Everyday, shoppers’ mailboxes and doorsteps hold hundreds of dollars worth of savings at the grocery store. They come in the form of newspapers, sales papers, and circulars. If you know which coupons to keep, your monthly grocery bill can decrease dramatically.
Coupons are not a new rage and have been around since Grape Nuts and Cocoa Cola started using them for marketing purposes back in the 1800’s. With the customers that use coupons today, nearly $5 billion dollars per year is saved.
If you use coupons wisely, and make out a list and budget before shopping, you can save up to 50% on your grocery bill. That’s pretty good savings, just by going through your newspaper.
In order to get the most out of your coupons, create a shopping list first. Afterwards, go through your papers and search for coupons for the items that you want to buy. If you go through the papers first, you might end up with items that you weren’t going to buy to begin with, just because you think you’ve found a “good deal.” You don’t always end up saving money this way and sometimes you spend more.
Your Sunday paper is an excellent source for coupons. Sunday papers generally have inserts as well, which contain coupons for a wide array of products.
If you rely on the Sunday newspaper for coupons, then it might make sense to buy an annual subscription to the paper, rather than to go out and buy it every Sunday. You can generally get a substantial discount on the overall price of the paper this way.
Circulars, those papers that come to your mailbox throughout the week, can also be a source for coupons. Because they come more frequently, you might want to clip them as you receive them and store them in an organizer for later use.
Your Sunday paper, as well as circulars, are good for coupons because they are generally locally based, meaning they are targeted to your area stores. This is good when using coupons because they’re more likely to be accepted.
Also, don’t forget to check the grocery stores themselves for coupons. Some grocery stores keep copies of the stores specials near the entrance of the store. This is also a good way to see what is on sale within the store, even if the papers don’t contain coupons.
Consider the expiration date when clipping coupons, and before using them. You don’t want to check out, only to find that your coupon is not usable.
Lastly, watch for value days and double coupons days, usually advertised in the paper. If you use your coupons on these days, you can get even more out of your savings.