Couponing Options

There are compulsive couponers who save $100’s a week, but spend hours and hours in the process.  And there are those who clip the occasional coupon when they see something they know they buy.  I’m going to assume you are probably somewhere in-between — wanting to maximize your savings, but with other things to do besides inventory coupons.  (If couponing is your hobby and you enjoy spending a bit more time on it, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, as long as it doesn’t reach the point of obsession.  But most of us will want to find a middle ground.)

So let’s talk about how to get the most out of your coupons, regardless of how many of them you’re using.

Sale Cycles

Most items that go on sale do so in cycles of approximately 12 weeks/3 months.  (Unless they’re seasonal, in which case they go on sale seasonally.)  This is not an exact science, just a general rule.  But a “sale” price may not truly be a sale price.  If you watch the prices on the items you purchase over the course of a few months, you’ll begin to see what is truly a “rock-bottom” price.  For instance, toilet paper may go on sale for $6.50 a package two or three times — but then go on sale for $5/package.  If you’re familiar with the sale cycle, you’ll know to watch for the $5 before you stock up.  (This is, admittedly, a little trickier when prices are on the rise, as it can be hard to tell whether prices are up overall, or just not at rock bottom yet, but you’ll still get the general gist.)

Choose a Store

The specific week that something goes on sale may vary from store to store, but it will still more-or-less follow the same 3-month cycle.  So you don’t need to shop everywhere.   Maybe that toilet paper that’s on sale at Food Lion this week isn’t on sale at Kroger.  But it probably was within the last couple of weeks or will be within the next couple of weeks.  The significance of this is that you only need to choose one store at which to do all your sale shopping.  If you shop at the same place all the time, you will eventually hit every point in the sale cycle, regardless of what is or isn’t on sale at any other store.  (On rare occasions, you might find an awesome deal on something specific and want to make a special stop.  But you shouldn’t have to shop at five stores every week just to get sale prices, unless you want to.)

But here’s the rub: the stores with the best prices overall are generally the stores with the worst sales (and, often, coupon policies), and vice versa.  (Rough correlation, not perfect one-to-one.)  So if you’re saying, “but Wal-Mart is so much cheaper; I can’t afford to shop at (high-end grocery store) every week,” you’re right!  Sort of.  What you’ll generally want to do is choose two major stores to shop at regularly: one “couponing/sales” store and one “everything else” store.

You’ll watch the couponing store for sales, and stock up on whatever is at rock-bottom prices in a given week.  So choose the store with the best combination of sales and coupon policy for this.  The other store is where you’ll fill in with everything else on your list (stuff you need that isn’t on sale), so you’ll want to find the store with the overall best prices for this.  For me, this would be Martin’s and Aldi (and occasionally Wal-Mart, for stock-up items that Aldi doesn’t carry).

Clip Coupons

Here’s the part where we’ll all start to vary a lot.  How much time and money do you want to invest in this?  Are you going to buy a newspaper every week (or subscribe)?  (If you do, I recommend buying the paper from the largest metro area “local” to you; we’ve noticed a huge difference in the number and value of the coupons in our truly local paper as opposed to the nearest city paper.)  Are you going to have friends save their extra inserts for you?  Scrounge them from recycle bins?  Join a coupon train?

Print Coupons and/or Load Them Digitally

Lately, I haven’t been buying a paper, because I haven’t had the time to do any clipping, and the newspapers sat around my house creating purposeless clutter.  (That’s not to say I won’t ever go back to it; I am just taking a hiatus.)  But it’s pretty easy for me to print coupons.  I like to print coupons from Coupons.com. (SmartSource and Coupon Network seem to be obsolete.) 

With everything moving onto smartphones nowadays, most coupons have moved to digital, too. I can “clip” coupons through my local supermarket’s website and have them already connected to my account.

Stack Coupons with Sales

Now that you have an idea of when certain items will be at their lowest sale prices in your area, you’ll know whether they’re likely to go on sale before your coupon expires.  Use a coupon together with the lowest sale price, and you will save the most.  (Couponing is one instance where it’s often more cost-effective to buy the smallest possible package.)

Maximize Your Coupon Value

Know your store’s coupon policy!  Many stores used to double coupons up to a certain value. Nowadays, this is rare, but if your store happens to be one that still does this, that is, obviously, in your favor.  But they may have limits.  Most stores will allow you to use a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon on the same item, so know the difference.  (Rock bottom sale price + manufacturer’s coupon + store coupon = your best deals!)

Other Tips

• I like to make a small notation in the margin of my grocery list next to any item I know I have a coupon for, so I don’t forget to use it.
• Many couponers do not like to bring their binders/boxes with them to the store, because they feel awkward.  Instead, after pulling the coupons they know they plan to use, they leave the rest at home.  Usually, this will be no big deal.  But if you run into a great unadvertised sale, you might be disappointed!  (I found a bunch of natural/gluten-free foods clearanced at our grocery store recently, that I actually had coupons for.  This is a fairly uncommon occurrence, but definitely one to be capitalized on!)  A good compromise option is to leave the box or binder in the car.  Then you don’t have to lug it around or feel weird having it in the store, but if you come across an amazing deal, you can go back to the car for it and not miss out or have to go all the way home.
• Remember to watch prices.  By combining coupons with sales, you can often get certain items for pennies on the dollar.  But other items may still be less expensive as full-price generics.  Pay attention!
• I don’t live someplace that the grocery stores mark produce or meat down substantially, or on any particular schedule.  However, if you do, be aware of this!  Know when the department managers mark these down and, if you can, schedule your shopping then.  (I can occasionally find marked-down bananas, which are awesome to freeze for smoothies or banana bread.  Super-easy, and it saves me money.)
• Keep an eye on the local farmer’s markets or similar sellers.  I regularly see the farmer’s market suggested as a low-cost source for produce.  My personal experience has been that the produce is almost always more expensive at our farmer’s market and I can find organic at the supermarket while our local growers use pesticides.  It may still be worth it to you to buy local, and that’s definitely worth the consideration!  Just be aware that it may be less expensive and it may not, so pay attention to whether or not it’s a frugal option for you.  (I do, by the way, buy some things from the farmer’s market to support our local growers.  But the bulk of my produce shopping is still at the grocery store.)
• Of course, growing your own is an option for many people, as well.  To maximize your return on investment, plant more of the high-yield, lower-maintenance plants that don’t require huge amounts of space, and fewer (or none) of the low-yield and/or high-maintenance plants that take up a lot of space.  Broccoli, for instance, does not offer much yield in exchange for the space it requires.  It’s probably cheaper to just buy it.  But carrots grow closely together, and zucchini  — well, we all know how prolific a single zucchini plant is!  And it should go without saying that you shouldn’t be wasting your time growing foods you know everyone in your family hates (unless you’re growing them for some other reason).  Don’t grow crookneck squash just because a garden is “supposed to have” crookneck squash if no one in your house will eat it!

Do you have other questions?  Suggestions?  Please leave a comment!

This post was originally published on 20 Feb 2013. It’s been updated on 18 Feb 2025, and with couponing far less prevalent today, the information about how best to stack sales and coupons is less useful than it was a decade ago. Still, I’ve updated what was overtly obsolete and opted to leave the rest alone.