
The basics of an extreme sport?

I am an extreme couponer. Much like any other extreme sport that
gives participants that signature adrenaline rush, like say ice climbing
or bungee jumping, it takes years of practice and knowledge to be able
to save 50 percent or more on your household food bill.
OK, you might say the comparison is a stretch, and couponing is much
easier and certainly no more dangerous than vaulting off a cliff or
skydiving. However, couponing may be the more dangerous of the sort in
that if you're a rookie, you might make mistakes that will actually cost
you the ultimate price.
Money, that is. What did you think I was going to say?
When I first began couponing and connecting with the coupon world, I
got a little coupon happy. One of my early mistakes was buying 12 boxes
of frozen Super Pretzels – I was so excited because I was getting them
free through coupons. However, they took up about a third of my freezer
space and no one really liked them. I kept them there for two years
thinking that someone would eventually eat them, and it wasn't until I
was forced by Mr. Frugal to ditch them that we could fit real food in
our freezer.
If you're just starting out, here are a few tips to help you avoid some couponing mistakes.
Don't clip what you don't need
If you don't use the product, don't clip the coupon for it. I used to
cut out or print from online sites every coupon available with the
thought that if I came across a good sale, I might need them. I soon
learned that I was just wasting both time and ink, since more than half
of the coupons ended up wasted.
I now keep my coupon inserts in a basket, and only clip the ones for
those products I know I'll use and leave the others intact. I'll then
scour the sales fliers each week and match coupons accordingly, or go
online and search for specific ones that would be useful for current
sales.
The only issue is online coupons could be there one day, gone the
next. If you know it's an item you would normally buy when it's on sale,
print it.
Learn store policies
It makes a difference when one store may double coupons and another
one doesn't. I have three supermarkets near my house, and while Walmart
and Hannaford only accept manufacturer coupons at face value, Shaw's
will double coupons up 99 cents. This means a 75-cent coupon will yield
me $1.50 off my grocery bill.
Shaw's is the most economical option when combining sales prices with
coupons. However, I get most of my health, beauty and cleaning products
at Walgreens because they allow you to double dip on coupons by
allowing you to use both a store and a manufacturer's coupon for the
same product.
In essence, knowing store policies allows you to be a savvy shopper.
The brand name versus generic
A lot of people think couponing is a waste of time and money because
they're only for brand-name items and generic is always the cheapest.
This is true in some instances, but not always.
The best way to price shop is by matching up the sales circulars with
your coupons. If the cheapest items are the generic ones after
factoring in the coupons, that's great. However, if the brand name
actually ends up costing less, you've earned your savings. In the end,
the goal is to fill your fridge for as little out-of-pocket money as you
can, not stock it with brand-name items that leave a little less in the
checkbook.
And why does "fridge" have a "d" and "refrigerator" doesn't?
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