Coupon Into Savings!

You hear it every day, “the economy is in the tank”, “I just need to save a little money”, “gas prices are just too high”. Well, all these things point to a nation looking to be frugal. Well, maybe there is a bit more you could be doing to be frugal. Take for example the hit TLC show, “Extreme Couponing”. These people will stop at nothing to score a deal, and they spend hours doing it. You don’t have to spend hours looking for coupons or make it your full time job to look for them, but next time you head to the shelves of the grocery store, consider taking the time to look for a coupon. 

There are a couple of tricks to saving big at the grocery store, from online coupons to local coupons and store sale flyers. It may come as a surprise that some of the best deals you can find won’t come from Wal-Mart. I know, you’re thinking how could that place ever fail you? Chances are that for everyday shoppers and those who aren’t looking to really make a steal, Wal-Mart will be your best option. However, what you won’t find at Wal-Mart are weekly sales and promotions like you would find at say Safeway or Albertsons. 

These weekly sales are where you can really save big bucks. For example say you are looking for something as simple as an antacid. Sure you could buy the generic store brand and generally save a significant chunk of change. But generic store brands rarely go on sale and they don’t have big savings coupons. Consider the name brand Tums and try this. Do a Google search for “Tums Coupon”. A dollar off printable coupon instantly comes up. 

Ok, so you’ve found your coupon. Sure, you could go to the store and the next time you need an antacid you’re ready to save a little. But there is more you could be doing to save! Go scan the weekly advertisements for Safeway, Albertsons, and CVS (yes you can do a Google search for this too). What you’re looking for is a sale on Tums, and if there are multiple sales going on, you want to select the store with the best deal. If you don’t see a sale for it that week, be patient and keep checking the advertisements week by week, it’s bound to pop up. If you do find a sale, see how much of it you can get for that price and how many coupons you can use with the offer. Then maximize your savings and assess your budget to see what quantity of that item you can get for that low price. 

Now you don’t just have to do this with Tums, there are hundreds of store brands just waiting for you to find coupons and sales for them! Take my savings example from a few weeks ago. I had two coupons for Tide laundry detergent for $3.00 off. The store had Tide on sale for $5.99, down from $9.99. I used my coupons and was able to score 2 bottles of Tide laundry detergent for a total of $5.99. If I had been paying full price for these items I would have been out about 20 bucks! So the next time you are looking to go to the grocery store, take the time to research whether or not you could be saving a few bucks. What is the old saying? A penny saved is a penny earned!