Save Money Couponing Without Going Extreme
Everyone wants to save when they walk into a grocery or retail store. In this economy everyone is looking to save a buck which is what has made sensations such as TLC’s ‘Extreme Couponing‘ so popular. Unfortunately, for the average American, extreme couponing isn’t possible. Hardly anyone has 20 hours a week to dedicate to clipping coupons and no one wants to spend their entire Saturday loading four shopping carts down with toilet paper and 40 tubes of mustard.
So what do you do if you want to save money at the store and avoid the giant stockpile at home? Follow a few of these easy couponing tips:
Look for Generous Stores
Not all stores are created equal when it comes to coupons. Look for those that allow coupons to be doubled or tripled and also allow coupons to be stacked – meaning allowing the use of multiple coupons to be used at one time – for the best chances at savings. Generous stores will also gladly accept their competitors coupons giving you a better chance at savings.
Plan Ahead
Creating a stockpile room that rivals that of apocalypse fanatics is not what is meant my planning ahead. Planning ahead simply refers to creating your life of items you actually need, cutting coupons, and then finding the stores with sales going on to maximize your savings. You don’t need to buy more than you need, and sites like CouponMom.com can help you determine which stores will give you the most savings on the items on your list.
Sign Up for the Store Rewards Program
Most grocery stores offer reward programs customers can sign up for for free. This little piece of plastic can almost become as valuable as the coupons themselves as it can give you special savings with each additional dollar you spend, and may offer other discounts only members have allowing you to get incredibly discounted or free items.
We all like to save money, but there is no reason to get the entire family involved for hours of coupon clipping simply to save some money on groceries. With just a few easy tips and some adequate planning, you can get the groceries you want without jamming the aisles or tons of envelopes stuffed with coupons. Simply play it smart and purchase only what you need with the readily available coupons. You’ll have the pantry you want without having to sacrifice a room of your home and you’ll still save.
April 14th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
There is only one thing that I do that you don’t mention. I have a small list of ‘basics’ that I check for sales every week. (peanut butter, shampoo, tp, certain cereals) Those things that I almost always need to buy weekly or bi-weekly. When they are on sale, I buy an extra. One. Only one. (It took a while for hubby to get that part.) It doesn’t take that much room on my budget or in my house but it means that I save a little. (one snowflake)
I just realized you’d started blogging again! That means I have almost a whole year of archives to catch up! Awesome!