Where to Find Coupons for Groceries
Get a Printable Grocery Coupon, Opt for Coupon Trading or Clipping
Nov 6, 2009
When economic times get tough, many consumers seek out easy ways to save money. Using coupons for groceries is one very easy way to reduce grocery bills by 30% or more!
But where do you find grocery coupons? There are many different sources for food coupons and serious bargain hunters typically use a combination of clipped coupons and printable grocery coupons.
Before seeking out grocery coupons, the first step is to write out a grocery list. As bargain hunters find a coupon (or sale) for a particular product, a star or other symbol should be placed beside that item on the grocery list.
Clipping Grocery Coupons From the Newspaper and Circulars
Major newspapers will include a massive batch of coupon inserts at least once a week. The Sunday edition is a popular day to find clippable grocery coupons in the newspaper. For newspapers that publish Monday through Friday, coupon inserts are often found in the Thursday edition.
Many stores also issue circulars, with grocery coupons and/or sale information. To maximize savings, take advantage of the price matching guarantees that are offered by most stores. Clip sale information for a particular product from another store's circular and present it like a coupon at the register of a store that offers price matching. This enables bargain hunters to save money, time and gas by getting the sale price (often as good or better than a coupon) that's offered at another store.
Finding and Using Printable Coupons for Groceries
There are many printable coupon websites that offer grocery coupons, including Coupons.com, CouponMountain.com, CouponCabin.com and PPGazzette.com. Before each shopping trip, bargain hunters can compile a list and visit a few grocery coupon websites to print coupons for items that will be purchased.
Manufacturer or product websites are a great source of printable grocery coupons and coupons for other household items, like laundry detergents and household cleaners. Visiting individual manufacturer websites (i.e. the Proctor and Gamble website — PG.com — for coupons for Tide, Pampers, Iams and Duracell, among others) or product websites (i.e. Swiffer.com for Swiffer coupons) does take more time than visiting a grocery coupon website, so it's best to visit printable coupon websites first, before checking individual product/manufacturer sites.
It's important to remember that not all stores accept printable coupons for groceries and other items. This is primarily due to problems with coupon counterfeiting. So before a bargain hunter spends time searching for printable grocery coupons online, it's important to determine whether a particular store will accept printed coupons with a simple call to the store. Each individual store has its own policy on whether they'll accept printable grocery coupons, so if one Wal-Mart won't accept them, it's possible that a different Wal-Mart store across town has a more favorable policy.
Trade Coupons With a Coupon Trading Club or Coupon Trading Forum
A group of stay-at-home moms, friends, co-workers and family members can arrange a regular coupon trading club. Each participant should bring along grocery coupons for products they don't intend to purchase. Those coupons can then be exchanged and bartered.
A coupon trading club also serves as a great opportunity to share great coupon finds and to exchange other money saving tips. Coupon trading club participants can also share information on the latest sales at area stores.
For those who don't have time to take part in a coupon club meeting, coupon trading forums may be a good solution. Popular coupon trading forums include CouponForum.com and the CouponMom.com forum.
Grocery Coupon Auctions Online
eBay and other online auction sites offer a wide array of coupon auctions. Coupon auctions are typically held for batches of similar coupons (i.e. a batch of baby product coupons, comprised of baby formula, baby food and diaper coupons).
In addition to getting food coupons and manufacturer's coupons for grocery store items like cleaners, it's also possible to find some high-value coupons for larger purchases (i.e. Dell coupons or coupons for a home improvement store), so bargain hunters should regularly monitor the available coupon auctions. But it's essential to remember the value of the coupons and shipping costs when bidding!
More Tips for Saving Money with Coupons for Groceries
To maximize savings with grocery coupons, it's also key to find a store that will accept competitors' coupons. This provides the bargain hunter with many additional outlets for clippable grocery coupons; instead of clipping coupons from one store's circular, consumers can clip coupons from three or four stores' circulars.
In addition, some stores will double or triple coupons (i.e. a coupon worth $1.00 will be worth $2.00 if it's doubled or $3.00 if it's tripled). Some stores will double competitors' coupons; while other stores will double/triple coupons on a certain day of the week or month. So planning grocery shopping trips on a certain day of the week may enable bargain hunters to double or triple their savings with grocery coupons.
There are many sources of manufacturer's coupons for food, cleaners, paper products, baby items, pet supplies and other items that are typically purchased at the grocery store. The key is knowing where to look!
Related Articles on Clippable and Printable Coupons
Bargain hunters may also enjoy learning about Where to Find KFC Coupons, McDonald's Coupons and Other Coupons for Fast Food.
Readers may also enjoy reading about Febreze and Glade Coupons, along with Tide, Clorox Coupons and Other Laundry Product Coupons
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