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Clipping coupons can save you fifty percent or more on your grocery bill. You just have to be smart in how you use them. Coupons can be found in many more places today when compared to ten years ago. You can find a coupon for almost every item you buy, on the Internet. By going to the brand name website, you can request a coupon for the items they sell. Coupons are in most newspapers, especially the Sunday paper. Magazines include special sections of coupons by their sponsors. In the stores, you will find coupons in dispensers next to the item itself.

By organizing your coupons and grouping them according to the store isles they are located on, you will find it easier to remember to use the coupons. I place coupons for cleaning agents in an envelope, coupons for dry goods in another envelope, and cold food coupons in yet another envelope. I write the name of the items and the value of the coupon outside the envelope. With a quick glance, I know whether the coupon will save me money or if a non-brand name item will do the job as well at a much lower price.

Many stores offer double coupon values. On some days, stores will triple coupons. The trick is in buying the smallest size allowed and using a coupon that is doubled. In most cases, you actually get the item for free. By waiting for certain products to go on sale and using doubled coupons, you can also get products for free or nearly free. Even close-out products will take a coupon. As with anything in life, you have to decide if the time and effort results in rewards equal to the time spent.

The more organized you are with your coupons, the less time it will take to locate the product and decide if using the coupon will be worth it for you or your family. Sometimes, the regular price of an item is so high that even the coupon does not bring the price down enough for your price range. Do not throw the coupon away. Place it in the "too expensive", envelope. If you throw it out after checking just once, the product will go on sale two days before the coupon expires, allowing you to purchase it for twenty-five cents with the coupon. Don't laugh, it happens.

By having a coupon station set up in a handy spot, you will notice more coupons in places you never though to look before. Have coupon envelopes, file folders, or whatever you want to use for collecting your coupons, a pair of scissors, and a pen to write the item on the envelope and the price of the coupon. If specific sizes or number of items must be purchased, note that alongside the product. You will not have to dig around for the coupon to see if the value brings the product into your price range.

It will take longer to shop and you will have to be alert, but the savings can actually make grocery shopping the game with real results. You may even become addicted to coupons, not able to purchase anything without a coupon. I am being funny, of course, but I do know some people who refuse to pay full price for anything. In the end, each person must decide for herself if clipping coupons is worth the time and trouble. The really good thing about today;s coupons is the fact that the 'redeemed by' dates give you weeks or months to use the coupon. That is why I say, "Do not throw it away until it expires." Maybe it is a conspiracy between manufacturers and grocery stores, but big ticket items go on sale close to the expiration date.

Learn more about this author, Barbara Stanley.
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