Coupons are found in the Sunday paper, online and even in our mailboxes but most think they’re too much of a hassle for the limited amount of savings that is produced from their usage during shopping trips. Those that believe the coupons aren’t worth the trouble aren’t making the best use of them. There are things that can be done to ensure that you’re getting the most out of the coupons you’re clipping and printing.
While a saving of twenty to twenty-five cents may not seem to be much it can add up over time. Especially if you use it in conjunction with a sale or on double coupon day (usually limited to coupons up to seventy cents) at your local store making it worth more than that twenty to twenty-five cents that it was originally for. Say you go shopping with ten coupons in the amount of twenty cents, if you use all ten that’s a savings of $2 for the trip. If your bill came to let’s say $20 with the tax included then you pay only $18 for everything you purchased.
Now apply the same ten coupons valued at twenty cents each on double coupon day which makes them forty cent coupons and spend the same $20. The coupons added up to $4 this time making the amount you paid only $16.00. Now imagine that all of these items were on sale. Pairing coupons with sales and store loyalty cards can increase savings even more. Remembering that you don’t always have to buy all of the items on a 5 for $10 sale will increase savings more. There are also times when you can get by with just one of those buy one get one free items if they’re marked down to half price for the sale instead of being full price.
When purchasing two of a buy one and get one free item you can use two coupons for them since you are purchasing two items. Say you are purchasing an item that is normally $5 and get the second one free. This is normally a $10 purchase but is only $5 today; now say you have two coupons for a $1 off one of them. You can use them both and spend only $3 which brings the items to $1.50 each. So in reality instead of saving a dollar by buying one you saved $7 buying two and utilizing your coupons.
Savings no matter how small add up especially on items that you use regularly or prefer a specific brand of. Switching to generics will save money as long as they are of the same quality as the original brand, what most people don’t realize is that if they take a few minutes while planning shopping trips to look around they can find coupons for off brand items as well. Even a small savings off an already reduced item adds up faster than you can imagine. Coupons are everywhere and making the most of them just requires some planning.