Saving Money on Groceries with Coupons

Grocery coupons have been around for quite some time. At one point, only penny-pinchers would clip and use the free coupons. Then for a while, conscientious housewives would try to stretch the family budget. Not that far in the past, coupons were as prevalent as ever, but many felt it too time consuming to clip and organize them.

Today, "couponing” has become a household term. Websites on where to find coupons sprinkle across the Internet. Workshops and classes are being taught on how to use coupons effectively thus saving anywhere from 10 to 90 percent on every grocery trip. A television show highlighting extreme use of coupons is set to premiere in April.

The keys to using coupons effectively
You may be surprised to learn that even as the cost of food continues to rise, your total at the checkout can decrease. Further, in order to save money, you do not have to buy store brands exclusively, cut out your favorite items, or shop at big-box department stores claiming to have falling prices.

Coupons, when used in conjunction with the weekly store ad, can yield unbelievable results. The following keys will unlock your savings potential:

1. Get the coupon inserts found in the Sunday paper every week.
   
2. Find a way to clip and save every coupon.
   
3. Using the weekly ad at your favorite grocery stores, match the sales items with its corresponding manufacturer’s coupon.
   
4. Let go of previous habits of buying "whatever.”

Stacking
Stacking coupons even makes an even greater savings. Many chain grocery stores have store coupons. These types of coupons are exclusive to one store and can be found in forms of home mailings, e-coupons that are loaded onto shoppers’ cards, or flyers at the front of the store.

Taking a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon used together is stacking. Here is a real-life example of this concept using a Kroger sale:

Charmin toilet paper in the ad for $5.99, regular price $7.99.
An e-coupon or store coupon was worth $3.00 off.
A manufacturer’s coupon clipped from weekly circular worth $0.25 which doubled to $0.50.

Total cost for the toilet paper = $2.49
Total savings = $ 5.50

Knowing your grocery store’s coupon policy is helpful:

• Some stores double coupons up to a certain face amount. Meaning a $0.50/ off coupon will actually take $1.00 of that item.
  
• Some stores triple coupons.
  
• Some stores take competitor's coupons.
  
• Some even have a coupon limit.

The bottom line
It may take some time to start accumulating enough coupons to start to see significant savings at the register. Because the store sales do not usually line up weekly with coupon offerings, it is important to find a way to keep all the coupons that you can. Further, because you will be trying to match coupons with the sales ads, you will see a shift in how you buy groceries. Grocery sales trend in six-week intervals with some items on sale only seasonally. But as the stockpile of groceries that you have bought at absolutely low prices continues to grow, you will be amazed at the power a coupon holds.