Could you use an extra $1,000 cash this year? Who couldn’t! Just think of all the things you could do with those riches! You could pay off some bills, expand your wardrobe, finally get the car fixed, or even donate it to a local charity.
So how can you go about picking up an extra grand this year? You probably don’t have time for a part-time job, and you really can’t sell your car. No need to get drastic, because this article is going to explain exactly how you can save a lot of money with coupons for groceries. We’re not talking about nickel-and-dime savings, either.
How much money can you save with coupons? “By spending as little as 20 minutes per week, the average consumer can save $1,000 per year by taking advantage of the coupon and special offers they receive” (source: reuters.com).
Yes, you really can save a lot of money with coupons for groceries and other household items. You can even save with coupons for car washes, oil changes, haircuts, and more. Since September is National Coupon Month, there’s no better time to get started!
To maximize coupon savings, just follow this simple 5-point plan:
1) Plan Your Purchases
2) Find Coupons From The Top 3 Sources
3) Double-Up On Coupon Savings By Combining Coupons With Ads
4) Stock Up When It Makes Sense
5) Get Store Loyalty Cards
Plan Your Purchases:
To really enjoy the biggest coupon savings, you need to look for a coupon every single time you make a purchase. Yes, this requires a little planning and forethought, but the savings are well worth the effort! Make a list of groceries that you need (yes, a grocery list just like mom used to make) and then start looking for coupons to use on those items. The trick is to only buy what you need, and not fall into the trap of buying products you don’t need just because you have a coupon.
When planning meals for the upcoming week you can save even more by planning around the weekly ads from the local grocery stores. Every week most stores feature what is known in the industry as ‘loss leaders’, which are products sold below cost just to get you in the door. These are often seasonal items like tomatoes in September or corn in August, and the stores are hoping that as long as you’ve come in for their loss leaders you’ll pick up some more profitable items while you’re in the store. By planning some meals based upon what’s on sale, you can save a lot of money before you even clip a single coupon!
Find Coupons From The Top 3 Sources:
Once you have a list of ‘coupon-needed’ items, then you need to be aware of and use the three sources for coupons:
a) Traditional clip-out coupons, usually found in the Sunday newspaper or in magazines.
b) Online coupons that you can print and cut out right at home.
c) Virtual coupons that you can link to your store loyalty card and use without handling any paper coupons at all.
Traditional coupons are the most popular, and sometimes generate the highest savings for you. You shouldn’t feel awkward about using clip-out coupons, either, because the chances are good that the shopper behind you in the checkout line has some coupons of their own. “U.S. coupon redemption increased 19 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, and the overall number of coupons increased by 12 percent, according to NCH Marketing Services Inc., a coupon clearing house subsidiary owned by Valassis” (source: crainsdetroit.com).
Scour the Sunday newspaper for coupons, and when you find a particular day that has better coupons than most, consider buying more than one paper. If you open up your Sunday newspaper and find a coupon for $2 off a 12-pack of Mountain Dew, which is a product that you regularly purchase anyway, then why not buy a few more papers? You’ll save $2 for every $1.50 newspaper you buy, and as a bonus you’ll also get another copy of every other coupon in the newspaper that day.
You can save a lot of money with online coupons for groceries, too. There are quite a few sites out there that will allow you to print and use their online coupons, and the companies love it when you do! After all, you’re saving them the cost of printing and distributing the coupons!
Some great sources for online coupons include smartsource.com, pillsbury.com, redplum.com, bettycrocker.com, boxtops4education.com, retailmenot.com and deals.yahoo.com, among others. Here you’ll find hundreds of online coupons for groceries that are accepted at every major retailer in the United States. You can save a lot of money by simply browsing these sites and printing coupons for the items that are on your shopping list.
Finally, to maximize savings you should also explore using virtual coupons. Perhaps the best site to find virtual coupons is cellfire.com, where you can browse offers in your area using your PC or phone. You then save the grocery coupons you want to your store-specific savings card (like the Safeway Club Card). Coupons are then automatically redeemed when you use your savings card at checkout. This new twist on regular coupon redemption is gaining popularity with shoppers: “They [electronic coupons] now account for more than 3 percent of all coupons used, up from roughly 2 percent in 2008″ (source: news-press.com).
Double-Up On Coupon Savings By Combining Coupons With Ads:
Really savvy shoppers know that they can save a lot of money with coupons on groceries and other household goods by combining the weekly ad from a store with their manufacturer coupons.
A perfect example is the typical Fred Meyer or Kroger ad, which may feature General Mills cereal at 3 for 5 dollars when you use the store coupon that’s printed in the ad. The trick is to use the store coupon along with a manufacturer coupon to increase savings. It’s not unusual to find online manufacturer coupons good for 50 or even 75 cents off any box of General Mills cereal. Combine one with the store coupon, and suddenly you’re paying $1.17 for that cereal instead of $1.67 per box.
Stock Up When It Makes Sense:
Saving money with coupons can be such a powerful strategy that you may want even want to stock up when you find a good deal. Keep in mind that you really haven’t saved anything if all you’re doing is buying items you don’t need just because the price is low. But if you’ve found a great price on an item that you regularly purchase, then by all means stock up! By doing so, you’ll be saving money next month when you don’t have to purchase that item because you already have it.
Get Store Loyalty Cards:
If you don’t have them already, then you need to sign up to receive store loyalty cards from local grocery stores. Often called frequent shopper cards, most large grocers now require you to have one to receive the lowest prices on food.
The benefit to having a loyalty card is that, sometimes, these programs will generate even more coupons for you.
For example, the Kroger or Fred Meyer Rewards Card accumulates points based on how much you spend during a specified period ($1 equals 1 point). “When you earn 500 or more points in a 13-week Rewards Points Cycle, you’ll be mailed a Rewards Rebate you can spend at Fred Meyer. And there are 4 cycles per year, so you can earn up to 4 Rewards Rebates a year! Plus you’ll also receive some great money-saving offers available only to our Rewards Customers” (source: fredmeyer.com).
Another good example of a store loyalty card you need to get is the SuperValu or Albertsons Preferred Card. While Albertsons doesn’t tally up points, they do sometimes generate immediate coupons for you, printed right at the check stand, based on what you purchase. For example, if you buy $20 in Kraft products they’ll print and give you a coupon for $5 off your next order. No Preferred Card? No coupon.
You can also save a lot of money with store loyalty cards because many of them also offer you a discount on non-grocery products in the store, such as gasoline or prescriptions.
When you’re visiting retailer sites to enroll in their loyalty card program, don’t forget to sign up to receive coupons by mail. Many stores send out coupons on a regular basis, but with ever-increasing postage rates they’re only sending coupons to those customers that ask for them. Bed, Bath & Beyond is one such retailer that will send you coupons by both email and snail mail, but only if you ask.
By using these strategies, you can save a lot of money with coupons. With a little practice, you may even find that being frugal is fun!