Coupons 101: Using Them Effectively to Get Cheap Deals

Clipping grocery store coupons = sexy.

Before we start this basic lesson about grocery store coupons, let’s just get one thing straight: clipping  grocery store coupons is cool. Clipping coupons is sexy. So what if the target market for Sunday grocery store coupons is a 65-year-old woman who wears comfort slacks? Saving money never goes out of style — and neither does clipping grocery store coupons.

If you live in Brooklyn, like we do, you receive little plastic bags full of local store circulars and grocery store coupons every week. Most people leave these to get soggy when it rains, then throw them in the trash — or (hopefully) toss them into the recycling bin. You, the Cheapo, should immediately pick up these grocery store coupons for cheap bargains.

Save money using grocery store coupons effectively. It’s easy! Just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Clip grocery store coupons from your local newspapers and Sunday supplements for the products you’ll actually use. The best coupons are for grocery, personal care and household items. If you’re never going to wear comfort slacks, don’t bother with the coupon.

Step 2: Many advertising supplements in your Sunday paper include fliers from grocery stores or drugstores. Cross-check your coupons against the fliers. Are there any coinciding sales? For example, you might clip a coupon for Revlon cosmetics, then find a flier from Walgreens advertising a sale on Revlon products. Using coupons while an item is on sale. This combination approach will save a lot more cash than if you use the coupon alone.

Step 3: If you don’t find any corresponding sales, consider waiting for sales to occur. Many stores rotate their sale brands every few weeks.

Step 4: Here’s where your junior-high school math skills come into play. Head out to the local stores with your grocery store coupons, locate each item in the store, and note the price of the item. Calculate how much the item will cost with the coupon’s discount. (You might want to take a calculator with you; experienced Cheapos will be able to do this step in their heads.)

Step 6: Scan the shelves next to the item to see if any other brands — with the same net weight — are less expensive than the total cost of the item plus coupon. If so, it’s a better idea to buy the cheaper item and save the coupon for another shopping trip. Even grocery store coupons combined with sales do not always guarantee the lowest priced product. Brand loyalty has no place in the lives of Cheapos!

Another (yes, slightly more complicated) method of discovering cheaper items involves the following steps. First, note the size of the item for which you have the coupon, then note its unit price. Let’s say it’s a 64 oz. jar of pasta sauce* for 10 cents per ounce, or $6.40. Then, evaluate other 64 oz. jars of pasta sauce from different brands, and note their unit prices. Find the cheapest — let’s say it’s 8 cents per ounce, or $5.12. Now check your grocery store coupons. Is your coupon’s discount MORE than the difference ($1.28)? If so, buy the product with the coupon. If NOT, buy the product with the cheaper unit price.

*NOTE: Cheapos should be cooking homemade pasta sauce, but that’s a story for another blog post. This is just a lesson about grocery store coupons. No need to blow your mind all at once.