How to get the best value out of your coupons.

You’ve seen the pads of coupons hanging on the shelves in supermarkets, 50 cents off, BOGO’s, buy 3 get 1 free or just a coupon for a seemingly insignificant amount of pennies off the purchase price which is usually a few dollars.  Not impressive right?

Couponing can be a bit of an art, there is a learning curve; between understanding all the fine print on the back, to keeping track of the expiry dates to actually using coupons to save some money, it really isn’t easy. As well, many retailers in Canada don’t allow coupon stacking/don’t coupon match as some retailers do in the United States.

So how do those people on Extreme Couponing make it work like that? I know I’m not the only one that’s been wondering that and there’s been some real controversy about TLC’s show. Truth is, it’s hard to replicate the results of these extreme couponers but there is something you can do that will result in a nice savings on your monthly grocery bills.

Getting the best bang for your buck

I’ve been couponing as long as I can remember and I’ve learned that the absolute best way to make couponing worth the effort is by getting the best bang for your buck.

Retailers have different profit margins, different target markets, different sales and thus different pricing on various products. Things like milk tend to vary very little from store to store in my area but when it comes to non-essentials, prices are all over the place!

This is where you can save some real money. By paying attention to the pricing of products you buy frequently and buying them where you get the best value, then step it up;

Use your coupons where the prices are the lowest

The absolute king of low prices is Walmart, if things like crackers, cereal, cat litter and shampoo are on your shopping list you can bet that Walmart has the lowest price. Keep an eye on the flyers, add in those coupons you’ve been collecting and all those small amounts can add up to real savings on products you buy regularly anyway.

Try it out, you may surprise yourself.

Ps: IMG source in this splendid post over here.