Thursday's Thrifty Tip - Saving With Coupons

Much ado is made over coupons. Thousands of thrifty homemakers have been saving thousands of dollars using coupons for years. I can distinctly remember the excitement double coupon days at our local supermarket brought. My grandmother especially loved using coupons for items on sale. By the time all of the coupons and sales were combined the item was purchased for practically pennies. For those who have managed to escape the lure of the coupon, such excitement over a piece of paper may seem bizarre, odd at least. However, as anyone who has scored a great buy will attest, there is a certain high that accompanies such a feat. I can't help but compare it to what hunters refer to as the thrill of the hunt. Being acquainted with both bargain shopping and hunting, the similarities between the two are numerous. I can't tell you how many times I have begun to use coupons only to quit the first week. Either I forgot them, the discounts weren't for brands our store carried, or they weren't enough of a savings to mess with. Recently, however, I was privileged to attend a free webinar on the subject of coupons. This program explained coupon usage in a very user-friendly way. Since that time, my daughters and I have begun taking advantage of the savings offered when coupons are used most efficiently. Most efficiently? Yes, efficiently. Here is how it was explained to me. Coupons are often for items which tend to be more expensive. Because of this, it is best to use the coupons only when the items go on sale. Knowing the difference between a manufacturer's coupon and an in-store coupon will enable you to save more as well. Manufacturer's coupons such as those obtained through the newspaper and/or online, cannot be stacked (use more than one at the same time). In-store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, however, CAN be stacked (used at the same time). Here's an example: say that the local market has your favorite brand of pasta on sale this week. You think that this is marvelous since a coupon for this pasta was in the newspaper on Sunday or online(manufacturer's coupon). Not only that, there was a coupon in the store's weekly flyer (store's coupon) for the pasta too. Now, when you get to the store, you look beside the item, and there is also an in-store coupon hanging there. Yea!!! All of these coupons may be used together for the item. This is stacking coupons. Usually there won't be three available, but it does happen occasionally. Stacking coupons will result in tremendous savings with items costing practically nothing, sometimes nothing at all. Talk about a rush. Yes, this requires forethought, diligence, and patience. There will be several weeks, possibly months, spent watching and observing when certain items go on sale. Eventually everything in the store goes on sale. However, you don't want merely savings. You want rock-bottom sales. Pay attention to the sales and notice when the rock-bottom prices are on. That's when you pull out those coupons and use them. Not that long ago, cream cheese was on sale for an amazingly low price. How I wished that I had a coupon that week! Now that would have been a buy! Had I done my homework a little bit better, I would most likely have been able to find a coupon to use. Too much effort you say? Only at first. It does take a bit to "get in the groove." The savings are more than worth the extra time. Large chain stores such as Aldi, Walgreens, CVS, and others are meccas of savings for coupon lovers. There are websites that give step by step instructions for weekly sales at these stores. Google coupon deals and just see what you find. I have read accounts of families purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of products for $5---no joke! It was amazing. These stores are also great places to find buys on grocery items as well. Some stores, CVS for an example, have programs that enable customers to accumulate some kind of Bonus Bucks which can be used on future purchases. Accumulating these Bonus Bucks and using them in conjunction with coupons is another way to save big. Being quite new to this entire way of saving, it seems as if there is an art to it. Numerous articles on many websites assure me that anyone can save big with coupons once they learn how. A good place to begin learning how to practice coupon thrift is by checking out the Start Saving With Coupons website. This site is run by Jim Bob and Amy Howard. They are very dedicated to helping people save and have been extremely helpful with answering any question I have had. The Howards offer webinars to teach the best ways to utilize coupons. These webinars are available for download on their site. At least they were the day I was there. There is a charge for this. Though there will be an occasional "freebie" come along--just enough to whet your appetite. As previously mentioned, there are numerous sources concerning coupon savings online. Entire blogs are dedicated to the topic of shopping savings. Another quick tip concerning coupon use; even if you don't need the item that you have a coupon for when it goes on sale, go ahead and take advantage of the sale if at all possible. Doing this will enable you to put by a surplus. Stocking up in this manner will, over time, create an entire pantry fully stocked with most/all of the products regularly used by your family. Continued use of coupon savings will result in a pantry that is not only fully stocked, but remains fully stocked. This practice in and of itself will result in hundreds, if not thousands of dollars saved. Watch those sales and use those coupons. Oh yes, get the Sunday paper. If you live in a larger area, the money saved by the coupons will more than pay for the cost of the Sunday subscription. Some families subscribe to more than one Sunday newspaper just for the coupons! Coupons---check 'em out! Blessed Mama