There are so many way to coupon nowadays without hunting down the Sunday newspaper like the olden days. It can be much easier than cutting out squares and saving all of those little papers.
Check out these 7 tips that you can use when couponing:
- Search coupon databases
You can find coupons nowadays just about anywhere from online, phone apps and good old fashioned mail. Online through websites is your best option because you have more options, niches and deals to choose from at your fingertips. All you have to do is search Google and what type of coupon you want and you’ll have everything at one place. Another benefit of online coupon databases is the cashback you can earn just buy shopping at your favorite stores. The rates are 2%-12% so that is more savings in your pocket.
- Check the expiration deadline and policy
Every coupon policy varies so look up the store policy and rules. Before you cut the coupon or click in the promo code online check to see when the expiration or redemption deadline is. Also, see if you can double coupons and promos as certain stores can or cannot allow you to combo discounts. Dollar Tree used to honor double coupons in the past as well as some other popular department stores.
- Organize a shopping list
By organizing and making a shopping list it will make couponing easier. Knowing ahead of time which products you want to buy will expedite the items you need more and narrow it down to the ones that you do not need. Using this method can save you time not wasting looking for deals or coupons that are non-existent or scarce.
- Search for the largest discount
When you are on the hunt for the coupon or online promo code for your item do not just grab the first one you see. More than likely if you dig deeper or keep searching there is a better discount with an additional 15-30% off.
- Monitor your deals
Once you find your favorite coupons you can usually sign in to the website where you found them and set reminders or join a mailing list where you can always get updated and newest coupons and promos without the search. This is similar to paper coupons where you can subscribe to the manufacturer listing and get the newest savings in your mailbox.
- Don’t go overboard
When you have a good selection of coupons or websites for savings try to limit them to 5. This will allow you not to overload your coupon book or websites to sift through weekly or daily when looking for savings. This is also less time consuming then going through 20 sites or papers and more than likely not coming up with any better deals thus consolidating your monitoring.
- Make a tracking method of your savings
By tracking your results over a month or every quarter of the year you can see how much you are really saving. It may seem like a lot whipping out a calculator and creating a spreadsheet program but over the long run you do want to see how much you are saving right? Let’s say that you do this and you find out that you saved $200 one month than $320 another month, that is pretty darn great!
