Category: shopping

Well most people do not realize that coupon books that go out by direct mail have a little bit of give in their prices and you can negotiate a more favorable direct mail cost if you will simply discuss this with your direct mail coupon company company account executive.

How do I know this? Well I started a Christmas Card Company when I was 19 years old and we sent out Corporate Christmas Cards for our clients to mail to their customers. This was before putting Merry Christmas on a card offended anyone. And we had Happy Holiday Cards too, although the Christmas ones sold best.

About half or more of the cost dependent on the custom paper and printing cost was profit and we sometimes negotiated with our customers on this, but certainly not if they did not ask. Some did, but most did not.

Later in my career my car wash business was growing and we never stopped direct mail as a way to keep in touch with our customers and develop new ones using coupons. We always found that we could negotiate with those companies, which had not provided service for us previously between 25-50% of the cost. And so, if you are unsure about the success you will get with direct mail, why not go ahead and attempt to negotiate your first time out. Consider all this in 2006. …

If you are on a budget, one way you might be able to save money is by clipping coupons. You may have to spend some extra time clipping, sorting and organizing but there is a chance to have that time pay off in the long run. So where do you start? Some of the best places to look are:

• Newspapers – You will usually be able to find manufacturers coupons in the newspaper each week. However sometimes they will not be included with the paper. Typically the Sunday before a holiday you will not receive coupons with the paper. You can usually find the coupon insert schedule for the year by doing an internet search.
• Online – There are several sites online that allow you to print coupons. Typically they require you to install a coupon printer in order to print them. Not all stores accept printed coupons so you may want to check the store's coupon policy first.
• Direct from the Manufacturer – Some manufacturer have coupons available to print from their websites Or you can contact the manufacturer by e-mail, mail or phone to request coupons be sent to you.
• Store Cards – Some stores have loyalty or frequent shopper cards that you can sign up for. You may receive coupons by mail or have the ability to load coupons directly onto your card.
• Coupon Clipping Services – There are sites out there that allow you to order the coupons you want. They typically charge a small fee for the work that they do but that may be worth the time your saving.
• On Products – Sometimes you can find coupons on and in the packaging of the products you purchase.

Coupon Clipping Methods

There are lots of ways to get started, so you'll want to find what works best for you. Here are a few options to consider:

• Clipping only the coupons you plan on using
• Clipping all coupons and sorting them by category
• Saving all inserts by date order and only clipping as needed

There are even a few websites that have searchable coupon databases to let you know where to find the exact coupon you might be looking for.

Once you've clipped now what, what do you do with all the coupons? Again you'll want to find what works best for you. You can find inexpensive coupon organizers at most office supply stores. They typically have tabs you label yourself. You could even go all out and create your own binder with individual pocked pages for ultimate organization and storage.

It may seem overwhelming spending all the time cutting, sorting, and organizing in order to save a few cents here and there but if you decide to go on this coupon clipping endeavor it could add up to substantial savings. …

Each individual has to decide whether it is worth your time and effort to plan and use coupons. These are some of the highlighted points in regards to coupon clipping.

Pro's of clipping coupons:

• If the product is something you use anyway. This is a big one because it is easy to get carried away when you are clipping away. If you do not eat yogurt from a tube, do not clip that coupon!
• If the product is something you planned on trying anyway. Using a coupon is the best way to go in this instance. If it is something new on the market, chances are there is a coupon for it, or there will be one soon enough.
• Can the product be replaced for something you normally use? This can save you money, if you keep an eye on items like this. Little savings really do add up. Think about all the little things you grab at Wal-mart that seem so cheap. That is why we all spend more there than any other store!
• Also, keep a look out for when an item goes on sale at the store and try to combine that with a coupon. Only if it is something you would use anyway, of course.

Con's of clipping coupons:

• Purchasing many different items just because you have a coupon will not save you money.
• If the store brand version of that item is cheaper than the one you have a coupon for, even with the coupon.
• Internet coupons can be a waste of time, especially recently. Many stores are no longer accepting these because they are often fraudulent.
• If you buy the newspaper only for the coupons it is possible you are wasting more money than you end up saving with the coupons.

The most important thing is to pay attention while you shop. Try to plan your meals around your local grocery store's weekly sales. Buy store brands. Stock up on things that will not go bad that you know you will use if there is a great sale. These things alone can save you a substantial amount of money on your weekly grocery bill. …

I'll be the first to admit it. In the past I did not really like using coupons because I thought they were more of a hassle than they were worth. However, I've come around and use coupons and shop sales regularly now, but I do so the smart way. There is definitely a right way and a wrong way to use coupons if you're trying to truly save money, stick to a budget, and get out of debt.

Here's an example of the wrong way:

My old college roommate and I were at the bar having a drink and he was telling me about how his wife had decided she loved using coupons and would come home and tell him how much money she was saving on the stuff she bought.

As it can be in many cases with coupons, in this instance it was not so much her saving money as it was her getting good deals but spending money on items they never use.

So when she came home and told him how she had spent $ 35 and gotten $ 100 worth of stuff from the store, she had not actually saved the $ 65 she thought she did not actually buy what they actually needed.

And that's where coupons can easily get a person into trouble. They give you a good deal and you think you have to take advantage of it because it's such a good deal but later on you get it home and it ends up being something you never use or eat and six months to a year later you throw it Away. When that happens, all the coupon did waste your money and waste your time.

Here's an example or the right way to use coupons. I went to the grocery store last week and grabbed the in store coupons. There were plenty of things that were on sale and good deals, but at the grocery store there are things on sale all the time. I only saw one that applied to me – it was for a dollar off any item in the bulk natural foods section. I was not initially going to buy anything in that section, but I did have plans to get some dried cherries. So instead of buying a package Elsewhere in the store, I went to the bulk foods section and got the cherries and actually saved a little money on something I was going to buy anyway – I actually saved money and here's the biggie – SPENT less money that I otherwise would have.

That's how you use coupons the right way. …