One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup
your local newspaper in order to get the weekly
coupons insert. But there is another way, and
that is ordering them online.

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup
your local newspaper in order to get the weekly
coupons insert. This really isn’t news to anyone,
but it’s probably the most widely used method of
gathering up coupons. Once you figure in the
price of the newspaper, compared to how much
money you can save… it’s worth doing it. You can
also ask friends and family that get the
newspaper if they use the coupons. If they don’t,
they are usually more than willing to give them
away since the coupons will typically be thrown
away anyways.

One drawback to getting the newspaper is that you
never know what coupons will be in it, and if
they’re for the items you will use. I’ve picked
up a newspaper a number of times, and there were
only a few coupons I could really use. So getting
the newspaper sometimes can be a “hit/miss”
situation.

The newspaper is not the only way you can obtain
coupons. There are a few Websites out there (
centsoff.com and thecouponclippers.com) where you
can order the coupons you want and will actually
use when you go shopping. I know the concept
seems strange and you’re probably thinking, “Why
should I order coupons when I can get them free?”
Technically, if you purchase the newspaper for
the coupons they are not free. Ordering coupons
and paying a small service can still save you
money in the long run. Let’s take a look at how
the savings add up.

For example, let’s say you spent $10.00 and
ordered 25 coupons all with a face value under $1.
00. If you use all the coupons, that’s an
automatic discount savings of $25.00. Now you
have to subtract what you spent when you ordered
the coupons, which is the $10.00. The total
savings is now $15.00, which is pretty good.
Looking at from this perspective, you really got
your money back in grocery savings that you would
have normally spent anyways.

The above example is a pretty good savings, but
it gets better. Because you ordered coupons all
under $1.00 face value, many grocery stores will
double coupons up to $1.00! Using the above
example, this brings your savings up to $50.00
that’s a substantial savings!

Here are a few tips you can use when ordering
coupons:

** Order only what coupons you are going to use.
Some sites will allow you to order up to 50
coupons at one time with flat rate service fee.
50 coupons is a lot and you may or may not end up
using them all. If you have a friend that also
uses coupons, maybe you could split the coupons
and costs between the two of you.

** Choose coupons with a $1.00 face value or
less. Many stores double coupons and you can
double your savings.

** Some sites charge a handling fee per coupon on
top of other fees; do the math to see how much
you will be saving before placing your order.

** Check expiration dates. The farther off the
expiration date is gives you more time to use it.

** Watch for sales! You can save even more money
if the product you have a coupon for goes on sale.
Here’s a quick example. I had a coupon for 55
cents off dry cereal. The cereal was on sale for $
1.67, the store doubled the coupon and I only
paid 57 cents for a name brand box of cereal!

** Check more than one store for sales. If you
live where more than one grocery store is in
close proximity, you can plan your shopping list
to buy specific items at different stores using
your coupons.

Using these tips, a little planning and ordering
your coupons wisely, you can save up anywhere
from 50 on your monthly grocery bill.