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.
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