8 Steps to Be a Savvy Couponer

Stick to Your Usual Shopping Habits

Coupons don’t actually save you money if you’re buying a product you wouldn’t normally buy or are buying a higher quantity than you will ever use before the item expires. Also make sure to check generic and other brands to see if they are still cheaper than the product you are buying with a coupon! A coupon that saves you 30¢ isn’t much good if the item is still 40¢ more expensive than the store brand.

Shop at Stores that Double Coupons

You can save big (twice as much, in fact) if you shop at a grocery store that doubles coupons—that is, offers you one dollar off for using a 50¢-off coupon. Unfortunately, these stores are few and far between in most states. Visit Couponing.about.com/od/groceryzone/a/doublecoupons.htm for a reader-generated list of stores that double. And if you find one, consider yourself lucky!

Myth Buster

If you’ve ever seen the common limitation “limit one per purchase” on a coupon, you may have thought that you could only use one of these coupons during a shopping trip. But that isn’t true! The limitation actually means that you can only use one of these coupons per item, not per trip. For example, if you’re buying five tubes of toothpaste and you have five identical coupons, you can use all of them. This is important to keep in mind if you find a great deal on a item you buy regularly. Get a second newspaper or have a friend save theirs, and you can now get double the discount! Then stockpile your items and save.

Print Double Coupons

If you print out coupons from sites like Coupons.com, here’s a secret you’ll want to know: You can print out just about all internet coupons two times from each computer. Just click your internet browser’s “Back” button, or go back to the site’s homepage and search for the coupon again. If you have more than one computer in your home, you can print two more coupons from that computer!

Trial-Sized Treasures

If you’re used to checking the “unit” prices of items at the grocery store, you know that buying the bigger size almost always means a better value. But when you have coupons,...

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