How to Save Money: Sometimes It's the Simple Things

1 :: Buy the Sunday Paper
I know this seems like a really simple concept, but it’s one so many people overlook.  Some people buy the Sunday paper, read the comics along with a few other sections and throw the rest away not realizing that they are literally throwing money away.

Sunday paper’s generally only cost about $2.00 or less and come chock full with coupon inserts usually worth over $50-$60 dollars worth of savings!  Even if you only use four or five coupons, you’ll earn your money back.

2 :: Shop the Sales
This goes along with purchasing a Sunday Paper.  Every store is different – some stores run their new sale ads on Sunday and other stores run their sale ads on Wednesday.  It all depends on the store.  Pick the stores you are going to be shopping at and see which days their sales began.     Once you know, you’ll have a much easier time knowing where and when to look.    My local grocery store and Kroger both run their sales from Wednesday through Tuesday.  But Walgreens sales ads are effective from Sunday-Saturday.      If you don’t want to search through the paper, you can also look online.  Most Grocery and Drug stores have their ads online.

3 :: Use Coupons
In case you thought I was giving you an ‘out’ on buying the Sunday paper with my last comment…think again!   Sunday’s paper is always packed full of inserts.  If you are just starting out with coupons, I would encourage you to buy a paper every Sunday, take the inserts out and write the date on the front {usually the front cover does not have coupons on it}.   If there are coupons you know you will use, go ahead and cut them out.  If you don’t think you’ll use them, don’t cut them out.  Clipping coupons that you know you won’t use is a waste of time and energy.  I’ll go into more detail in my upcoming article Couponing 101.

4 :: Stock up when prices are low
If you find a good deal on a product that you know you will use, stock up on it.   If Cheerios are on sale for $1.50 this week and you have a $1 coupon off of Cheerios, stock up and get each box for only $0.50!    Even if you already have 2 boxes of Cheerios in your pantry, go ahead and buy another box.  Why?  Because the whole point of stocking up on an items you know you’ll use is so that you can purchase them at rock bottom prices when you don’t need them so that you’ll have them when you do need them.

5 :: When making a purchase Online…Always Check for Coupon Codes!
When you are looking to make a purchase online always check to see if there are any coupons available.   There are literally thousands of coupon codes out there for people to use.  You just have to find ‘em!   One website you can use is Retail Me Not. I found this site by simply using a search engine for online coupon codes.   A few extra minutes could save you a huge chunk of change over time!

{Photo Credit: StuffNThings}