Coupons Part 4: Practical Ways to Apply

Buy a Sunday paper (during a non-holiday weekend). That's a great way to start. Pull out the coupon inserts and start looking through them. You don't have to cut every coupon you come across, just keep the ones for products you know you need or buy often. Put them away in an envelope.

Now here's the hard part.

Wait.

Yep, wait. Wait until the product goes on sale at your grocery store. Whether it is Publix or Kroger, the product will likely go on sale before the coupon expires. Check you grocery store's local ad, online or in store, and see where you can save.

If you want to expend even less energy, let Southern Savers do the investigative work. Simply keep coupon inserts saved away and check the website. As explained earlier, the website will tell you what coupon insert has the coupons you need for a great deal in your chosen grocery store.

It may sound complicated, but once you get into the practice of it, it becomes easier.

If you are ready to take it to the next level, here's how I gain multiple coupons: On occasion, we will use Coupon Clippers to purchase coupons. The same Smart Balance coupon mentioned in the previous post sells for 15 cents. The site requires a minimum of $3 in coupons and charges a 50 cents fee, plus 44 cents shipping. Unless there are multiple coupons I want or multiples of a specific coupon (Ronzoni pasta $1 off which commonly sales for 50 cent-$1 when on sale), I don't use that site. Most of the pasta we have we actually received credit towards the balance. I may have paid $4 for the coupons (20x.12, 60 cents for others and fees), but for each box of pasta (50 cents at Kroger), I applied the other 50 cents towards other groceries, so I actually made about 30 cents on each coupon that I bought.

Here is a list of some of the deals we've gotten since we started this series:

Kraft homestyle maccaroni: Regular price 2.59; our price 30 cents

Tyson frozen chicken nugget appetizer: Regular price 5.99; our price 99 cents

John Freida root awakening shampoo or conditioner: Regular price 2.99; our price: FREE

Tampax Pearl x 2 + Crest toothpaste: Regular price: 8.48; our price profit 52 cents

YoPlus 4 pack: Regular 1.99; our price FREE

Voskos greek yogurt: Regular 1.49/ea.; our price 15 cents

Smart balance milk (1/2 gallon): Regular 3.69; our price 69 cents

Tostitos scoops (family size): Regular 4.99; our price 49 cents

Kraft shredded cheese: Regular price 3.49; our price 67 cents

Splenda (200 pk): Regular 4.35; our price 17 cents

Honey nut cheerios: Regular 4.09; our price $1

Dove soap (6 pk): Regular 6.99; our price $1.49

Caribou coffee: Regular 8.99; our price $2.99

Aquafresh Xtreme: Regular 3.99; our price 59 cents

Blue Bell ice cream: Regular 5.99; our price $2.39

Snuggle: Regular 4.99; our price FREE

Whether you want to just clip a few or fill up an entire book with coupons, it's a great way to save some money. We hope this series has helped encourage you to give it a try.