That’s what I said. Clip those coupons, but don’t use them. At least don’t use them right away.
I’m really not much of a coupon clipper, but I know many of you are. I found this tip at Boing Boing which pointed me to The Simple Dollar and, in case this will help you, I wanted to write about it.
The gist is that you clip the coupons, then hold on to them for about four weeks. At the end of four weeks you take the coupons to the store and you will probably notice the items with coupons are also on sale. Sweet.
The reason is that coupons are usually the first wave of promoting the sale of an item. As the weeks go by, other waves of promotion start. By the fourth week, the item is on sale in the store and, combined with your non-expired coupon, that means big savings for you.
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
I was organizing my coupons this afternoon, trying to decide what to do with all of them. That’s a great idea.
Thanks for hosting this week!
So nice of you to host for that crazy mzungu Shannon.
The coupon hint is genius…sheer GENIUS!
It’s like total man-logic…where procrastination pays off.
Well thanks for hosting–good to know about the coupons. Who knew?
Wow — I never would have guessed! Thanks!
Great tip – thanks! I’m so glad you are hosting – I finally get organized enough to do it and than realized I didn’t know where to post it! I’m glad I found you!
Thanks for hosting, Melanie! I am a HUGE coupon gal, and that is a great tip!
I’d sort of noticed this, but thanks so much for giving the time frame…I might try to get a little more organized on my coupon saving as well as coupon clipping.
Well, well, miss fancy pants over here hostin’ WFMW!
Thanks for the coupon tip! I clip ‘em and I never realized that. I have noticed that often times you can use your coupons for Walgreens free rebate items and actually make money, or at least enough to cover postage.
Nice idea! After four weeks though, my coupons would be at the bottom of a pile somewhere. I need a coupon box.
Thank you for hosting. What a great tip. I accidentally posted twice – the first one is the wrong link. Sorry.
I love coupons will have to remember this from now on, thanks!!
I’ve already used this post for a WFMW, but I have a post about my coupon organizer here: http://danandkeren.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/a-tour-of-my-coupon-and-more-organizer/.
I finally gave up on coupons… Maybe I’ll give it another shot. Thanks!
Thanks for the info about coupon clipping. I’ve been doing the Grocery game for awhile. It really works!
Thanks for the info about coupon clipping. I’ve been doing the Grocery game for awhile. It really works!
Great tip! I’m lousy at clipping coupons, unfortunately. I need to learn!
Thanks for hosting!
Bev.
Mine is up – hey great tip with the coupons…my problem is that I usually leave the coupons at home. Sigh.
Thanks for hosting this!
http://lightinthesphere.blogspot.com/2008/02/works-for-me-wednesday/
Thanks for hosting – great coupon tip!
Thanks for hosting! I’ll have to remember the tip about the coupons – Thanks!
Thank you for hosting this week! And great tip for coupons, I used to be an avid coupon clipper, but not recently, something I need to remedy. Thank you!
Well…I just learned something.
At first, though, I thought you were talking about ME! I’m the queen of cuttin’ ‘em out and forgetting to take them with me. GREAT tip!
I linked to a post that I thought might be helpful to parents of teens (or even tweens); it’s about tailoring punishment to the offense–at least in one case.
Thank you for hosting this week.
I am another one of those people that clips coupons, but never uses them…
Thanks for hosting this week. I have humourous parenting tips, not cookies on tap. It was cookies last time, and Mr. Linky saved it and I forgot to change it. GRR!
I put in the right title at number 90. Would you please delete number 89? Thanks!
Never mind, I didn’t know it, but I could delete it myself. Sorry for the troule!
This is great – thanks for the information.
Nikki
The Techie Tutor
Like many others, I clip, but never seem to use them. If I ever get into the habit of using them, I’m going to try out your trick!
Thanks for hosting this week!
This is my 1st WFMW. I was already going to post in my blog about coupons, so I thought I’d join in here! Thanks for hosting while Shannon is away!
I’m going to keep my eye out for this coupon situation! What a great tip!
And what a great friend you are! Thanks for hosting while Shannon is away.
Thanx for hosting. That woks sometimes with coupons but I know at Ralphs usually all their super good sales are right away.
Thanks for the great tip. I am always looking to save some money on groceries.
I am the one who clips, stores, and forgets!! Thanks for the tip…Now if I can just remember to put the coupons in my purse!
I totally love combining coupons with sale items. Sometimes, the store owes me money!
Love that your links change color so I can remember where I was when going back and forth. Thanks.
Thanks for hosting this week!
Great coupon tip! I know I’m not making as much use of them as I could. I do well with CVS, but need to work on the grocery store. Thanks!
This is my first time posting for WFMW. Thank you for hosting, I have been enjoying reading your blog the last few day’s.Have a Good day!
Thanks for hosting!
I just started saving my coupons too. I have always clipped the ones I think I will use soon, but I also am going to keep the booklets in a folder. I found that as I looked through the store fliers, I’d see a product on sale that I knew I saw a coupon for, but I didn’t clip it! So I think you are totally right that you should save them for 4 weeks.
WOW! Lots of links, Thanks for hosting this week’s!
I do this through http://www.thegrocerygame.com and it’s fabulous!
I didn’t know that. Great tip!
Great tip! I do this now, and you would be amazed at the amount of money you can save, especially if your store doubles coupons!
Great tip! Works well for me, especially with the Target online coupons. Print them out in-store (saves you a few extra pennies from printing with your own ink and paper) and hoard until the week before they expire–a great sale on coupon items is often on then.
Fabulous tip! I always end up with a pile of nearly-expired coupons anyway! Now I have motivation to use them. Thanks.
I’ve just got back into coupon clipping again, so I appreciate the tip. I also appreciate you hosting WFMW today. You rawk!!
Great topic. I just started clipping 3 weeks ago. So I’m still in baby steps. So far it has been good result. Good tip! Thank you. I will definitely keep that in mind.
I’ve never posted a WFM Wed., but I enjoy reading them. That was a great tip! Thanks.