Coupons, Promo Code, Coupon and Discounts

Saving Money on Groceries — Even Without Coupons

by MMarquit · 0 comments

Of course, when you can, you should use coupons when you go grocery shopping. But you don’t need coupons to trim your grocery bill. You can save money on groceries even without clipping coupons if you take the time to study your spending behaviors, and change the way you do things when you go to the store. Here are some ways that you can cut your grocery bill:

Don’t shop hungry: Plan your trip to the store for after you have eaten. If you are grabbing a few things on the way home from work, just grab those few things that you need. Plan on a specific time that you can go — after lunch sometime, or even after dinner. My husband and I go first thing Saturday morning, after breakfast, and before the crowds are really out there.
Make a list and stick to it: Throughout the week, make notes of what you need. We have a list on the kitchen counter that we add to. Then, the night before we go shopping, we do a look through of the pantry, cupboards and fridge to see if we need more of anything else. This ensures that we get what need, and provides a guide for us while shopping. Of course, the key to this tip is sticking only to what is on the list, limiting your impulse buys. (We add a treat or two to the list, and those are the treats we get for the week.)
Resist the temptation to grab things at checkout: 30% of our purchases are impulse buys. Resist the urge to add things to your bill at the last minute. Nail clippers, lip balm, candy bars and magazines are all at the checkout to tempt you. It takes some practice and discipline, but try to avoid grabbing things at checkout. Instead, plan your purchases around what you need.
Avoid buying non-food items at the grocery: You’d be surprised at how non-food items can add to your grocery bill. Before you purchase toilet paper, shamp00 and stationary at the grocery store, check other stores. You are likely to find that non-food items cost more at grocery stores. So do your shopping at two separate stores, getting non-food items on discount elsewhere. The only exception is when there is a legitimate sale or special at the grocery.
Double check the unit price: We have been conditioned, to some degree, to believe that the bigger package is cheaper per ounce. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Double check unit prices. I was surprised to find that the half-pint containers of heavy cream actually cost less than the pint containers, per ounce, at my local grocery. If your store doesn’t offer a per unit price on the tag, carry a small calculator in your purse to perform the simple calculation yourself.
Avoid wasting food at home: You can reduce your grocery bill by the habits you follow at home. If you eat what you buy, rather than throwing it out, you are likely to save more, since you won’t be buying more food to replace what you throw out. Plan meals ahead of time, and incorporate leftovers into your planning. Most of our meals are designed to last two nights, and many of them also provide me with the lunch on the third day. If you don’t like eating the same thing two days in a row, you can freeze leftovers and then warm them up for dinner in a couple of weeks. My mother planned out meals a month at a time (leaving a few days open for flexibility) so that it was easier to see where frozen leftovers could be worked in.

In the end, you can save a great deal of money by altering your poor spending habits. And, of course if you use coupons on top of these savings tips, you will boost your savings.

Key to Effective Couponing: Combining Offers

by MMarquit · 0 comments

One of the main complaints that many have with regard to using coupons is the fact that you only save a little bit here and there. It’s hard to see the benefit in savings $0.50 or even as much as a $1.00 on three or four items when your total grocery bill runs into the $100 range. Even if you manage to get enough coupons that you save $5 a week, that’s “only” $260 a year. While that money could certainly be useful in a good savings account or investment, or could be used for other things that you might need (one month of heating in the winter, maybe), it doesn’t seem like a whole lot for the work it takes to clip coupons.

This is because the real trick to effective coupon use is not in clipping a few coupons every now and then, and bringing them to the store. The real key is combining offers. Here are some ways that you can use the concept of combining offers to help boost your coupon savings:

Store coupons + manufacturer coupons: Many stores will accept a manufacturer coupon on top of store coupons. Check to see what special coupons your favorite grocery is offering. Then go online look to see whether the manufacturer has any coupons as well. You can bring in both coupons, and increase your savings on that item. Just make sure that the store policy allows you to bring in double coupons.
Sales + coupons: Another way to combine offers is to bring in coupons on sale items. Check store circulars on sales (many of them come in the mail, free to you) and then see if you can find coupons on sale items that you want. Look locally, but also go online. You can really hit the jackpot if you have a store coupon, a manufacturer coupon, and a sale item.
Offers from other stores: Find out your favorite store’s policy on coupons from competitors. Many stores will accept competitor coupons, just to keep your businesses at their location. Other stores will actually double the value of coupons from other stores, so if you bring in a $0.75 off coupon from a competitor, the store will double the value, and give you $1.50 off. Along these same lines, it is possible to find stores that will match the lowest advertised price — and then take 5% or 10% off that. A competitor’s advertisement can become a coupon of sorts.
Expired coupons: Some stores will still accept coupons, even when they are expired. These stores are few and far between, but you don’t lose anything by calling up the store manager and asking for the policy on expired coupons. And if the store does accept expired coupons, you can use them more strategically when items come on sale, or when you see a manufacturer’s coupon.

In the end, you have to do some serious planning in order to save a great deal of money using coupons. If all you do is clip the occasional coupon and save $2.00 a week, you will be hard-pressed to see the value in what you are doing. However, if you plan ahead, look for the deals, and get organized so that you can combine offers, you will find that the savings add up more than you believe.

History Of Coupons

by SGB · 1 comment

Have you ever thought about where coupons came from, or researched the history of coupons and how they relate to national and global commerce?

Well, one initial interesting statistic about coupons is that companies have been using coupons to market products to the masses for over 110 years.

Each and every day as we open up the newspaper, we are exposed to coupons. You know…the square and rectangular pieces of paper that show us how we can save money on products we normally buy in stores and on the internet.

Coupons have an interesting history dating back to the 1800’s.

Coca-Cola Paves The Way

In 1894 the Atlanta businessman and co-owner of Coca-Cola, Asa Chandler, wanted to use an innovative way to market his new drink that was never tried before.

With the goal of becoming a household name and selling a ton of product, he created hand written tickets for a free glass of Coca-Cola. He strategically placed them in magazines and even sent out direct mailers to potential interested buyers of the soft drink.

This innovative advertising worked as more than eight billion free Coca-Cola drinks were given out for free. The rest is history. To say this brand and product has become household name is an understatement as they still generate billions of dollars per year selling this drink we all know and love.

Bring On The Grape Nuts

After the wildly successful campaign pioneered by Coca-Cola starting in 1894, in the year 1909, exactly 15 years later, a man by the name of C.W. Post decided to leverage the use of coupons to increase his sales of Grape Nuts cereal.

As we all know, Grape Nuts can still be found in the cereal isle of most grocery stores!

C.W. Post began his campaign by giving people who used the coupon a one cent discount off of his cereal. One cent may not seem a lot, but in 2010 dollars and cents that was about a 24-25 cent discount on his products if we fast forwarded time to today’s current economy.

This was the beginning of businesses really starting to use and leverage this creative form of advertising that put Coca-Cola and Grape Nuts on the map.

The Great Depression Hits

In the 1930’s the great depression hit America, when saving money on goods and services became a necessity to survive if you wanted to eat somewhat decently. As everyone had lost their fortunes betting on the hopes and dreams of the stock market, and while work was scarce, cutting coupons during the 30’s became commonplace.

This widespread behavior of clipping coupons in society ushered its way into the future, molding and adjusting to the times and many different technologies ahead.

From Neighborhood Grocery Stores To Massive Supermarket Chains

During the 1940’s after overcoming the depression in America, large scale supermarket chains began to adopt the use of coupons to increase sales in their stores. The transition from only having coupons available to local grocery stores to allowing large chain supermarkets to leverage this new marketing tactic as well was ground breaking.

Because supermarkets move a massive amount of volume, they could also leverage their ever-growing reach by using national newspaper and media to get these coupons in the hands of their customers.

By 1965 it is estimated that at least 50% of all Americans were using coupons in some form or another as saving money is and was something everyone was focusing on as time continued to pass.

The Internet Changes The Game

With the dawn of the internet the use and delivery of coupons changed yet again as people began to start shopping online to learn about products that they would buy offline in the local stores and malls that were close to them.

Around 1995 coupons started showing up on the internet for internet purchases, and offline purchases of goods and services. Companies used the internet to distribute coupons to those who were looking to save money, and gave customers the option to print out the coupons to bring into the store to redeem.

This was yet another amazing innovation in the use of coupons, and exciting for major supermarket chains and retailers as this new medium only brought more opportunity to everyone who was involved.

The Future Of Coupons

The future of coupons is somewhat uncertain. As newspapers continue to die, and more and more people flock to the internet for all of their news and content, one can only guess about what the future holds for companies who rely on coupons to get their message out to sell their products and services.

What do you think is in store for those companies who use coupons? Do you think their future is bright, or do you feel they will need to find other creative ways to get people to buy their products!?

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon

http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/articles/history/

http://www.ticketprinting.com/Article-2006-01-10.aspx

http://www.promotionalcodes.org.uk/the-history-of-coupons-and-promotional-codes/

Savings Tip: Buy Discounted Gift Cards

by MMarquit · 0 comments

My husband and I have recently gotten into buying discounted gift cards. For the most part, we buy gift certificates from local restaurants we like via CityDeals.com. Recently, we scored a $25 gift certificate to our favorite Filipino restaurant, but paid only $12.50 for it. We were able to get a second $25 certificate to the same restaurant for $15. This find is very exciting to us, since it means discounted meals at a place that we would patronize anyway. (Etiquette note: The tip amount should be figured on the original meal price, not what you pay after applying a gift certificate.)

Turns out there is a whole world of discounted gift cards out there. It is possible to purchase discounted gift cards for entertainment, travel, clothing, food and just about anything else you can think of. For the savvy shopper, discounted gift cards can help increase the cost-efficiency of purchases, including those made with coupons.

Where to find discounted gift cards

It may seem a bit a far-fetched to think that you could get a $20 gift card to Best Buy for only $11.50, but it is important to consider where these cards come from. There are two main sources of discounted gift cards:

Retailers themselves: Some retailers, like those at CityDeals, are looking for ways to lure more customers into their establishments. They know that if you have a gift certificate, you are likely to exceed the face value when you make purchases. Besides, if they can get new customers, there is a possibility that those customers will become repeat buyers.
Individuals looking to unload certificates: Instead of forcing themselves to buy stuff they don’t want or need at stores they don’t like, many gift card recipients go online and sell their cards at a discounted rate. They didn’t have to pay $50 for that gift card, and they can get $40 cash money for it. You get a 20% discount on whatever you buy with the card (assuming you don’t go over the value).

There are a number of places online that offer access to discounted gift cards, including eBay and Craigslist, as well as sites set up for gift card exchanges, like GiftCards.com, PlasticJungle.com and GiftCardsAgain.com. Also, check with your favorite stores; many of them occasionally offer 10% to 30% of gift card purchases. You can also get multi-packs of discounted gift cards at warehouse stores like Cosco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club. There are also aggregators like GiftCardGranny.com that list what’s available from multiple sites so that you don’t have to spend as much time hunting around.

Be careful

As always, you do need to be careful. When buying a gift card from an individual through an auction, you are buying at your own risk. Additionally, some gift cards come with fees and expiration dates. Double check policies and restrictions before purchasing a discounted gift card to make sure that it doesn’t arrive with reduced value due to inactivity fees, and a couple of weeks away from its expiration.

As long as you are careful about your discounted gift cards, you can save a great deal of money. Just remember that this is a money saving strategy, so any gift certificates you buy on discount should be to places you would frequent even if you didn’t have a gift card.

Top 6 Savings Mistakes

by MMarquit · 0 comments

Everyone knows that it’s important to save money. Indeed, the recent recession has driven that point home for most of us. However, sometimes we fail to save money as we should. Here are the top 6 savings mistakes that can derail progress to financial freedom:

1. Ignorance of Your Spending and Saving Habits

First of all, knowledge is key. If you don’t know how much money you have coming in, and where it is going when you spend it, you are making a mistake. In order to save money effectively, it is vital that you have a good idea of what money you have coming in, and that you keep track of your spending. That way, you can determine how much money you can set aside for savings, and set more realistic financial goals.

2. Failure to Change Your Spending Habits so You Can Save More

Just knowing what you are spending your money on is not enough. You also need to be willing to prioritize your expenses, and cut back on things that are not important. If you want to save more money, you need to modify your spending habits so that you have more money to set aside. Failure to move saving money to the top of your spending priorities list is a big money mistake that can cost you down the road.

3. Failure to Set a Specific Financial Goal

Many people just say that they want to save more money. They don’t have a target dollar amount for their emergency fund, and they don’t have a specific dollar amount in mind for retirement savings. This mistake can be costly, since it leaves you generally rudderless. Create a plan for your savings, and have a specific target. You need to be able to have a goal that you can break down and achieve. Plus, having a specific savings goal allows you to more accurately track your savings progress.

4. Buying Something Because It’s on Sale

We talk about “saving money” when we get a good deal on something, or get something because it’s on sale. But are you really saving? Spending money is still spending money. If you are buying something because you think it is a bargain and you might want or need it for some mostly unknown reason in the future, you aren’t really saving. Only buy something on sale if you had planned on it. Don’t get something just because you “can’t beat the price.” This goes for using coupons as well. Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon.

5. Failure to Take Advantage of Free Money

A company match for retirement plans is one of the best ways to save money. This is because you are actually offered free money. Whenever possible, you should take advantage of a company match. Also in this category are the bonuses offered by many banks these days when you open savings accounts and other types of accounts. ING regularly runs promotions where you can get a bonus for opening an account. Other banks offer these bonuses as well. Look for ways to boost your savings with free money.

6. Cashing Out Your Company Retirement Plan

When they leave a job, many people cash out their retirement plans. However, that results in a tax hit, as well as a possible penalty. Instead of cashing out a retirement plan, roll it into an IRA, or roll it into the plan offered by your new employer.

Bottom line: You need to have a plan to save money. Without a plan, you are likely to waste more money, and you can slow your progress to financial freedom.

Use Your Coupons More Effectively

by MMarquit · 4 comments

You know that coupons can help you save money when you go to the store. But many people find that they are only getting a dollar or two off their entire order. Sure, every little bit helps, but it can be discouraging to see a bill of $95 reduced to only $90 after you’re done with coupons. The good news is that there are ways to use your coupons more effectively. Here are some tips for maximizing your coupon use:

Make a shopping list first: Before you even look at your coupons, make a shopping list. Figure out what you need, from food to toiletries to household items. Then only get coupons for what you need. Don’t buy something you don’t need just because you have a coupon. That’s a good way to spend more money than you need to.
Be flexible about brands: You don’t have to get the same brand of paper towels every time. Get a different brand if that’s what the coupon is for.
Shop strategically: Consider what’s on sale. If you have a coupon for a sale item, even better! Also, consider your supplies. While having a stockpile of items you need is a good idea, don’t get too carried away. Buying more of something when you already have an ample supply can be money draining.
Pay attention to sale cycles: This goes along with shopping strategically. Sales on certain items go in cycles. Plan ahead so that you know when sales are likely to be, and, if you can save your coupons for that time to get the best bang for your buck.
Remember that the best deals are on household items: Buying a bunch of junk food because it’s on sale is a good way to pay more in health care costs down the road. Instead, focus on the savings you can get on bulk sales combined with coupons for household items. The money you save can be used to purchase fruits and vegetables, and other healthier food choices.
Organize your coupons: You can buy coupon organizers for a small amount of money. Take a few minutes each week to examine your shopping list, and your coupons and get rid of the expired coupons. Then put the organizer in your car so that you can take it with you.
Combine couponing with savings cards: If you frequent a store enough to warrant a discount card, make use of it. You can get special savings, and discounts for your coupons. Sign up for programs that send you extra coupons in the mail. This can give you an extra savings boost.
Look online: You probably know that there are a ton of places where you can get online coupons. After you’ve made your list, go to your favorite two or three online coupon places and see if you can find coupons for those items. Then, combine those coupons with what you have already in coupons.

Before you get too excited, though, make sure that you understand the store’s coupon policy. Some won’t take double coupons, and others won’t take online coupons. Make sure you understand how it works so that you don’t get caught at checkout.

It may take a little practice before you get it all down. But there are those who manage to save up to 50% or more on their shopping each week, just by maximizing the efficiency of their coupons. It requires a little sacrifice of time, and some planning, but it can be done.

The Crazy Coupon Lady Who Saves Big Money On Food Costs

by SGB · 0 comments

With the recession in full swing, everyone is trying to find ways to trim their budgets and save more money. As food and gas prices continue to escalate, and unemployment stays hovering around 9-10%, now more than ever Americans are looking for more creative ways to get more for their dollar to survive this economic storm.

Take the “Coupon Lady” in this video for instance. In this video she buys $116 worth of groceries but only pays $6.80 using the myriad of coupons she cuts and saves over a long period of time. This is flat our remarkable and is definitely something that may motivate you to start paying more attention to the coupons that you receive in the mail and the newspaper every so often, so you can save the kind of money she does on your next grocery bill!

As we know, a dollar here and a dollar there eventually adds up to a lot of dollars!

The Top 27 Places Online To Find The Best Coupons

by SGB · 0 comments

When dealing with the recession that we are currently experiencing, finding the best places to save money in our lives is something that is relatively high on everyone’s priority list. No matter what, we all can agree that there is no possible way to stop spending money, but thankfully there is a way to save more of your money by using coupons that retailers and manufactures offer us throughout the year on the web.

Below is a list of the 27 best places you can visit online to find the best coupons that will help you save money!