How to Save Money with Coupons

Clipping coupons can trim your grocery bills if you have the time, discipline and patience. Keep track of the money you save, then reward yourself every now and then. You deserve it!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Set up an easy-to-use system to organize your coupons. Keep it near your car keys as a handy reminder before you go shopping.
2. Scour newspapers, magazines, coupon mailers, food packaging, grocery store receipts and the Internet for coupons.
3. Clip coupons only for products you'd buy anyhow (see How to Be a Savvy Consumer). Don't let irresistible savings dupe you into buying items you don't need.
4. Know prices. Brand-name products with coupons often cost more than generics without coupons.
5. Look for hidden costs. A $3 pizza coupon may not seem as good a deal after you figure in the tip for the delivery guy.
6. Find out if your grocery store will match manufacturers' coupons to double your savings. Many stores will.
7. Look to layer savings. If a store is offering a coupon on an item and you also have a manufacturer's coupon, use both.
8. Join grocery store savings clubs and use manufacturers' coupons on club sale items.

What to Look For:

• Newspaper and magazine inserts
• Manufacturers' coupons
• Savings clubs

Tips & Warnings

• A Web search for "coupons" will yield thousands of hits, so make your search as specific as possible.
• Coupons, like produce, are perishable. Use them before they expire.