How to Use Grocery Coupons Efficiently

Everyone knows coupons help save money at the grocery store. But, some coupons can be more harmful than helpful if they prompt you to spend more money than you normally would or if you end up buying things you don't need just because you have a coupon.

Purchase the smallest size of a product when using a coupon. If you have a coupon for $1 off, and the small size of a product costs $2 and the larger size costs $3.50, then buy the smaller size. You will only spend $1 total instead of $2.50. Buy the larger sizes when you do not have a coupon to take advantage of the lower per-unit cost. Remember, the goal of coupons is to lower your overall grocery cost, not to raise it.

Use coupons to buy items that you normally use. If you are already planning to buy a specific item, a coupon is the icing on the cake. If coupons make you purchase items, which you do not normally buy, are you really saving money? The exception is if the coupon truly is an exceptional value or the product is on sale.

Bring coupons for a variety of brands of the same product. Say you need dish washing detergent, and you are not particular about which brand you buy. Bring several coupons for different brands of soap, and use the coupon for the soap that ends up being the best buy. Flexibility about brand loyalty will help save money at the grocery store.

Shop at stores that offer double or triple coupons. There is no sense in using a 40-cent coupon at a store that does not offer double coupons when you could have gotten 80 cents off elsewhere. An exception to this rule-if you find a grocery store which does not offer double coupons, but it is so cheap in general that the overall price of a product is still cheaper when using a "regular" coupon, then switch to this grocery store!

Take all your coupons with you to the grocery store organized in an accordion file by product type. Even if you are not planning to buy toilet paper, the store may be having a phenomenal sale on TP, and you may want to buy a package. The deal is made even sweeter if you also have a coupon on hand for the sale item.

Consider the value of a coupon. If a coupon demands you buy a large quantity of an item, divide the amount of the coupon by the number of items to get the per-item discount. Then ask yourself if this a good deal. If you buy four boxes of cereal to get $1 off, you are only saving 25 cents per box for four boxes of cereal that you may not even need.

Consider generic products. Often they are cheaper than name-brand products, even with a coupon. This author finds generic flour, sugar, foil, sandwich bags, over-the-counter medicines, milk, cheese, canned veggies and rice to be just as good as their name-brand counterparts. Do not let a coupon lure you into buying a more expensive brand name if an equally quality generic brand would suffice.

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Find Free Food and Grocery Coupons Online

Taking the time to find sites that offer free grocery store coupons is well worth the effort. Once you have found legitimate web sites that have coupons that you want, you can go back to them again and again. Every time you use a coupon at the grocery store, it is like putting cash right into your pocket. When I look at a coupon, I visualize a dollar bill. To me it is the same as cash. Use them or lose. Many coupons expire, so watch out for expiration dates.

SEARCH ONLINE - I have put links to some grocery coupon web sites in the resources below, but this area is changing a lot, so I recommend that you occasionally type "free grocery store coupons" in your search engine to see if any new sites have become available.

TV ADS - Keep your ears open for television ads that are directing you to a web site to print a coupon. Many TV ads will show a picture of a coupon or just say to visit their website.

NEVER PAY FOR COUPONS - Coupons should always be free or they are not really a coupon. Watch out for scams, there are scams in every area of the internet so be careful. There are people that sell clipped coupons on ebay and this is legitimate if you want to pay someone else to do the work for you. I don't really think it is worth it.

KEEP THEM ORGANIZED - To save money at the grocery store, you need to have the coupons with you and organized so that you can find the ones that you need quickly. There are many organizers for coupons, they look like small recipe files. Print out as many as you are allowed to print out and that you think you will use. Make sure you note the expiration date. I usually file them in my organizer by expiration date (in each section) so that I use them efficiently.

How to Find Free Food and Grocery Coupons Online

How to Find Free Food and Grocery Coupons Online

Find and print coupons before you leave for the store.

Knowing how to find food and grocery coupons online will help you save a ton of money on every trip to the grocery store. Some stores even have electronic coupon machines at the front of the store to that you can print out coupons as soon as you arrive.

Printable In Store Coupons
Check to see if your grocery store has an electronic machine that prints out coupons. Sometimes you will have to be registered with the store and be issued a card to use the coupon machine.
The coupons are for individual products and for money off your total order.
Look below in the Resources section for more help with find good coupons.

Grocery Websites
Visit a grocery store website to print out coupons for your favorite items. You can find printable coupons for products such as milk, bread, produce, meat and many other products that you use every day.

There are websites that have thousands of coupons that you use everyday all located conveniently on one website.

Grocery Store Websites
Look on the website for the grocery store that you shop at the most and possibly the second runner up. You will be able to find plenty of coupons that you can print out at home and use to save money at the grocery store.

Manufacturer Websites
Visit the manufacturer websites for your favorite products or the products that you purchase most.

Manufacturers will put coupons on their websites for new items that they are promoting. Sometimes there will even be coupons for free products for you to try. Don't miss these great values, always check the manufacturers website.

Sunday Newspaper Coupons
Clip and save the coupons in the Sunday newspaper this and every week. You can save money today and every day if you remember to clip your coupons and take them with you to the grocery store each week.

Mailbox Coupon Packs
Check in your mail box to see if you have received the latest coupon pack. You can save hundreds of dollars each year on your groceries if you use coupons.
Knowing how to find food and grocery coupons online will help you to save your family money.

In Store Flier
Check by the front door of the grocery store for their weekly flier of deals, discounts and coupons. You can get great deal on your favorite items this week.

If you want more information on how to find food and grocery coupons online please keep reading this blog.