Frugal Coupon Living – Effective Coupon Strategy

Effective Coupon Strategy
Frugal coupon living is all about maximizing the coupons to save money.

The trick is to get double, sometimes triple discounts on the same item, by matching the items already on sale with the coupons.

What most people don’t know is that when the large companies start pushing certain product, it is usually done in two waves.

Initially – they’ll put out coupons to start bumping up sales. Later on in the promotion campaign, any time between 3-4 weeks later, they’ll move onto sale prices.

There are two reasons for this.

1. They’d rather have a steady and long boost in sells rather then a spike.
2. People who bought the product with coupons and liked it would probably buy it again on their next month’s shopping trip if it’s on sale.

Your smart coupon strategy should be to keep the coupons. Don’t use them immediately. Keep them instead and wait for the products to come on sale.
Only then take the coupons out and use them.

What I do is this:

• I take out the inserts from the Sunday paper and keep them.
• During the weekend, while having my coffee I leaf thru them and clip out grocery coupons or food coupons for all of the products I usually buy, regardless whether they’re on my shopping list for this week or not.
• I organize them in a small coupon organizer according to product type.
• I wait for a double-coupon day/week (not a must, but it improves the savings)
• Before going to the store I leaf through my wad of coupons to remind myself what I have (most of them have been clipped 3 weeks ago)
• Entering the store I look for sales and try to match them with my coupons.

Magically, most of the 3-4 week old coupons sync up very well with stuff that’s already on sale on the shelves.

Sale price combined with coupons gets you products for less than half the usual price. And on double-coupon day/week you practically get items for next to nothing.

Interested? Want to get groceries for free as well?
Then you should certainly read our sister site Grocery Coupons Guide because there’s much more to it.

Keep Your Coupons Organized
If you’re trying to implement the effective coupon strategy mentioned above, sooner than you think you’ll find yourself with a big wad of coupons. Trying to find the right coupon you’ve been saving for 4 weeks can be really frustrating and time consuming.

For true frugal coupon living, invest as little as $4 in a coupon organizer. There are hundreds of such products available. Find the right one for you and it will save you time and money.

Should a Frugal Person Bother Himself with Coupons?
It is true that many of the cost-effective coupons are often for processed products, junk food and TV dinners, things which frugal person don’t buy anyway. So why bother?

It is also true however, that you can find 3 to 4 cost effective food coupons for basic products or grocery coupons for cleaning items in your Sunday paper insert. Combined with double couponing or store sale – coupon clipping becomes a worthwhile frugal coupon living activity.

Keep the Coupons Clipped to the Grocery List
Finding at the check-out counter that you forgot the coupon envelop at home can be really frustrating. Keep them clipped to your grocery list, and don’t put it away until your out of the store.

Let Someone Else Do Your Clipping
If you don’t have the time or the energy to leaf through the endless amount of paper insets and store magazines – hire a coupon broker to do it for you for a tiny fee.

Coupon Clipping Services have all the coupons found in the Sunday paper inserts. Coupons usually cost 10% of their face value.

While assembling your grocery list for next week, log into your favorite coupon clipping service and search for relevant coupons according to product type or brand. This is it. A few days later an envelop arrives with all of the coupons you ordered.

All that’s left for you is to head to the store and use them.  Frugal coupon living made simple!

Where to Find the Best Coupons
The best source for coupons is the Sunday paper inserts. As much as 100 food coupons and grocery coupons are stuffed in the three inserts most Sunday papers has(SmartSource, RedPlum and P&G). You can use this Sunday coupon inserts schedule to plan ahead your savings (or this one if you prefer).

Most of the cost-effective coupons are the small ones, those without glitzy graphics, so you’ll have to read the fine print.

If you find a high-value coupon, get a few copies of the insert from a friend, neighbor or family.

As mentioned before, you can also buy coupons for a tiny fee. There are many available services on the net.

eBay is another good example to coupon trading. Like the coupon brokers, you can search and purchase the coupons you need for very little.

Actually, consider becoming a seller yourself. Sell your Sunday paper coupons you don’t use to others.

You can augment your clipped coupons with online Coupons. Many sites offer grocery coupons to print, along with coupons for other categories such as apparel, utilities, households etc. All of then let you select the coupons that you need and print them on your printer. Here is a list of the Leading Grocery Coupon Websites, all of which contributed by our readers.

Lastly, if you have some frugal coupon living tips that you’d like to share or questions you’d like to ask, please use our friendly Coupon Forum to find all the support you need.