In the comments section of one of my recent posts, the discussion turned to couponing, and a few readers requested more information on how to save money with coupons.How many of you have heard of Groupon? The site has been around for quite a while, but I recently learned about a new service called Groupon Coupons. The company has partnered with more than 9,000 retailers from across the globe to provide consumers with great coupons…all for free.
You can search coupons by store or category on the Groupon Coupons page. There are tons to choose from, but I am especially excited about the clothing store coupons. Kohl’s, one of my favorite stores, is on there!
I always remember to search for coupons for online orders, but when I
clip coupons for in-store use, I’ll admit that I often forget to use
them. That’s something I need to improve on.
If you are familiar with Groupon Coupons, I would love to hear how you have used the site to save money. And feel free to share your general couponing tips, as well.
Photo courtesy of Groupon Coupons
Thanks for the info ! I will use it
That's one of many sites online that provide you with coupons and codes like that. Retail Me Not comes to mind, too. You can search. Sometimes the online codes you find are expired or don't work for some unknown reason. That's life.
The coupons I use for the grocery store mainly come from the Sunday paper. I have my friends save me their coupon circulars after they're done clipping them. So I often get multiple copies of a good coupon. My grocery store doubles coupons with face values up to 99 cents, so that makes it even more worthwhile.
If you don't get a paper, you can search for coupons online (Smart Source, Red Plum, manufacturer's websites, etc.). But be careful…downloading the software to print online coupons can bring viruses along with it. I choose not to print from online for that reason.
Pet owners – did you know that Purina lets you call them at intervals and request coupons for food or pet products? I've gotten high value coupons from them just for asking. Also, if you call a company and give feedback on a product, good or bad, you sometimes get coupons mailed to you for money off, or a replacement coupon if there was a problem.
Ellie, you're in "the south" and there's a website called Southern Savers that helps you match the upcoming sale deals for your area's grocery stores with the coupons that have been in the Sunday papers or online recently. If your store puts out a Wednesday ad, then it will be on that site by Tuesday night, along with the info about where to find the matching coupons (circulars or online), so you can plan ahead. For instance, if your store has Pillsbury flour on sale this week and there was a coupon for it two weeks ago in a circular, that site will tell you which circular and which date. Very handy. I think they also give info on drugstore deals.
At the office supply store or Wal-Mart, buy a plastic coupon folder to take to the store with you. Mine is bright yellow for visibility. It also has my return name and address on it…I've left it in a cart seat before, oops! (Some good Samaritan turned it in, unharmed.) I separate the coupons inside by how the food product is packaged – cans, bags, bottles – and then have sections for refrigerated, frozen, and the non-food categories (paper, cleaning, health & beauty, pet). That makes it easier for me to file and find coupons.
When I make my weekly shopping list, I print out a copy of the master list that I keep on the computer. That list has all the products I'm likely to buy on any week, arranged roughly by the way the store is laid out. I highlight what I need that week and put (C) beside it to indicate that I have a coupon to redeem. I pull the matching coupons from their divider section and put them up front in the coupon holder, with my list. Then off to the store I go to save. (While I'm doing the list, I file the latest coupons I've clipped and pull/toss the expired ones.)
My biggest savings was 90% off my total grocery bill, accomplished by redeeming coupons. A newspaper reporter shadowed me that trip and wrote a story that was featured in the food section of the paper. This was about 35 years ago. I don't have that kind of savings every week, but I still shop with coupons and thrift in mind. At first it was a necessity but now it's just habit.
I also give myself a limit of $5 or less per meal for meat, but that's another post about how I manage that and stretch the meat budget!
Wow! You're a pro! Thank you for sharing your words of wisdom. That was very helpful for me, and I'm sure it was for other readers, as well.
Ellie
Be sure to check your grocery store's coupon policy. It will be filled with fine print! Some stores limit the number of coupons you can use in one trip or one day, and even some coupons themselves limit you to no more than 4 of the same coupons redeemed at a time.
Your store's website should have the policy, or a copy might be posted or available at the service desk. It's not fun to debate coupon policy at the check-out, especially not for the people in line behind you.
Good thinking . Thank you! 🙂
Ellie
Thanks for the tips
Try the Honey extension if you use Google Chrome to web browse. Anytime you shop online, the extension automatically searches for online coupon codes. I ordered Olive Garden takeout online the other day and saved 5 bucks!
Very neat! I'll have to check that out.
Ellie
I use Retail me not and it said's right on their when it expires. They codes always work for me.
I use the Bath and Body one the other day and got $4.00 off my order.
I love Retail Me Not. 🙂
Ellie
Groupon coupons…who knew!?! Thanks for the info!
I use an app called Coupon Keeper (for Android). It keeps all my coupons organized. Coupons can be entered manually, by scanning the barcode, or by bulk import (based on the Sunday paper inserts). They can be sorted by name, category, or expiration date (so they don't expire before you have a chance to use them!). The free version will only store 20 coupons and the bulk import feature doesn't work. I'm not sure how much the full version is now (I bought it 3 years ago), but I think it's well worth the upgrade! Happy couponing!
Thanks for the tip! Looks like they have it for iPhone too.
Ellie
Are coupons a thing in Australia? I haven't really heard of them. Any fellow Aussies use coupons?
I use ibotta & find it convenient. You can use code sbonlbj to sign up.