Saving

During these tough economic times, many moms are searching desperately to come up with creative ways to reduce their household expenses and using coupons might just fit the bill to help save.

Extreme couponing shows are where stay at home moms are featured getting a massive amount of products for free or almost free.  First off, these moms are spending an enormous amount of time scoping out manufacturer coupons online, looking through several store flyers, visiting the stores, writing down what they find as they go down the aisles. They then go back to the stores over the next couple of days to grab their stash. They have traded their hours for the job title of an “extreme couponer”.  Most moms don’t have as much time as they do to get the deals by couponing. Does it mean that moms who are not extreme couponers should just give up? Of course not. They can still save and slash their grocery bills by collecting coupons and using them.

Double Coupons

Double coupons are born when a customer redeems a typical grocery coupon for twice its value during a double coupon promotion. A bit of patience and attention is necessary in order to observe when local stores are running double (or even triple) coupon promotions.  A shopper can help save a lot of money on products used the most. They can even use this technique to obtain many items for free. For example, if an item that usually costs $4.00 is on sale for half-price, using a $1.00 off coupon on double coupon day, will cost nothing!

Coupon Stacking

Coupon stacking is the method of “stacking” or combining the savings offered by the manufacturer of a product with in-store sales or coupons and buy-one-get-one specials to increase savings.

Coupon Match Ups

The art of coupon match ups is when a shopper can “match up” drug store or grocery coupons with a sale on a particular item with that specific retailer.

Newspapers, circulars and Valpaks are not the only source for free coupons. A shopper can also access a coupon database through the computer to obtain printable coupons for deals on specific items that are offered by both manufacturers and retailers. They can use the printable coupons for coupon stacking and matchups to save on their weekly grocery bill.

Extreme Couponing

Extreme couponing is used by the more avid and experienced coupon shopper to take the potential savings processes of coupon ingenuity (coupon stacking, coupon matchups, use of a coupon database and printable coupons) to an art form. An extreme coupon shopper uses all of the saving techniques of coupon shopping to stock large quantities of products at home for literally pennies on the dollar. Of course, the ultimate goal of the extreme couponing enthusiast is to obtain the product for FREE!

How to Save with Coupons

With a combination of these coupon techniques and a bit of practice and experience, any mom can become a coupon using, money saving aficionado. She can use the internet, read the “how to” articles on couponing websites, ask questions and follow the advice offered by the growing number of coupon experts who have honed the art. As a coupon saving mom watches her pantry fill up and her grocery bill shrink, the mundane act of going to the grocery store may become an exciting challenge to look forward to rather than a wallet crunching dreaded chore.