Coupons 101 - Getting the Most Savings from Couponing

There are many aspects to couponing to save the most money. Here is an overview of some of the most efficient strategies to use when couponing.

Match coupons with sales. This is one of the most basic techniques to save money but it will save you a significant amount. In order to be able to do this, you have to be familiar with pricing on items you use frequently and know when the sale is at its best. Stores constantly put deals in their ads that really aren't that great of deals. I will be posting sales with coupon match ups for local grocery stores to take the work out of matching coupons to the best sales.

You may see boneless skinless chicken breasts on the front page of an ad for $2.99/lb, which sounds like a good deal. If you've been keeping track of food prices for awhile, you will know that the price will go lower and rock bottom price for it is usually around $1.99/lb, so that is the time to stock up.

Another example using coupons would be Tea Bags. Let's say they are usually $2.99/box and you have a $1/1 coupon. If you purchase the tea bags regular price with your $1/1 coupon you will pay $1.99/box, seems like a pretty good price. But if you wait for a sale and they go on sale for 2/$3, you will then only end up paying $.50/box (sale price of $1.50/box - $1/1 coupon = $.50, quite a bit less than the $1.99/box we were paying just using our coupon.

Look for markdowns. You can score great deals on items that have been marked down for quick sale. Meat and product rarely have coupons for them so the easiest way to save on these is to look for Manager's Specials, they are usually items that are getting close to their expiration date that the store discounts to sell quickly. For meats, you can stock up on these and make sure you use them quickly or freeze for later use. If you get really lucky you may find marked down items that you have a coupon for and can save even more money!

Buy multiple copies of papers or coupons to be able to stock up when a great deal comes around. If your family drinks a lot of tea, then you'd want to stock up using your coupons when it is on sale. There are several ways to get multiple copies of coupons. You can purchase multiple copies of the Sunday paper.
You can ask friends and family that don't use their coupons for their coupon inserts.
You can purchase coupons online. There are many resources available to purchase multiple copies of coupons (ebay, thecouponclippers.com and many other sites). Technically you aren't allowed to purchase coupons so you are usually paying for their time and energy to sort, clip and mail the coupons to you.

I have used several resources to get coupons without problems, you just need to keep in mind that there is usually shipping time involved, so you need to order coupons early to get them before the sale ends.

Stack coupons. Certain stores like Target, Whole Foods, and Walgreens put out store coupons in their sale flyers or other forms. You can use 1 store coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per item purchased. Let me give you an example... Target has apple juice priced at $3. You have a $1/1 Target store coupon and a $1/1 manufacturer coupon. You can use both coupons to purchase 1 thing of apple juice for $1 ($3 price - $1 Target coupon - $1 mfr. coupon = $1!

Shop different stores. If time allows you, shop multiple stores in your area. On a weekly basis stores make different items their loss leaders, meaning they are sometimes priced below cost to get you in the door. If you only buy these items and go to several different stores to purchase them, you will acquire multiple items for the least amount of money out of pocket.

Price Matching. Certain stores will price match local competitors. It doesn't hurt to ask. Walmart price matches local competitors, you just have to bring in the current sale flyer that you want to price match and they will adjust the price for you when checking out. The item does have to be identical and they don't price match percentage off sales or buy one get one free (BOGO) sales. Just keep in mind that Walmart doesn't double coupons ever.

Bigger is not always better! When couponing the way to get the best deal is usually to buy the smallest size allowed by coupon. For example, 4 pack crescent rolls may be on sale for $1 and and 8 count may be on sale for $1.75. Technically without coupons the 8 count is the better price per roll, but if you have a $1/1 coupon, the 4 pack would be free and the 8 count would be $75. Why not buy 2-4 counts for nothing using 2 coupons instead of getting 1 8 count for $.75?

Most store advertise sale prices as something like 4/$5, meaning buy 4 for $5. You usually don't have to purchase 4 to get the sale price. Most of the time it will ring up as the individual price of $1.25 each, so you only need to buy what you want. Walgreens seems to be the exception to this rule. Usually at Walgreens if an item is regularly priced at $2.50 but is on sale that week for 2/$4, the first item will ring up full price at $2.50 and the second item will ring up at $1.50 making them 2/$4.

Only buy what you will use or can get for free and donate. When couponing it is so easy to buy tons and tons of stuff because you can get it cheap or free. Only buy what you will use before it expires or can donate to a local food pantry or other organization.