When you watch shows about extreme couponing, you are left with the impression that it is either too difficult for mere mortals to accomplish, or simply too good to be true. But when you start to understand the basic concepts behind these amazing savings, you can start to see how you can apply these concepts to your shopping needs as well. Here are a few ways that everyone, even you, can start to find the deals that you hear about.
Lesson 1- It’s Not Just About the Coupons
You watch Extreme Couponing, get passionate about coupons, diligently cut out a handful of coupons for things you need, and head to the store, only to save the .50 cents listed on the coupon. What went wrong? You probably forgot the second half of deal making… the sales.
See, coupons are just to steer you towards certain brands; they don’t make a big dent on their own. The important component is to learn to love the local grocery ads as your guidelines to the bigger savings. For example, this summer there was a 2 dollar off coupon for diapers. Before that coupon expired, there was also a sale at CVS for that brand, with a Buy One, Get One Half Off deal. Plus if you spent 30 dollars, you got ten dollars in Extra Care Bucks (which is ten dollars you can spend at CVS later). With this deal, our non-profit founder was able to buy 4 packages of diapers for a total of $19.47!
Lesson 2- Shop at the Right Place
Going beyond the sales, where you choose to shop can make a huge difference in your bill. There are some stores that double coupons, and some stores have certain weekends where they double coupons, like Harris Teeter.
A coupon used at CVS will save you some money, but did you know that Dollar Stores are also obligated to accept coupons? Yes, that does mean that for certain items, if you are lucky enough to find a dollar off coupon for a Dollar Store item…you will in fact be getting it for free.
Lesson 3- Donít Forget About Technology
In this modern era, you have an abundance of ways that you can use technology to save money. Cartwheel for Target is awesome! You can save coupons to your app, and then scan it at the checkout for the savings. Ebates and Ibotta will give you cash back for what you spend, and apps like Favado will search for deals for you at your local preferred stores and even tell you what coupons you can use with the deals! Plus, even if you don’t get the newspaper, there are plenty of websites to print out coupons you want at home.
Lesson 4- Join a Couponing Community
Our non-profit Loudoun Coupons for Hope is all about supporting the community through couponing. We hold classes to teach couponing skills, and we even have regularly scheduled couponing trips, where we physically hand you the coupons and tell you what deals are the best ways to use the coupons that shopping trip. We also support our local community by using monetary donations, combined with the saving power of coupons, to purchase items for low income families in the area, and then give them personal care supplies, Easter basket items, or other seasonal needs. You can follow us on Facebook, and see the deals we find on a regular basis, find out when we have events, or learn more at
loudouncouponsforhope.org.