Posted
Mar 07 2008, 07:47 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.
Many people don't bother to clip coupons, mostly because they believe that a 50-cent coupon isn't worth the effort. On the surface, I agree. Without a clever coupon strategy, it's probably not worth the effort.
About two months ago, I was talking about this with a friend who works for Hy-Vee, a grocery store chain here in Iowa. He gave me a tip: Take the coupon section out of the Sunday paper and put it aside for four weeks. Then open it up and clip everything that's even remotely of interest, whether you'd normally buy it or not.
Take the coupons to the store and look at the shelves. Magically, most of the coupons will sync up with stuff that's on sale. When you combine the sale price and the coupon, you'll usually be able to get items for next to nothing.
I tried this myself. I saved the fliers from a month ago, cut them up and took them to the store. What did I find? About 40% of the coupons I cut out matched up with items on sale. I wound up getting salad dressing for less than a dollar, a package of diapers at the cheapest price I've ever bought them for, and a container of good vanilla ice cream for 19 cents. And those are just the ones I remember.
Read More...
