Secret Money-Saving Coupon Tips

If you're a bargain shopper like me, then you want to get the most that you can out of your coupons. Well, there are some money-saving coupon tips that retailers won't share with you, but can save you additional dollars. So - what are these secret money-saving coupon tips? Here are three money-saving coupon tips that can get you well on your way to saving additional dollars on your weekly grocery bill.

The first secret money-saving coupon tip is that grocery coupon expiration dates are typically not the actual date that the coupon will expire. In fact, most grocery coupons are valid well past the printed expiration date. For example, even if a grocery coupon states that it expires on December 31, it is still usually valid well into the following year. I used three "expired" coupons when grocery shopping today and all three were scanned with no problem, with some of these coupons being three months past the expiration date. This works for grocery coupons as well as many restaurant coupons (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Smokey Bones are among the restaurants that will typically take coupons that are expired), so don't throw those "old" coupons away prematurely.

Another secret money-saving coupon tip is that coupons are often good for more items than those listed on the coupon. For example, one coupon that I used successfully said that it was good on bags of Nestle's miniatures candies, but I was able to use this for a 6-pack of Nestle's candies instead (not the exact product listed on the coupon, but a similar product by the same manufacturer). I have used this trick successfully for cereal as well (coupons have stated that they are good for only a certain type of cereal, but I have used the coupon for cereals by the same manufacturer). This won't work if you're trying to apply the coupon to the competition's product, but should apply if you are using a similar product by the same maker.

The final secret money-saving coupon tip is that you can use both store coupons and manufacturer coupons on the same item. This can be confusing, so let me give you an example. Let's say that you are shopping at Target and have a Target store coupon that would give you $1.00 off on Pampers. In addition to using this store coupon, you can also use the manufacturer's coupon for Pampers to give you additional savings. If you don't know whether your coupon is a store or manufacturer coupon, the coupon will say at the top which type of coupon it is, making it easy for you to follow this secret money-saving coupon tip.