I love bargain hunting and negotiating with others for better prices (much to the embarrassment of my wife). It isn’t so much the bartering side that I like, but not having to pay full price. It is the same reason why I like to use coupons. It’s all about saving as much money as possible so you have more to spend on the important things in life. Let’s face it, no one likes paying full price for something they could have gotten for cheaper, so why not start using coupons to save money
Types of Coupons
There are so many different types of coupons that can be used to help you save money in your day to day life. The most common types of coupons include the following:
Grocery Coupons
Grocery coupons can be found almost anywhere if you are willing to go looking. The most common places that I have found them are in the local paper, magazines or online. Grocery coupons can be a great way to save money on your weekly shopping trip by reducing the cost of everyday grocery items. Just don’t get caught in the trap of buying things you don’t need, just because you have a coupon for it.
Coupon Books
My wife subscribes to an entertainment book which contains thousands of coupons all related to local businesses. We regularly use the coupon booklet to decide where we are going to eat out, whenever we go out for meals at cafes or restaurants. Over the course of the year we save hundreds of dollars by using this coupon book, it is worth every single one of the fifty dollars we spent on it.
Online Coupons
Internet shopping has become a bit of a revolution in the last decade, with traditional businesses starting to struggle due to the increased presence and competition from online retailers around the world.
Traditional coupon books like the one my wife buys every year are good for local shops, but what about shopping online? Most people are aware that many items found in local stores can be found significantly cheaper online, but the best part is that many online stores still offer further discounts through the use of discount coupons.
Saving money with coupon codes online is a no-brainer in my opinion. You have nothing to lose and plenty of money to gain. Some of the larger couponing sites like www.couponcodes4u.com and their sister site for my Aussie readers www.couponcodes.com.au offer some amazing discounts and even allow you to get promo codes for Amazon, Best Buy, Toys R Us, the Disney Store and many other big online retailers.
If you aren’t using coupons in your day to day life when buying items in store or online, then I honestly think you should be starting right now! It really doesn’t take very long to look around for a coupon, and you might end up saving yourself a few hundred dollars in the process.
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Thanks Glen
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Sometimes it amazes me just how much money you can save by using coupons. I know some people believe that it takes too much time, but I think the money v.s. time spent can make couponing well worth it. You just need a system in place to help streamline the process.
Justin@TheFrugalPath recently posted..Money Mistakes I Made Over the Last Decade
I like using coupons, but I am not that extreme. I will visit group buying sites and search for a coupon before I make an online purchase. Most of the times, I am able to find a discount coupon that will save me money on my purchase.
Rohit @ The Money Mail recently posted..Roth IRA
Same, it is rare that you can’t find a coupon, even if it is only a few dollars.
I couldn’t agree more Justin. Sometimes it really doesn’t take that long and the savings can be well worth your time.
We use coupons all the time and it saved us more than $1k last year. I’m just now dabbling in online coupon codes, but it sounds like they can work pretty well. If you aren’t couponing, you are losing money imo, though you do have to sacrifice some time to do it.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Save Money: 5 Sources of Free Entertainment
$1,000 is huge! Imagine if you could save that much each year just by using coupons.
We do everything we can to save on items we purchase, and coupons are at the very center of that plan!
Thad recently posted..How Eliminating Wheat From Our Diet is Changing My Family
We could use coupons more regularly that we do, but I certainly appreciate the value of them.
I mostly use coupon codes when I shop online. You can score some great free stuff or get free shipping which is always nice. It takes the bite out of the purchase.
Debt and the Girl recently posted..Review of 2012 and PF Goals for the Year Ahead
Whenever we buy stuff from the US I always look for free shipping as it can be really expensive to send stuff to Australia.
I love to haggle, which also bothers my wife – but it’s amazing what you receive when you ask. For coupons, I mainly just look online whenever I have something in mind to buy, like a pizza or something else I may need. I know I leave $ on the table by not taking coupons more seriously.
Jason Clayton | frugal habits recently posted..Straight Talk Wireless – Switch and Save Money
It used to bother my wife more than it does now. I know she now appreciates that it saves us money, but I don’t think she could do it herself.
It drives my wife a bit nuts to when I try to negotiate. But, hey, it usually saves us money. We’re a big proponent of coupons…as long as it’s on something you were going to buy already. We go to the web quite a bit in order to get decent coupons.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Working From Home – A Mom’s Perspective
There are so many online coupon sites now that find coupons has never been easier or faster. I’m amazed that people don’t do it.
I have a coupon book that has a ton of buy one get one free dinner coupons that we use throughout the year. I do use grocery coupons but not as often as I used to.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..5 Ways to Stop Collection Calls
Buy one get one free sounds like a good deal. I hope the food is good.
I use mostly electronic coupons loaded onto a store card. I like paper coupons, but they tend to get wadded up in my purse. I should get some sort of organizer, but seems like defeating the purpose to spend money on something to hold your coupons.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Options for Diversifying Your Investments
I agree Kim, paper coupons can get a bit annoying when you have too many.
I love watching extreme couponing shows, but I never do it myself. It seems that to make a huge impact, you have to put in a ton of work. I have saved the most using daily deal sites to buy for restaurants I would have gone to anyways for 50% off or more.
Eric recently posted..Save Money on Your Investments
I have never actually seen an extreme couponing show, I have head about them, but never found the time to actually sit down and watch one.
Oh I wish we had coupons around here! I just realized my grocery budget is more than many people in the US!!
Pauline recently posted..13 money resolutions for 2013: #4 stop wasting!
I guess that is the price of living in paradise hey?
Good tips Glen. I’d also add that if you have a smartphone get a free coupon app so you’ll have in-store coupons at the ready when shopping. Most stores will just scan the coupon on your phone and you collect the savings on the spot. We have a coupon app on our site that we are really proud of if anyone is interested.
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com recently posted..Frugal Hack #3: Use Live Chat To Score Deals
That is a great idea Kyle! I hadn’t actually thought of that.
I love using coupons, too! Yesterday I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and was able to use expired coupons that were dated for May of 2012! It never hurts to ask and you usually save a boatload just by speaking up in a pleasant, friendly manner.
The Happy Homeowner recently posted..2013 Financial, Personal and Household Goals
Did you know you can use more than one at a time at Bed Bath and Beyond? You can use as many as you have, all expired and they will apply them to your purchases. So awesome!
debtgirl recently posted..My Credit Score… Drum Roll Please…
Thanks for sharing the hot tip!
Yes! The lady filled me in on that as well– I think I used 4 or 5 for a total savings of over $20.
The Happy Homeowner recently posted..Is Getting a Second or Third Job Really Worth it?
My mum used to try and use expired coupons all the time. I know it can work, but sh had limited success with that plan.
I love coupons too, Bed Bath Beyond and other Retailer coupons. I like to use name brand grocery coupons when the items are on sale, however, I notice that most store labels are way cheaper even if you have a coupon for name brand, so I usually leave the coupon for someone else! (Yeah, that’s me doing that!)
debtgirl recently posted..My Credit Score… Drum Roll Please…
Yeah you have to make that value judgement, if you can get essentially the same product cheaper then why not?
I use to buy the Entertainment Book , but haven’t for many years.
Many times coupons in Canada only save you 50 cents or so, but last year there was a new multi-vitamin that I wanted to try and the company was offering coupons valued at $4, $5 and one for $10. I printed off and made 10 copies of the one for $10 and then when the local drugstore had the product on sale for $10.50 I went and bought 10 boxes and only paid 50cents per box plus sales tax. That was so nice!!
Tackling Our Debt recently posted..Can You Imagine Starting Your Own Business?
I think you have to workout if you think you are going to use it regularly enough or not. If you don’t go out all that often then I guess there isn’t much point.
I must say that I don’t use food coupons at all. This is because I belong to a fresh produce co-op which of course does not take coupons. I also don’t buy pre-packaged foods so no use there either. Now, BBB is a different story. I would never buy anything new of a sizable purchase amount there without using their coupons.
I think it will be different for everyone. I guess it is just good to know that there are options available to save money.
I use grocery coupons especially for household items like cat food, toilet paper, diapers, etc… Every little bit helps
Mackenzie recently posted..One Year Blogiversary! OMG!
It can be a great way to save money over the long term.
Hey thanks for stopping by my blog! I’m pretty good at remembering to search for online coupons, and I recently received a coupon book for Christmas. The one area I’m terrible with is grocery store coupons, I wish I could be better with those.
Jordann @ My Alternate Life recently posted..Beware The Coupon
I must admit that is also the area that my wife and I are the worst at.
Still it’s a new year and there is plenty of time to get better.
I use coupons on anything and everything I can. I’m fine with haggling and I have no shame in asking for a discount. This used to embarrass my bf, but now he’s used to it and he realizes how much I save and I think he sort of respects my ability to use coupons and discounts.
KK @ Student Debt Survivor recently posted..Reasons You Didn’t Get Hired-Part II
Same with my wife, she used to get embarrassed, but she sees how much money we save by doing it so she is ok with it.
One of my favorite resources is SlickDeals. The forums are awesome and the coupons are plentiful. Its nice to have so many bargain hunters in one area helping each other out.
Sounds good. I’ll have to give it a look
We never used to use coupons until we had our daughter almost 2 years ago, now I cringe at the thought of how much I used to pay for things like bread, cereal, etc!
If I do shop online, I NEVER do it without a coupon code, you can almost always track one down for any retailer with 5 minutes and the help of Google;)
Save Big, Live Better! recently posted..INSERT SNEAK PEEK!–Redplum (Jan 12)
It really doesn’t take long does it.
I wish I could say that I utilize coupons but unless it is a quick search online for a coupon code just before checkout, I probably don’t. But actual, physical coupons? I am way too horrendously disorganized. (I believe I have a coupon tacked to the fridge that expired two years ago.) ::hangs head in shame::
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy recently posted..Being sickies gives me the perfect excuse to shop.
Yikes! It might be time to have a fridge cleaning expedition.
Hi Glen,
Yes, the coupon system is still very much in especially online coupons. This is so far the most convenient mode. My suggestion is for consumers to read the details carefully before getting or using these coupons.
Great advice David.
I agree, coupons by far save you tons of money. I tend to go with online coupons as its more click n print rather than have to actually cut out coupons from a magazine or newspaper. Whatever works for you!