Many people do not want to mess with clipping coupons because they don’t believe the savings is worth the time it takes to cut out and organize the coupons. I tend to agree with them but I still use coupons because I use them in a way that takes little time to clip and organize yet provides big savings.
The resource I use to make clipping coupons easy is MoneySavingMom.com. If you go to her site you will see a widget with a list of stores in the right sidebar. If you click on your local store it will go to a post matching up coupons to the current sale at that particular grocery chain. To make things even easier the post will usually include links to printable coupons and e-coupons. This makes using coupons easy because you only “clip” the coupons that match a sale and you know you will use. I don’t usually bother with cutting coupons out of the paper anymore because it is easier to just use the printable and e-coupons.
There are several sites on the web where you can get printable coupons. I try to get mine through my MyPoints account since I receive a few points for using the coupons I print from there in addition to getting the coupon savings. A few sites to get coupons online are Coupons.com, Redplum.com, and Smartsource.com. You can get e-coupons at Cellfire.com and possibly at your local grocer’s website as well.
If you have a local grocery store that doubles coupons then you can get some really great deals. Last week I was able to get cereal, Chex Mix, and Hamburger Helper for 49 cents each. It is true that most coupons are for processed foods but since I would eat these foods whether I was using coupons or not it doesn’t have any effect on my diet. And these foods are probably still better than the fast food I eat most days. You can still use coupons to eat healthy you just won’t be using nearly as many coupons.
If you are interested in using coupons I suggest you check out the MoneySavingMom website and see how the deals work for you.
I use CouponMom.com too. Although I do get frustrated with the format and downloads (i.e. the coupon printer) sometimes, it really is the best site I’ve been able to find.
I’m a coupon mom myself! The key to making money is SAVING money!
I like to use coupons. Once I found a coupon in a newspaper page blowing down the street… while I was on the way to the store to buy the item discounted in that coupon!
But. I have a real aversion to any coupon website that requires a download to print coupons. It is WAY too insecure. When you download a program and install it, the program can do just about anything it wants with your computer or your information.
Don’t believe them that they say it is needed. It is not. There are plenty of places you can just go to a web page, see a coupon, and print the page. No downloading and installing programs.
You have been warned.
A great way to clip coupons is to use a coupon database. I actually have Money Saving Mom’s database installed on my site. So, when you come across an item that does not have a printable coupon (or you are out of ink), you just enter it into the database and it tells you which newspaper insert the coupon is in.
So no more cutting a ton of coupons that you never use. Just do a quick search and only cut the one you want, right before you shop.
Thanks for all the good advice on clipping coupons.