You would love to save money by shopping with coupons, but with the whirlwind of Sunday paper circulars, online savings sites, and no filing system, it can be overwhelming just to find a place to start. Luckily there are many resources available to teach you how to find, clip or print, file and use the coupons that will be most useful to you and your family. Some are free and some may cost, though many cost based services will pay for themselves in a short time if you follow their methods.
Did you know there is a National Coupon Month? It's September, and it's sponsored by the Coupon Council of the Promotion Marketing Association Educational Foundation, Inc. At their website, http://www.couponmonth.com, you can find tools like a shopping worksheet (used to calculate your coupon savings), and their 'Clipping Tips,' with easy steps you can take now to increase your coupon savings. They also have lesson plans for teachers to use in the classroom using coupons, and a guide for parents on teaching children with and about coupons. You can find tips on where to find coupons, too.
A favorite of the frugal, http://stretcher.com is a website dedicated to helping people stretch their dollars. In addition to hundreds of articles on different ways to save, there is a section devoted to coupons that will help you use coupons from all sources.
CouponSense.com offers many different services to help people make the most of coupons, though they are available in a limited area. They have instructors and teach workshops on how to save money using coupons. They will send you information on current savings in your area, and they have message boards where members can share their latest finds. At the top level of services, they will create custom shopping lists for you based on the deals available in your area. If couponing is something you enjoy and become skilled at, you can even join their team as an instructor and make a little extra money to add to your savings.
At http://microblast.com, you can find their Computer Wizard software, which helps you sort your coupons. Then you can search them by store, expiration date, amount of savings, and item, as well as other categories. You can also make shopping lists according to the coupons you have and print them to take to the store with you. |
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