Coupon Basics
The general rules of how to save money using coupons:
1. Where to find coupons (these are the major sources, though there are others):
a. Sunday Paper
b. Printable internet coupons – Make sure these are accepted where you shop. Not all stores will accept them.
c. Sign up at websites like CVS.com and RiteAid.com. RiteAid offers a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon when you sign up, and CVS often sends coupons for four or five dollars off of a twenty-five or thirty dollar purchase to be used within three or four days.
d. Tear-pads and Blinkys – These are the coupons you find in the store aisles. Remember, these are normal manufacturer’s coupons. You can take a couple of extras and use them later. Just make sure you leave some for everyone else!
e. Free samples – when you sign up for free samples, you’ll almost always get a coupon along with them so you can buy more.
2. When to use coupons:
a. Always try to pair a coupon with a sale.
b. Often there is a good sale (or multiple good sales) on an item the week that the coupon is in the Sunday paper.
c. Use your coupons almost everywhere you shop, including the grocery store, drug store, and even wholesale clubs.
3. Which coupons to cut out:
In order to save the most money, cut out any coupon that your would even consider using if the right sale came along. That involves a little extra time, but it will mean that you won’t have “coupon regret” if a great sale comes up and you didn’t cut out the coupon. So be sure to cut out that $4 Schick coupon this week even if you usually use Gillette!
4. Where to use coupons:
a. Grocery Store – This is the most obvious place to use them. Check whether your grocery store doubles coupons under 99 cents.
b. Drug Stores – In the Northeast, the “Big Three” of Drug stores are CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens. Each have their own rules. Most don’t double coupons, but you can often pair a great sale with a coupon at Drug stores to get things for free or almost free.
c. Wholesale Clubs – Don’t forget that you can use coupons there, and you can even use multiple coupons per package as long as the items within the package can be sold separately. (In other words, you can use two coupons on two jars of peanut butter packaged together, but not on a single box of cereal that has two bags in it.)
