Shop Smarter With Online Coupons

Have you ever had a friend or colleague say, "Wow, I just bought an MP3 and I paid the full retail price!"? Probably not since people don't usually brag about paying full price for something. There is nothing to get excited about when paying full price for an item from a traditional store that could have been bought online for less using a coupon. So why doesn't everyone shop online with coupons? Not that I have the full answer to that question, but many shoppers buy in traditional stores because they want it, whatever it may be, now and don't want to wait for the item to be shipped.

A smart shopper really can save a good amount of money on an item by using an online coupon. This may be a good time to do a quick summary about online coupons. Many online stores offer discounts to attract consumers. These discounts are called coupons, which are similar to the grocery coupons people clip out of the Sunday morning newspaper. Instead of using a coupon to get $0.50 off a can of baked beans, you use an online coupon to get $15 off an MP3 player, as an example. Online coupons offer a dollar off discount, a percentage off discount, or even offer free shipping on the order. Coupons are also sometimes referred to as discount codes, promotional codes, or offer codes.

There are hundreds and maybe thousands of websites out there that publish coupon codes. I have looked at quite a few of them myself. Finding a coupon code for a specific online store is clearly not a problem. You can start by Googling the store name followed by the word "coupons" and you will have more than enough results. However, the smart shopper will soon realize that many of these coupon sites have expired coupons and discount codes listed, but don't be discouraged by that. With some patience, a requirement of the smart online shopper, you will be able to locate a coupon site that consistently publishes current online coupon codes and any restrictions associated with the coupons.

To be a real smart online shopper, try combining online coupons with automatic free shipping based on shopping cart total. Some online stores offer free shipping coupons and other stores offer free shipping based on a minimum dollar amount spent. For example, there are opportunities where an online shopper can redeem a dollar off coupon and also get free shipping based on shopping cart total. For example, I just purchased a 20 inch LCD monitor from Buy.com last month using a $15 off coupon and free shipping. Buy.com, like many online stores, offers free shipping on many items that are priced above a certain dollar amount. Some online stores allow you to use multiple coupons on a single order, also called coupon stacking, but not many. Dell, for example, allows the shopper to stack certain types of online coupons in a single order. For the most part, you can only apply or redeem one coupon per order.

As I stated earlier, there is no shortage of online coupon publication sites out there, but not all are created equal. I have spent literally hours going through many of what Google considers to be the best ranked coupon sites. I will recommend two coupon sites so you don't have to spend your valuable time searching.

My favorite online coupon sites are CouponCrib [http://www.couponcrib.com] and ScottishWallet [http://www.scottishwallet.com]. Not only are these sites easy to navigate, but they also contain a long list of coupons that will enable you to save money and become a smart shopper. You will soon be able to gloat to your friends about how much money you saved while shopping online with coupons.

Supermarket Coupons - How to Save Money in These Lean Times

If you are feeling the pinch financially at the moment, you are not alone. My bills are at their highest and the income is far from adequate. There is however a way to make your dollars go further - supermarket coupons. And if you really want to save some money, this article will show you how to find them and the special tricks to making them work for you.

There are several types of discount coupons, some offer discounts on the shipping of goods, others offer direct savings on the product itself. The type I'll be focusing on with this article is the direct discount supermarket coupon. After all, you want to get the full benefit, as quickly as possible. And where better to get the full benefit than at a supermarket till.

The Trouble Of Finding The Coupons

One of the things you'll find is that getting your hands on these coupons sometimes can be quite difficult. Most discount coupons can be found in the newspapers, but 9 out of 10 times you'll find that the coupon you get doesn't correspond with the purchase you want to make, and this of course can be quite irritating. One way to get around this is to do a search online for the specific supermarket coupon you are after.

The benefit of searching for supermarket coupons online is that any coupon you get will match some product offer in the supermarket itself. And we can thank the fact that supermarkets sell almost everything for this convenience. Once you locate your coupon online, usually in coupon directory sites, you can move to the next step, which is to actually make a purchase with your perfect money saving tool.

So You've Found Your Perfect Money Saving Coupon

Basically, the working of supermarket coupons is just similar to other coupons as all of them are used to get some discount over a specific product. However, the benefit of supermarket coupons is that they can be used at a variety of places on variety of products.

So, you've done a search online for coupons and you come across a coupon directory. The next step is to do a search within the directory on a zip code basis. This way you find the coupons specific to your area. Once you locate a coupon you want to use, you now have to get a hard copy of that coupon. I am going to assume that you have some printing facility, but if you don't you can use an internet café. Simply copy the coupon onto a disk or something and take it to your local internet café and print. It's literally that simple.

I hope you see that finding coupons online for saving money in your local store is easy and fun. Part of the thrill is finding hundreds of dollars in coupons on one site. Believe me, I've done shopping before where more than 50% of the savings was in coupons. And there is no shame in shopping with coupons; in fact, it is encouraged as companies fight fiercely to attract new and loyal customers. To put it simply the single most efficient way to save money in these lean economic times is through supermarket coupons.

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What You Need To Know About Coupons

Coupons are frequently used as a marketing tool. They are tickets that can be exchanged for a discount or rebate when purchasing a product or paying for a service. Generally, manufacturers or retailers distribute coupons through magazines and mailers. The Internet has also become a popular medium of distributing coupons in recent years. Most commonly, though, promotional coupons are given away through newspapers to target a large number of people.

It is estimated that U.S. businesses distribute around 330 billion coupons with an average face value of 71 cents. This figure increases at an average of 12% every year. Coupon use is lowest among young adults, who account for a larger share of the population. 70 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use coupons, compared with 77 percent of all adults. Men are less likely to trade in coupons than women are. Sixty-nine percent of men use coupons, compared with 85 percent of women.

Restaurants circulate discount coupons in newspapers in order to attract more customers. They are an effective form of advertising for new departmental stores and shops. Sale coupons are distributed in abundance during Christmas and New Year. Some people collect coupons as a hobby.

Trading stamps or coupons were used as an alternative currency in some former Soviet countries. Coupons have a different meaning in the field of finance. Coupons are attached to bonds. A coupon indicates a predetermined amount due for payment to the bondholder by the bond-issuing authority. Coupons of this sort make an excellent gift on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

According to a survey, 49 percent of Americans use coupons or promotion codes to purchase products. Over 70 percent of U. S. consumers believe that coupons help them save a lot of money. However, Web-sourced coupon fraud is on the rise and it is always advisable to confirm the validity of coupons

Using Adobe Coupons Means More Savings

What are Adobe coupons all about? First off all, it is very interesting to know that nowadays there are practically all types of coupons available all over the Internet. Gone are those days when you would have to dig through magazines, cut out coupons or look through your coupon piles to get that discounted offer you need. Now, all kinds of coupons are available online with just a few clicks and codes away.

Software coupons are perhaps one of the most popular of coupons online. These are coupons which offer you discounts for online purchases of software solutions that you need. One of the coupons that high in ranking in terms of demand is Adobe coupon. If you are looking to buy any of the Adobe software solutions, you will be better off getting one of our Adobe promotional codes to get few dollars off from your purchase.

What can I get from Adobe Coupons?

The Adobe coupons that we provide usually can give you 10% to 15% off on your software purchase. This could only mean a $15 to $50 in savings, but that is not too bad, right? If you keep on using Adobe coupon codes along with other online coupons, it will add up over time, saving you hundreds on your purchases. That does not sound bad at all. Our Adobe promotional codes are only available for online purchases of software products. You can check out our array of coupon codes for more information on coupons available.

How Adobe coupon codes work

Adobe coupons are usually given with a coupon code. Before finalizing your online purchase, you simply need to enter your Adobe promotional code into a specified box during your check out. Of course, you would need to verify whether or not the Adobe coupon you got is applicable to your Adobe purchase. Terms and conditions are stated in your coupon so make sure you read them carefully. Some coupons do not contain the Adobe promotional code. Do not worry just yet. There is usually a link provided that you have to click through. After which the discount will automatically be reflected at check out.

Expired Coupons are Still Usable

Our site also offers expired Adobe coupons. Do not initially get discouraged by them. These coupons are those that have promotional codes that have recently expired. However, since Adobe usually does not update their coupons as timely, to give some promotional leeway, these coupons are still most likely will work. You can check out our list of expired Adobe coupon codes and be pleasantly surprised that some are still valid.

Adobe is probably one of the software solutions created with the highest functionality. Every computer, every online user, every graphic artist, website designer or programmer - uses at least one Adobe software in their everyday routines. Chances are, you would need some of their solutions now or in the near future. Adobe software can be quite costly, so every bit of discount will surely matter. When you do decide to buy, do not think further - use one of our discount codes.

Why our Adobe coupons?

There are a number of coupon providers online. However, our Adobe coupons offer the best discount deals without too much fuss that other sites tend to require. Also, we value your privacy most - all the information (whenever needed) that you provide us is handled with care. You can shop around for Adobe coupon codes online, but you will see how ours are the best deals you can get.

Adobe coupons are usually given with a coupon code. Before finalizing your online purchase, you simply need to enter your adobe coupon code into a specified box during your check out.

How to Organize and Get the Most Out of Grocery Coupons

Coupon and money-saving expert (and mom of four) teaches in great detail how to get the most out of your grocery coupons each week, based on over 20 years of experience. Great resource for homemakers and shoppers in the U.s.

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Save 30% - 40% - even 50% on Groceries

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Stretch Your Budget by Clipping Grocery Coupons

I used to think clipping and saving grocery coupons wasn't worth my time. While trying to figure ways to stretch my grocery budget, I reconsidered my opinion and gave it a try. I'm certainly happy that I did. In the past few months alone, I've saved well over $100 on my grocery costs. This was accomplished by redeeming coupons and being a savvy shopper. Here are some helpful tips to use so you can benefit from redeeming grocery coupons, too.

Modern technology has made it easy to find manufacturers coupons to use. Newspapers are still a valuable source for finding coupons, especially the Sunday edition newspaper, but now you can print coupons right at home from free coupon sites found on the internet. Many manufacturers now offer free coupons on coupon printing sites. It's as easy as printing out your favorite coupons and going shopping.

Try searching for "printable grocery coupons" in any search engine. You will get search results for a great many sites offering printable coupons. You will be able to find coupons for products ranging from household cleansers to prepackaged lunch meats to breakfast cereals. The majority of free coupon sites will limit you to one or two prints of each coupon, but this is well worth your while.

These sites update their offerings on a regular basis. Be sure to check back often to see what new coupons are available for your use. Bookmark your favorite coupon printing sites when you first find them. This will make it much easier to check for updates without searching for them all over again.

You can find even more online coupons by searching for a coupon on a specific product. Loads of manufacturers offer coupons to print on their own websites. This works best when searching for a brand name and the type of product you are interested in. For example, try searching for "French's mustard". While you are at the manufacturer's website, go ahead and sign up for their newsletter so you don't miss out on future savings.

Shop at grocery stores that double coupons. Many stores will double coupons on a certain day of the week, if not all week long. This really helps you reap the most benefits from your coupons. Many large grocery chains offer doubling coupons up to 50 cents value. This allows you to save a dollar instead of just half a dollar.

Watch for handy coupon ticket machines located in the grocery aisles while shopping. You can often find coupons for products you already use. This may also prompt you to try a brand new product, which is what the manufacturer had in mind to begin with. You may as well get a bargain when you try it.

Be on the alert for products with peel off coupons right on their label. Sometimes you will find cents off coupons to use, or on occasion even buy one product, get another one free. This can go a long way towards stretching your grocery budget.

Keeping up with weekly sales is a must. Read the weekly sales circulars that come in your newspaper and mailbox. When you find an item that you are interested in on sale, have a quick look to see if you have a coupon that you can use. You can often get a sales item for next to no cost when you apply a coupon to the purchase. This works great when shopping on a double coupon day. If you don't want to wait for the ad circulars to arrive in your newspaper or mailbox, you can usually find them online. Most large chain grocers have their weekly sales ad circular on their websites for easy viewing.

Use your coupons before their expiration date. This is easily accomplished by organizing your coupons into categories, keeping the coupons expiring earliest located toward the front. This may seem harder than it really is, but once you start clipping and saving coupons, you will soon find the method that works best for you. This may be as simple as keeping your coupons in an envelope to carry with you when shopping.

Writing a grocery list can't be stressed enough. If you have a coupon for an item on your list, be sure to write down the amount of the coupon next to the item. This will help you make certain to get the most money savings. It's a sad feeling to arrive home and realize you had a coupon for an item you just bought, but forgot to use it.

When you put a coupon item into your grocery cart, take out the coupon each time. This will allow you to have all of your redeemable coupons ready to give to the cashier when you reach the checkout register. It also helps makes certain that any possible savings aren't overlooked. Try to make this a habit. Not only will you save the most money, but it will also save you time.

Ordering Coupons Online Can Save You Money

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. But there is another way, and that is ordering them online.

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. This really isn't news to anyone, but it's probably the most widely used method of gathering up coupons. Once you figure in the price of the newspaper, compared to how much money you can save...it's worth doing it. You can also ask friends and family that get the newspaper if they use the coupons. If they don't, they are usually more than willing to give them away since the coupons will typically be thrown away anyways.

One drawback to getting the newspaper is that you never know what coupons will be in it, and if they're for the items you will use. I've picked up a newspaper a number of times, and there were only a few coupons I could really use. So getting the newspaper sometimes can be a "hit/miss" situation.

The newspaper is not the only way you can obtain coupons. There are a few Websites out there where you can order the coupons you want and will actually use when you go shopping. I know the concept seems strange and you're probably thinking, "Why should I order coupons when I can get them free?" Technically, if you purchase the newspaper for the coupons they are not free.

Ordering coupons and paying a small service can still save you money in the long run. Let's take a look at how the savings add up. For example, let's say you spent $10.00 and ordered 25 coupons all with a face value under $1.00. If you use all the coupons, that's an automatic discount savings of $25.00. Now you have to subtract what you spent when you ordered the coupons, which is the $10.00. The total savings is now $15.00, which is pretty good. Looking at from this perspective, you really got your money back in grocery savings that you would have normally spent anyways.

The above example is a pretty good savings, but it gets better. Because you ordered coupons all under $1.00 face value, many grocery stores will double coupons up to $1.00! Using the above example, this brings your savings up to $50.00 that's a substantial savings!

Here are a few tips you can use when ordering coupons:

** Order only what coupons you are going to use. Some sites will allow you to order up to 50 coupons at one time with flat rate service fee. 50 coupons is a lot and you may or may not end up using them all. If you have a friend that also uses coupons, maybe you could split the coupons and costs between the two of you.

** Choose coupons with a $1.00 face value or less. Many stores double coupons and you can double your savings.

** Some sites charge a handling fee per coupon on top of other fees; do the math to see how much you will be saving before placing your order.

** Check expiration dates. The farther off the expiration date is gives you more time to use it.

** Watch for sales! You can save even more money if the product you have a coupon for goes on sale. Here's a quick example. I had a coupon for 55 cents off dry cereal. The cereal was on sale for $1.67, the store doubled the coupon and I only paid 57 cents for a name brand box of cereal!

** Check more than one store for sales. If you live where more than one grocery store is in close proximity, you can plan your shopping list to buy specific items at different stores using your coupons.

Using these tips, a little planning and ordering your coupons wisely, you can save up anywhere from 50% - 70% on your monthly grocery bill!

Michelle is the webmaster of Coupon Emporium (http://www.couponemporium.com) which provides coupons, printable coupons and coupon codes from across the web.

The Problem With Online Coupons - Why Using Coupons on the Internet Could Be Hurting Your Business

Traditionally, advertising with coupons has been an excellent way to capture new customers and retain existing customers. Using the Internet, promoting your business with coupons has become quicker, cheaper and easier than ever before. Unfortunately, Internet coupons for "Brick and Mortar" businesses may have become ineffective and quite possibly have a negative impact on your business if not used properly. The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Printing coupons from the Internet is like printing money, it devalues the coupons for the customer as well as for the merchant.

Coupons really are a form of currency. They are an agreement between the customer and the merchant. The merchant uses the coupon to say, "I will give you a discount or a special deal, and in return you will patronize my business." This is the basic give and take relationship that the coupon establishes and works very well, but only if there is just one coupon at a time.

The problem with most Internet coupons is that they are infinitely redeemable. Most of the time, patrons can print Internet coupons as many times as they want so that they can effectively receive the same discount every time they go to that merchant. If we were all able to print money from our computers in the same way, then our currency would instantaneously lose all of its value. By using printable coupons this way, the customer reduces the value in his or her mind of the products that the coupon applies to and therefore the coupons themselves. The merchant on the other hand must devalue the coupon similarly since it is no longer effective in creating a "give and take" relationship but rather just permanently discounts their products or services.

2. Having coupons always available further devalues them. If they are always there for the taking, then there is no urgency to go get them.

Similar to the point above, having a coupon always available to print off or redeem has the same effect as printing off hundreds of copies. Traditional print coupons have always been distributed periodically in a newspaper, magazine, postal mail, etc. This meant that you were only going to receive one and only one of those coupons until the next periodical was distributed. Therefore, if you had any sort of interest in possibly using that coupon in the future, then you would cut out the coupon at that moment and be ready to use it. With Internet coupons, knowing that you can always revisit a website and print off a coupon whenever the need arises has the effect of also making the coupon worthless. This is because, (a) most will forget that they ever saw the coupon and will therefore never go back to print it off and (b) most importantly, the coupon loses its promotional value of trying to get someone to take action now.

3. Most coupons on the Internet are on a "pull" model instead of a "push" model.

When customers have to go out and get coupons, instead of the coupons being "pushed" out to the customer, then they only get used by the true coupon frugal fanatics and not by first time customers or customers who have forgotten about you. Again, traditional coupons have always been sent "pushed" out to prospective customers and therefore acted as a great way to proactively promote businesses.

Also, Internet coupons on a "pull" model, where customers must visit a coupon website and see what coupons are available, have no market testing value. One of the greatest advantages of marketing with coupons since they were first studied by Claude Hopkins in the early 20th century, was to be able to scientifically test marketing messages by "pushing" out the coupons and then tracking the ones that came back to you. Although this could still theoretically be done in a "pull" type scenario, the benefit of the "push" test system is that you could send out your message to a specific number of recipients within a specific time period and then receive back a specific statistical sample to draw conclusions from.

The Right Way to Use Internet Printable Coupons

The solution to "The Problem with Online Coupons" is to use the Internet to distribute your coupons while eliminating the issues stated above.

First, use an email marketing solution. Sending coupons in email solves the "push vs. pull" problem by delivering coupons to specific group of people who have opted-in to receiving updates and specials from your business. Sending coupons via email also solves the problem of having coupons always available. Email allows businesses to mimic and even surpass the benefits of traditional print periodicals. Businesses can test to find the ideal sending frequency that keeps their business in the forefront of their customer's minds while also maintaining a sense of urgency and timeliness. Also, make sure to use expiration dates and/or "print by" dates to further increase the sense of urgency.

Next, incorporate a secure "one-time" printing system for coupon distribution. This will allow each email recipient of your coupons to be able to print them once and only once for each coupon sent. This may seem somewhat trivial or possibly even petty, but the reality is that coupons that can only be used once allows the merchant to be more comfortable with promoting bigger discounts and better deals while at the same time giving the customer higher perceived and actual value of the coupon.

Using these tools will allow you to not only dramatically cut advertising costs compared to traditional print coupon advertising but also allow you to use coupon advertising in the best ways possible. Actively promote your business to new and existing customers while using scientific testing to discover the best possible marketing messages for your business' success. Create a real marketplace for your coupons and their value will increase to everyone who uses them.

Where to Find Good Food and Grocery Coupons

When I first started clipping coupons, I assumed I would not be able to find the coupons I needed for products that I regularly purchase. Boy was I wrong! There are thousands of coupons available everyday, I just was not looking the right places. To get started collecting your coupons, you first need to know how many products you buy, and what you buy. You also should have a good idea of the number of times you buy this product per year. If you follow the first rule of couponing, and buy items while on sale, you will need to know how many of each coupon you need to get you through a years time. For example, if you buy XXX brand of shampoo, and you use 12 bottles per year, you know you need 12 coupons.

Do you only use one brand of shampoo? Then it is easy, look for that manufactures website. Almost all high volume producers of consumable products have websites. Many will have a special section for Offers and Promotions. This is where you will find free coupons. Many can only be printed once every 3-6 months. You can spend quite a bit of time searching for one coupon at a time, but you will definitely get the coupon you need.

You can also go to websites that list ALL the online free printable coupons that are available online. Sites like America Loves Coupons, Hot Coupon World, or Refund Cents have lists with quick links to the page that prints coupons. This can save you a lot of time in your coupon searches.

While you are online, check your local grocery stores sites. They also have printable coupons that you can use in their stores. Some are store issued coupons, and some are manufacturer issued. You can use one of each per item purchased in most stores. By combining two offers for XXX shampoo, you will be getting double the savings.

Review your pantry before you plan to hit the stores. Many packages have printed coupons on the packs themselves. Most are Peelies. These simply peel off for redemption. Some are printed on the backside of the label or the inside of the box. By getting in the habit of checking before you throw any container out, you will find coupons on products you already purchase on a regular basis.

Online message boards list groups of coupons that other frugal shoppers have that they would like to trade with you. They may not purchase the same type of cereal that you do, so they are willing to trade. Most will trade groups of 12 of a type in one trade. Keep all the coupons that you do not intend to use out of your Sunday paper for trading purposes. You can also consider selling or buying coupon bundles on Ebay. Auction sites such as eBay have become a popular source for finding printable coupons. Selling coupons is illegal; however charging for the time spent to collect and organize the coupons is legal.

Send a favorable review to your favorite food manufacturers. Most of these companies have public relations departments who hear 95% complaints. Send a quick note of praise, often they will thank you for your kind words, and mail you some coupons good on your next purchase.

Do not forget the phone book! In the back you will find many coupons for restaurants, car washes, and laundry mats. There are always great coupons for saving at local stores and services inside the phone book and many times they go unclipped.

Join a direct mail coupon club. Clubs offer members a free monthly mail service of coupons. These companies send a packet of coupons that can save you ten fold. Since many manufacturers are offering their coupons direct to club members, these coupons tend to have a higher face value than the ones you find in local newspapers.

LeAnn Moyers helps families save hundreds of dollars on their groceries each week with America Loves Coupons. This free coupon delivery service saves consumers an average of 35% each week on standard grocery and food purchases. http://www.americalovescoupons.com

How to Organize Your Coupons

Recently, I have become aware of the fact that many, many people do not know how to use coupons effectively. Some refuse to use them. Some don't like coupons. Some use them very sporadically. And, believe it or not, some don't think you can save money using them. I, however, am a firm believer in using coupons. If you would like to start saving $100's every month on your grocery bill, then this article is for you.

I. How to Get Coupons

You need to know where to get them in order to use them, right? In obtaining coupons, I have gone through a few different stages. When I first began using coupons, I solely relied on the Sunday paper being delivered to my house each week. In doing so, I had one copy of each insert weekly and cut them out accordingly. For me this just wasn't enough.

Then, I progressed to get high-speed Internet and was introduced to some online coupon sites. These, coupled with my other coupons, gave me, what I felt like, was an ample supply of manufacturer's coupon. I was content as I was saving quite a bit off our weekly grocery bill.

It was only this past summer that I came upon some websites that "peaked my interest". There, I read about a totally different approach to couponing, and I was hooked. Now, I get my coupons from many different sources. Each week, I buy at least 4 local papers on Saturday. Then, on Sunday morning my Sunday paper is delivered with coupons. Occasionally, there are a few more coupons in the Sunday paper than in the Saturday. Depending on the difference, I will go and buy any where from 5 to 7 more papers at a store. This doing, I end up with at least 10 of every coupon in the weekly inserts. That may sound like a lot to some of you, but when you start stockpiling and buying in bulk, it really helps. I still get a lot of coupons from various coupon printing web pages. And, lastly, I get on company's email lists and receive coupons through the mail and email.

To cite an example of how all this comes into play: my husband and I recently went out for the evening. I had a coupon for our meal at Max and Erma's (from the Sunday paper), a coupon for some Christmas presents I bought at Family Christian bookstore (from a mailing I received by being part of their Perks reward program), a coupon for a book at Borders (from my email), and 2 coupons for my purchases at Bath and Body Works (one from a mailing I received and one from my email).

II. How to Organize Coupons

For me, organizing coupons has been a 'work in progress'. I have used several different methods before settling on the system I currently use. My first method was simply an envelope with a few manufacturers' coupons in it for items I knew I would purchase. I clipped very few coupons then, so this system seemed to work. They were not in any particular order and usually expired before I remembered to use them.

Next, I got a little more serious about couponing. I bought a small coupon organizer with dividers in it to separate the coupons into various groups. At this point, I was cutting more coupons than before, and this system seemed sufficient.

After this, I realized that the small holder was becoming so packed that it was hard to flip through the coupons to find the one that I wanted to use. So, I bought a large plastic shoebox container and some large dividers to again separate the coupons by types. This system was actually very effective in that I had a lot of room to store the coupons, they were very well organized by groups, and they were protected in a box with lid. However, the downfall for me in this system is that I was cutting so many coupons, even multiple copies of the same coupon, that I got tired of looking through even the divided sections to find the right coupon. Also, I found that I allowed so many coupons to expire because they got lost in the sections.

And this leads me to what I believe to be the most effective way to organize coupons and the system that I now use. I bought a package of baseball card sleeves (the clear plastic ones with 9 pockets front and back). I placed these sleeves into a large 3 ring binder and began organizing my coupons. Now, I have to say that the initial setup of this system is quite time consuming, but the results are well worth the effort. This is not my original idea. I read an article in our newspaper on a local coupon queen, Heather Tenney, and she highlighted her organizer there. She holds coupon classes in the Cincinnati area and helps many people save lots of money. For more on Heather, aka "Little Miss Know It All", visit her blog: http://www.littlemissknowitall.contentquake.com

Now all my coupons are organized using this system. I placed them in order based upon the aisles of the grocery store I most commonly shop. I can see all my coupons, the value of them, and the expiration date. It has really made using coupons much easier and quicker.

For example, if Cheerios are on sale, I go to the cereal section in my binder. I look for Cheerios coupons and can tell by the amount whether it's a good deal. If it is, I pull out those coupons, for all the Cheerios coupons are in the same pocket and know how many boxes I will buy at the sale price. I have found this current well-organized system to be the best at maximizing savings. I know what coupons I have, where they are, and can quickly determine how many I have for a particular item. I believe that I save so much more money using this system. Again, it is a little more time consuming especially initially, but for me it is well worth the effort.

III. How to Use Coupons Effectively One of the best ways to maximize your savings is to use a coupon on an item that is also on sale. In fact, to get the most benefit, when a particular item is on sale, you should buy enough of that item with your coupons so that you never buy it at regular store price. This buying philosophy is commonly called "stockpiling" in the coupon world and is a great way to ensure you are getting the best deals.

For example, if Colgate toothpaste is on sale this week at the grocery store for $1.00 (locally, it was recently), then I pull out my Colgate coupons of $.75 and I buy as many tubes as I have coupons for free after my coupons are doubled to $1 off. Now, you need to be careful here. Some stores will only allow you so many coupons for the same item per transaction. Yes, I have gone through the checkout line, put my items in the car, and come back in the store for another transaction! Some have even divided up transactions on the conveyor belt and ask the cashier to ring them up separately. But, I have found that this will slow the line down, making the people behind you not too happy, and can even upset store management. I always try to be very conscientious and sensitive to other people in this area, so for me, a trip out to the car is no big deal if it makes everyone happy.

Another note of caution here, make sure you know your favorite store's coupon policy. They vary a lot even within the same chain. For example, I have found that one store will double up to six coupons for the same item; but another store will only double two. That can make a big difference in your savings.

One last note of caution, some stores will frown if you walk in with, say, 20 Colgate coupons and wipe them out of toothpaste. Be considerate of others here. Perhaps a good idea here would be to buy 10 at the beginning of the week and 10 at the end after they get another truck in to restock. That way other shoppers can take advantage of the sale, and you don't wipe out their inventory in one trip.

That brings me to my last point here. Don't hesitate to get a rain check for an out of stock item. Some people don't like to get them, but for me, a rain check allows me to buy the item on sale, when I want and when I have the most coupons for that product. The timing is in my hands and I can use it to my advantage.

So, in conclusion, use coupons in conjunction with sale items and you will find you can save a lot of money off your total bill for groceries, health & beauty items and toiletries. For me, I've regularly saved around $400 each month just in coupons!

For more money-saving tips, visit my blog: http://kingdomklipper.blogspot.com

Redemption of Online/Internet Coupons at Your Local Stores

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Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half With Coupons

Most strategic shoppers rely on grocery coupons to help save on their groceries. However, industry statistics show that a very small percentage of shoppers are heavy grocery coupon users. I have been a "heavy" coupon user for over a decade, and I am used to other shoppers watching me in the checkout line and making comments like, "You sure like coupons, don't you?" I always smile and say, "Actually, I really like money. Using coupons is one way to have more of it!" Best of all, coupons are FREE money. If you'd like your share of free money, keep reading!

There are plenty of free grocery coupons available, if you know where to find them. In fact, in 2005 manufacturers issued 323 billion coupons with a face value of $375 billion. We used less than 1% of them, a savings of about $3 billion, leaving over $370 billion of savings on the table. Because 88% of those coupons came from the Sunday newspaper, the key to getting your share of those savings is finding an easy way to use Sunday newspaper coupons.

I understand that coupons may seem too difficult to use. However, an average coupon user saves approximately 12% per year on their grocery spending, which translates to roughly $12 per week for the average household. An organized coupon user will spend about 30 minutes per week managing their coupon savings, which is the equivalent of earning at least $24 an hour (after taxes) for pretty easy work. If you can find a coupon organization system that works for you, you can expect to save several hundred or thousand dollars a year. You will find that the savings you realize will justify the time spent organizing coupons.

Your first step is to get a good coupon organizer. You do not need to spend a lot of money on a fancy coupon organizer to save with coupons. In fact, the best organizer I've ever had cost me $3 at an office supply store. To save the most with coupons you should have a coupon organizer that makes it easy for you to find coupons when you need them. Otherwise, you will end up getting frustrated with coupons and may give up on them quickly.

The key to saving the most with coupons is to save all of them every week. You do not necessarily have to cut them all out. In an average week, there may be 100 coupons between the two weekly circulars in the newspaper (one is labeled "SmartSource" and one is labeled "Valassis"). If you were to cut out and organize all of them every week, it would take quite a bit of time. If you were to cut out only the coupons you think you might use and throw the rest of the circular away, you will miss out on future deals when an item goes on sale which matches one of the coupons you threw away. Even if it was an item you wouldn't have planned to buy, it could end up being free with a coupon. If you don't use the item, you could always donate your freebies to charity to help others at no cost.

To save the most time and money with coupons, simply cut out the coupons you know you would use and save the rest of the circular. That way, if you see a great bargain later using a coupon you passed up, you can always go back and find it.

When you make your weekly shopping list, review your store's weekly sales flyer and look for sale items that match your coupons. If your store doubles or triples coupons, it is possible that the sale price plus the coupon will make the item free! Once you get in the habit of matching sales and coupons, you can enjoy watching your grocery bill drop dramatically.

How to Save Money With Coupons, Rebates and Rainchecks

Coupons 101

Have you always wanted to save money and get free items but never understood the whole concept of couponing?

If you're like most people, you've tried couponing and maybe found that it was too much work to save 10 cents on occasional items. Or maybe you came to the conclusion you can buy store brand items for cheaper than using coupons on brand name items. Perhaps you couldn't find coupons for the products you most use and decided couponing wasn't for you. Once you understand the concept, and apply the techniques, you'll be amazed at how quickly you become addicted to the coupon game.

I started couponing and freebie chasing out of the need to be thriftier, but once I caught the coupon bug I was hooked. I get a rush walking out of a store with $100 in items and paying only pocket change, there's nothing like the thrill of opening the mailbox and finding free items or coupons for free items. Being thrifty is both fun and rewarding at the same time and I consider the money I save as a 'job'. Being able to feed my family on pennies and receiving such items as paper goods, food, and personal items for virtually free really adds up and is a lucrative way to free up cash in a monthly budget.

Now I can't fib and say couponing isn't time consuming, it does take some small amounts of effort to reap the results but once you get organized and into the flow, getting free stuff will quickly become a way of life. In fact, you'll probably look back and kick yourself for all money you've paid for things you can get for Free!

Types of Coupons

There are generally two kinds of paper coupons, manufacturer coupons and store coupons. Many stores will allow you to use both a manufacture coupon in conjunction with a valid store coupon. This is where the big savings come in as the key to saving money with coupons is to combine the coupon with a store coupon, or Catalina sale to double your savings.

Manufacturer Coupons are easily found in the Sunday newspaper, on product packaging, on tear pads next to the product, or mailed from the manufacturer. Manufacturer coupons can also be printed on the Internet from both websites and email and can be used at any store that sells the product in the coupon.

Store Coupons -These type of in store coupons can only be used at the particular store offering the savings, in this case it's Walgreens.

Catalina Coupons -Another type of coupon is a Catalina. These types of coupons come out of the register with your receipt when you make a particular purchase. Catalina coupons can be for $$ off your next order, or can be for money off a particular product. Catalina coupons are in store coupons and can only be used at that particular store.

An avid couponer's dream is finding a deal to use all 3 types of coupons at once on a particular product. These opportunities come up quite often which is a great opportunity to end up with the product for Free. This is a great time to stockpile. Stockpiling can become quite addictive!

Help! How can I organize all these coupons?

I've found several different ways to organize my coupons and all work effectively depending on individuals needs. The most common method is the Zippered 3 ring Binder. This consists of using 9 slot baseball card holds in conjunction with dividers. Coupons can be easily folded and slid into the slots and arranged by category to create a neat way of seeing what coupons you have at a glance. This method is an effective way to keep organized and quickly find what you're looking for. The only downside to this method is the binders tend to get quite heavy and bulky to carry around.

Another method I found is to use small photo albums. I like this method because you can have a separate album for each category. There's really not a need to tote around coupons for frozen goods, meats, or fast food restaurants when visiting a store like Walgreens or CVS. I found it effective to use 3 albums. One album for 'drugstores', one for 'fast food and retail,' and the other for 'groceries'. The downside to this method is the coupons aren't in separate slots as in the binder method and photo albums tend to be a little less organized.

Another easy organizing way to keep your coupons is the file box or accordion coupon holder. This method allows for coupons to be separated into categories only. For the novice couponer, this method is definitely the most frustrating as it takes a lot of fumbling around trying to locate a particular coupon while standing in a store.

Choose a method or coupon organization that's right for you. Most people start out with a accordion style, then move up to the album or binder method as their coupon collection grows. If you're really a coupon beginner, or novice, but still find yourself struggling to remembering to bring the coupons to the store with you to try out this couponing adventure, you just might be starting out with this and a wad of carefully clipped coupons hanging out of your front pocket:

Whatever method you chose, enjoy your savings, and free stuff and beware, couponing is addictive! Now head on over to our rebate page to learn how make your pennies go even further!

Rebates and Rainchecks - Are They Really Worth it?

The answer is an astounding YES. Rebates and rain checks go hand in hand with coupons and can help you reap huge savings on a product, or if you play your hand right you can get a lot of stuff FREE when you wait for the right moment and combine all your options.

Let's talk about rebates first. Rebates are a way for the manufacturer to temporarily lower the price of a product, without actually lowering the price on the shelf. Rebates can be a great money saving tool, and often the amount of savings can be large to the consumer. A couponer quickly learns that by combining coupons and rebates, many times the result is a free product, or even being paid to take the product!

Just like coupons, there are two different types of rebates, manufacturer rebates and store rebates. Both types require the consumer to purchase the product at full price, and then receive an amount of cash back at a later date. Manufacturer rebates on a product require the consumer to fill out a form, and send the form along with proof of purchase, usually a register receipt and bar code from the product. The form is mailed to the manufacturer who in turn sends the consumer a check in the mail about the 4-12 weeks later.

A store rebate works along the same lines as a manufacturer rebates. Many popular supermarket and drugstore chains offer a variety of rebates on specific items and most rebate sales last a month long. These days it's fairly easy to redeem store rebates and many store chains now offer electronic recording and submitting of rebates. Walgreens for example, just requires the consumer to log into the Walgreens site and enter the receipt number for the eligible product. At the end of the promotion period, the consumer will receive cash back and in most cases the store will add an extra 10% if the consumer agrees to have their payments sent to a gift card.

Example 1

Suppose your favorite mascara is normally $7.99 at Walgreens and you happen to get your grubby hands on a few coupons for $3.00 off which are sitting in your coupon binder just waiting for the right week to plop them down. Then Walgreens happens to offer a $7.99 rebate (making them free), that would be the week to whip out your coupons and get PAID $3 to take the mascara home with you.

Now let's talk about Rainchecks. Rainchecks are your friend. Soon you'll find yourself scouring the store shelves for things you don't need in hopes to score a raincheck, or 2. If a store offers a sale, or other discount on a product and happen to run out, then they must issue you a raincheck for the product. Basically a raincheck is a promise to give you that product, at today's sale price, at some time in the future when it is restocked. Most companies will give you a raincheck for 5 of the product - but, you can keep going back during the sale and get as many rainchecks as you wish. Once you hop on the raincheck bandwagon, you'll find your binder bursting with rainchecks neatly folded behind the coupons.

Rainchecks can be 2 fold, you can use them in addition to your coupons to jack up your savings, or you can simply use them to get the staples that you buy every week at a continued discounted price. When you eventually end up with a handful of rainchecks for items you purchase regularly the savings can be astronomical. Suppose your family love Hunts Spaghetti sauce, it's the only sauce you would normally buy. One week your store puts the sauce on sale for a remarkably discounted price. If you hit up a few stores in the chain, or wait till the last day of the sale, your bound to see the shelves empty of the Hunts sauce sooner or later.. that's when you hit up the store for a raincheck. They will issue you a piece of paper good for up to 5 Hunts Sauce at any future date for the price of todays sale. If you get yourself several of the rain checks, you can be sure to keep yourself well stocked up in that particular sauce for weeks, or months to come at the discounted price. Now add in your coupons, which you can use in addition to the raincheck, and woola, your now able to feed your family your favorite sauce for a long time and never pay the 'normal' price. If you do this for all your staples, you will see your grocery bill go down down down and in conjunction with your coupons you'll end up with a lot of stuff free, or nearly free!

Remember - Rain checks and Rebates are your friend and go hand in hand with coupons.

Happy Saving!