How to Coupon Effectively
Using 50 ¢ coupons will only get you so far, but if you’re aiming for bigger savings you will have to adopt a more effective coupon strategy.The trick is to get double discounts on the same item, by matching the items already on sale with the coupons.
Example:
Suppose that you have a $1 coupon for a box of cereals that usually sells at $3.50. So now that box of cereals costs you $2.50. Nice, but not enough…
If however you hang on to the coupon and wait patiently until that box of cereals goes on sale for $2.00 – now you get that same box of cereals for only $1. That’s almost a quarter of the original price!
How to match coupons with sales
Most large companies usually push certain products in two waves: Initially – they’ll put out coupons to start bumping up sales. Later on in the promotion campaign, any time between 3-4 weeks later they’ll move onto sale prices.
Why they behave this way? First, they’d rather have a steady and long boost in sells rather than a spike. Second, studies showed that people who bought the product with coupons and liked it would probably buy it again next month if it’s on sale.
All you need to do is be patient – hang on to the coupons until the products come on sale and only then use them on top of the already-reduced price items.
Effective couponing checklist
- Once a week, leaf through the Sunday paper coupon inserts & your favorite store coupon magazine and clip out grocery coupons or for all of the products you usually buy, regardless whether they’re currently on your shopping list.
- Organize the coupons according to product type.
- Before going to the store, leaf through your wad of coupons to remind yourself what coupons you have (most of them have been clipped 3-4 weeks ago).
- Entering the store, pick up its magazine and look for some more interesting store coupons and sales. Additionally, look for sales throughout the store and try to match them with your coupons.
Magically, most of the 3-4 week old coupons sync up very well with stuff that’s already on sale on the shelves.
On average, sale prices combined with coupons can get you products for less than half the usual price. If you manage to shop on a double-coupon days/week – even better!