Three Extreme Couponing Mistakes I Learned the Hard Way

When I first began my extreme couponing quest, I made a lot of mistakes that unnecessarily cost me money. After I learned the ropes of couponing, I began to see my grocery bill nearly drop in half because I had learned the proper technique to couponing. It's easy to get "coupon happy" when you're a beginning coupon shopper, but there are three rookie mistakes you must avoid in order to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck when extreme couponing.

Learn Store Policies

One of the biggest couponing mistakes I learned the hard way was to research the coupon policies of all my local grocers. I have three supermarkets around my house: Walmart, Shop Rite and Price Chopper. Walmart only accepts manufacturer coupons at face value. This means that redeeming a $0.75 off coupon will only shave $0.75 off of my grocery bill. Shoprite on the other hand will double coupons up the $0.75. This means that if I use a $0.75 off coupon at Shoprite, it will shave $1.5 off of my grocery bill. But, Price Chopper doubles coupons up to $1. This means that using a $1 coupon at price chopper will actually shave $2 off of my bill. Clearly, doing my grocery shopping at Price Chopper is the most economical option.

Don't Clip What You Don't Need

When I first started couponing, I got a little clip happy. I didn't pay much thought to the coupons I was clipping from newspapers and the online coupons I was printing off of online coupon sites. By not screening the coupons I was clipping I was essentially losing time and wasting ink, which is money. Now, as a seasoned coupon clipper, I know not to waste my time clipping coupons I don't need.

Analyze Price

Getting a little too coupon happy could lead you to spend more money than you need to. The fact of the matter is that many times the generic brands are cheaper than brand names even after all the coupons. You have to do your homework before you go into the store. Look at the circular and compare your coupons to the sale items. Try to find coupons that match up with the sale items on your grocery list. If after coupons the cheapest items are the brand name items, that's cool. But, if it's the generic version, that's cool too. Your objective is to fill your fridge for as little out-of-pocket money as you can, not stock your fridge in brand name items.