Coupons

When I say coupons, you might have a picture of your granny with curlers in her hair at the kitchen table. Let me tell you, coupons are not a thing of the past. The age of internet coupons is alive and well, and here to stay. You might have to cut and paste rather than clip it out of the newspaper, but the savings are there to be had.

Personally I don’t do any shopping online without searching for a coupon. Generally this will get me free shipping, $10 bucks off, you name it. In my book it is worth a 5% – 20% discount on everything I buy online to do a quick google search.

Here are some principles and tips to keep in mind when shopping for coupons:

• Terminology matters. Search for coupons according to the terminology listed on the site. For example, use the name of the company as well as the same terminology they do, i.e. web code, key code, coupon code, discount code, promotion code. If you use the same terminology that they do it is easier to find the right discounts.
• Compare what will save you the most. i.e. look at whether you will save more from free shipping, 10% off, or $10 off, depending on what you are buying.
• Here are some of the sites that I’ve used: Coupons.com, Couponcraze.com, Couponcabin.com, supercoolcoupons.com Though I often just do a new google search each time rather than going to a certain site. Normally I can remember if a site doesn’t have active codes or hasn’t been reliable in the past.
• Obviously, don’t by more stuff just because you have a coupon. $1 of twinkies is no reason to buy twinkies. For that matter, free twinkies is no reason to buy twinkies.
• Buying more to save more is generally not in your best interest. Sometimes I will do this if it makes a big difference. For example I was buying a gift online and if I spent $5 more I got free shipping, which was valued at $15. So, by finding something on sale for $20 I was able to find get this for just $5. This was also something I needed and wanted, and was originally closer to $50, so it was worth spending five bucks more and overall a win-win situation.
• Pay attention to good deals out there. For example, coupons at Bed, Bath & Beyond never expire (even if they show and expiration date they will always honor them). So if I need to buy something at BBB I just bring along a stack of coupons that I’ve saved, and generally save at least $5 – $20 on something I was already having to buy.
• Saving extra money adds up over time, so everything counts. In addition to saving money, spending less also directly helps the bottom line.

Readers: If you have savings tips you’d like to add we’d love to hear your comments on where you go to find the best coupons.

Cheers,

Miel