Coupons: Consumers Beware
Online coupon sites are everywhere. Consumers need to be aware that they may not be legitimate coupons. Many stores are opting not to accept many coupons that are printed from these sites since they are so easy to fake. So what are you to do? You want to save money on your grocery bill as many others do but if you don't have a reliable source for all the great discounts that are out there you end up stuck paying full price. Save more of your money and use these tips below.
The number one best place to find great money saving coupons is in your local paper such as the Oregonian. Pick up your local Sunday paper to find the most legitimate coupons for your local grocery stores. Stores like Safeway offer coupons that you can use in addition to your Club Card discount plus coupons that you can use to take $10 to $50 off your overall purchase once your shopping bill has reached a certain amount. These coupons are impossible to miss since they take up the entire back page of the Safeway insert and printed in bold red.
Even though the massive coupon sites may not have redeeming value in your local stores you can still get coupons online that are. Make a list of all the products that you use on a regular basis. Find out who the manufacturer is for the products and go to their official sites. Places like Kraft and even Glade have coupons on their sites for commonly used products as well as new ones. Some even have the option for you to sign up for their mailings giving you and even bigger savings opportunity. They will send you even more coupons by mail every month.
There is also a weekly mailer that you can sign up for if you aren't already getting it. It's called Red Plum produced by Valassis. This mailer has coupons for groceries and other services that you may use like dry cleaning and oil changes. I have even found coupons in there for free loafs of bread and eggs. All the coupons are from the manufacturers and valid in stores.
To help you save even further be sure to look through all the different ads in your paper. Not all stores have the same deals on the products and groceries that you buy the most. You may end up having to stop at more than one store but you are going to save more money. Plan your trip so the stores are all on your way in one direction or the other. Setting up a route to follow will save you on gas money during your outing.
Next time you go through the check out line at the store ask them if they have weekly or monthly mailers that they send out to their customers. Most of them do and can tell you how to sign up for their mailing list. It never hurts to ask and they will be more than happy to help you be a happy returning customer.
