes with individual slots that you can categorize with tiny labels.

The best strategy for spending coupons is easy accessibility. This means that you need to know where your coupons are at all times. For busy people, having a categorized coupon wallet simplifies the search for coupons when they are rushing through the store on their way home from work.

As many shoppers know, many of the purchases that people make when buying groceries are impulse buys � tossing some type of grocery in the cart that isn�t actually on the shopping list. If you have your coupons with you and you can find one to match your impulse buy, you can at least take a bit of the sting out of the purchase.

Think about how many times you have been in the store and realized that you left your coupons at home. Think about how much money you can save if you only remember to carry your coupons with you all of the time. If you want fantastic savings with coupons, start clipping and carry your coupons with you each time you leave your home.

Summary: Saving money is getting harder and harder to do with prices continually going up and the cost of living increasing on a weekly basis. Fortunately, for disciplined shoppers, using coupons can lead to fantastic savings. The trick is to remember to actually use them.



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Obtaining Paper Grocery Coupons Online

Couponing has changed greatly through the years. Once upon a time, you would clip coupons from the newspaper and take them to the store in hopes of finding the product that matched. Today, many people first make a list of their commonly used products and then set out to find the coupons to match instead. Here are some ways of finding paper coupons online to match your products.

There are multiple sites online that offer the service of clipping coupons and then mailing them to you. These sites continuously update their selection of coupons that are clipped from newspapers. Multiple quantities of the same coupon are usually available. Having multiple coupons for the same product will help you to save money on bulk purchases, especially when a store doubles or triples the coupon value. The fee per coupon is normally quite reasonable. Although there is a small shipping and handling fee added to the total coupon price, your coupons are still a bargain. The coupons usually ship very quickly as well.

Here are a few of my favorite sites that you can join also!



One perhaps unexpected source for paper coupons is Ebay. Ebay always has several different coupons available, either for auction or as a buy-it-now option. Ebay may have more expensive coupons than a clipping site, but you can find specific coupons on Ebay that you can�t find anywhere else. One disadvantage of Ebay is that you may have to wait a few days for an auction to end, so you may not get the coupons as quickly.

The third way to obtain immediate paper coupons online is simply to print them. Many grocery stores and coupon information sites offer printable coupons, and most stores accept them just as if the coupons had been clipped from the paper. Do a search for "printable coupons� or go directly to the grocery store web site to see the available coupons.

Using paper coupons doesn�t have to be complicated. By matching available coupons with the products that you currently use and obtaining those coupons in multiples, you can save time and money when shopping at your local store.

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More Coupon Information!

Maybe you know someone who diligently clips coupons every week to take to the grocery store, and maybe you still habitually flip through the booklets of service coupons that come in the mail every month. Chances are however, that many of the flyers you receive go straight from the mailbox to the recycling box. Direct mail is rarely well targeted, meaning the offers and coupons arriving in your mailbox will likely be generalized and not meet your interests or needs as a buyer.

This is where the internet comes in handy. Many companies have stopped mailing out paper coupons, which often end up in the trash, and instead make coupons available online for those interested in using them. When shopping, take note of any requests for your email address and check your receipts for website addresses; these stores may have websites or mailing lists that will allow you to check for promotions and even receive coupons directly through email. Even grocery stores and local small businesses such as coffee shops or restaurants often have websites with mailing lists, information, and promotions available to read about online.

Of course, coupons and promotions are available across most of the internet, and not just through local stores. It is popular for many large online retailers to offer promotion codes through Facebook.com fan pages or mailing lists, allowing subscribers and fans to have access to members-only pricing. Free shipping coupons and codes are another popular option to encourage shoppers to buy online without worrying about postage costs.

Internet laws require that companies ensure people are voluntarily signing up to receive promotional email, and also provide a way to unsubscribe. Whether you are shopping at an online retailer or receiving email from a local business, should you wish to stop receiving email messages simply check the bottom of the latest email you have received for the unsubscribe link.

The internet has made shopping a buyers market; shoppers can sign up for promotional information for their favorite stores, and for the most part ignore anything that does not interest them. If only it were this easy to filter paper junk mail!


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Smart Shopper
Does the following scene sound familiar? You've clipped the special coupon from your local supermarket's newspaper ad or in-store circular--the one that offers an item free with a specific minimum purchase. Armed with your grocer's written promise of this bit of extra compensation for your months or years of loyal patronage and faithful economic support, you carefully select a number of items, which (though you may be a little low on funds this week), add up to or slightly exceed the designated purchase amount.

After the mission (of squeezing as many necessities as possible into that "grand total") is at last accomplished, you approach the checkstand with a spring in your step, a smile on your face, and a deep-down satisfaction such as only a fellow shopper can fathom.

Anticipated Reward
While the checker totals your order, you visualize your children's pleasure at receiving these delectable embodiments of your shopping skill and reflect on just how much your little (or big!) ones deserve them--with today's soaring food prices and dwindling dollar values adding up to fewer and fewer cookies in the family cupboard.

So far, so good.

When your purchases have been tallied, you reach for your coupons with confidence---What serious shopper wouldn't?--and they are subtracted from your bill, bringing you substantial savings, a fact you've always been rather proud of, truth to tell.

Coupon Dilemma
But, next thing you know, sweet satisfaction gives way to dread disappointment, as the checker informs you that you haven't purchased the required minimum to qualify you for the free item. And, sure enough, as you gaze with disbelief at the cash register total, you have indeed come up a dollar or two short of your projected "goal."

What can you say? With other impatient shoppers waiting in line and possibly limited funds in your pocketbook, you decide it isn't worth trying to choose an item to bring your balance back up to the required level. "Oh," you stammer, trying hard to hide your chagrin. "I guess you're right." And...ever so reluctantly...you relinquish your coveted prize, with a vague feeling that something has gone wrong somewhere, denying you the very modest compensation which should rightfully be yours for bringing your business to this store week after week.

What Went Wrong?

Perhaps it isn't until very much later--if at all--that it occurs to you that the amount of your purchase was sufficient to qualify you for the free item that was withheld--that it wasn't until after your coupons had been subtracted that the total fell below the required amount--and this doesn't seem fair to you somehow. You may not even be entirely certain why it seems unfair, but there's no denying that it does.

Maybe you think this makes you a trifle greedy. After all, haven't your coupons already saved you money once? Is it right to also use them to qualify for free items?

The Inside Scoop About Coupons
Were you to pursue the matter further, by calling or visiting the store and talking with its manager, you would learn an interesting fact about coupons: Manufacturers� coupons--as opposed to in-ad or store-generated coupons--are considered a legitimate method of payment for your purchases. (In other words, they are as good as cash.) They do not decrease the amount of your purchase; they simply pay for a portion of it.
This means, of course, that the actual amount of your purchase is the total before manufacturers� coupons have been subtracted, and not after, as your previous checker erroneously assumed. (As mentioned earlier, this does not apply to coupons clipped from the store's own ads or generated by its coupon machines. These coupons are not equivalent to cash; they simply lower the cost of your purchase.)

Therefore, since your purchase amount was sufficient to qualify you for the free item before your coupons were subtracted (presuming, of course, that enough of them were manufacturers� coupons), you are indeed entitled to receive it.

Now You Know!

Most store managers will honor this even after the fact, provided that not too much time has elapsed since the date of your purchase and you have a receipt to prove your contention.
So, returning to the store, within a few days or so, receipt in hand, you should have little trouble receiving the satisfaction both you and your children crave.
And as you partake of the fruits of your diligent follow-up, you can celebrate the knowledge that you will never have to endure that particular indignity again.
As the saying goes: "Knowledge is power"--even at the supermarket!
Jeanne Dininni

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Super-Couponing Tips�

Jill Cataldo saves hundreds on groceries by making the most of the common coupon. You can, too. Here�s how.

Meet Jill Cataldo and Start Saving with Super-Couponing

By Jill Cataldo
CTW Features

I am a Super-Couponer.

      I wasn�t always. In fact, it�s not even a title I gave myself. But two years ago, I completely changed the way I shopped for groceries for my family. Perhaps you�ve seen stories in the news about some frugal person gleefully purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of groceries for pennies.
Well, I am one of those people. And I�ve been getting a lot of attention over the past few months for something that anyone can do. I�m now dedicating a large portion of my time to educating other people in what I call "Super-Couponing,� an easy and fun way to save money on groceries.
This isn�t the coupon-clipping of our parents� generation.
    
     You won�t find yourself spending hours cutting and sorting coupons when the Sunday paper arrives in your driveway. Nor will you struggle with carrying piles of loose, disorganized coupons to the store with you. The Internet has completely changed the way people use coupons. It�s made finding the best deals and the best prices not only enjoyable but also incredibly addicting.
 
      If you don�t believe me, imagine walking out of the grocery store with 58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars, all name brands, for a total of $5.15 � including tax. Or 66 packages of diapers for $7.92, also including tax. I did both of those things last summer and I have the receipts to prove it. Those weren�t even my favorite deals! Believe it or not, you can even get stores to pay you to shop. This summer, one of my favorite stores gave me a $20 bonus coupon for a future visit after I purchased nine tubes of name-brand toothpaste for 63 cents.

     Intrigued? When I�d hear of people getting great deals like this, I used to think, "There�s no way that can be true,� while simultaneously thinking, "I want to be one of those people.� Now I am. I�ve also discovered that it�s a lot of fun to show other people how to effectively use coupons to save more money than they ever thought possible.
     
     With the economy worsening and food prices on the rise, I began teaching couponing classes at Chicago-area libraries. At the first class, our library anticipated 20 to 30 registrants. We had 162. Local media took notice, and one newspaper dubbed me a "coupon queen.� More library workshops followed with similar turnouts. My coupon workshops broke registration records and shattered expectations of the men and women in attendance, who had no idea how valuable coupons can be. But more importantly, people learned a new, better way to shop that will save them thousands of dollars a year.

      Forget all stereotypes you may have about coupons. Using coupons is smart, fun and becoming trendier by the day. It�s also not just Mom�s domain anymore. Plenty of men and young adults are using coupons and enjoying getting great deals on everything from razors to roast beef.
The principles of Super-Couponing will change the way you think about grocery shopping and will help you learn how to save money in other areas of your life � unrelated to groceries. In the weeks ahead, I�ll share my knowledge with you.
© CTW Features