In these tough economic times many consumers are turning to a time-tested method of saving money at the grocery store: clipping coupons. Coupons might not be glamorous, but used effectively they can easily cut your typical monthly food bill by as much as 60% without scarificing either the quality or quantity of the food items you normally purchase.
Here are a few tips for raking in huge savings with coupons:
1 - Write out your grocery list and actively seek out a coupon for every item on it. In days of old that would mean pulling out a newspaper and leafing through stacks of magazines in search of your coupons. While that method still works quite well, there is a much faster and easier way to accomplish that task today. Simply visit websites like Coupons.com, CoolSavings.com and CouponMom.com and print out the coupons you need!
2 - Whenever possible use your coupons to purchase items that also happen to be on sale that week. For example, if a box of cereal that normally sells for $2.99 is on sale for $1.99, a 50 cent coupon would allow you to purchase that item at half price. If you're a good organizer you can stockpile your coupons and use them ONLY when the items are on sale. What a powerful way to make a huge dent in your grocery bill week after week!
3 - Don't limit your use of coupons just to grocery items. You can also use them to save money on items that you use around the house such as soap, glass cleaner, floor wax, and laundry detergent.
4 - Be sure not to let coupons "blind" you to competing brands that are less expensive. Many times you can choose a different brand that is just as good, but still cheaper than your regular brand even after applying the savings from the coupon.
5 - Pay attention to expiration dates. While stockpiling your coupons for later use when the items go on sale is a great idea, they become worthless upon expiration.