Couponing for Beginners - By Masataka Yoshikawa

Couponing for Beginners

Masataka Yoshikawa

If you are looking for ways to save money while studying at Michigan, couponing is a great way to save money on your grocery bills. It seems simple (and it is), but it takes a little getting used to. Tips in this blog post will give you a boost if you’ve never tried couponing before.

First thing first, you have to know that there are two types of coupons. One is a manufacturer’s coupon and the other is store coupon. The name says it all. The product’s manufacturer, like the manufacturing brand of Colgate for toothpastes, issues the manufacturer coupons. Retail shops, like CVS, issue store coupons. You can get effectively add the discounts by using these two coupons together. This is called stacking. For example, now, Colgate has a $0.75 off manufacturer coupon for toothpaste (the coupon can be found on their website.) CVS also has a $2.50 coupon (store coupon) for a selected Colgate toothpaste. You can buy the Colgate toothpaste, regular price $3.75, at the price of $0.50 by using these two coupons together. Here what you should keep in mind when couponing: 1) coupon are usually specific to a product so be sure to read and match up the coupon carefully 2) only one store coupon and manufacturer’s coupon can be used for an item, and 3) not all stores have store coupons. 

Stores like Kroger don’t have store coupons. However, you can combine manufacturer coupons with sale items. This takes a little bit of planning, but usually it’s rewarding. The best way to find out what items are on sale at Kroger is to visit www.krogerkrazy.com. This website updates discounted items in Kroger and matches up available manufacturer coupons with the specific item. You may also view the Kroger’s sales flyer online at Kroger.com or with the flipp app, which allows you to preview the sales flyers of multiple store and create your shopping list.

There are various methods to obtaining coupons. One method is to print from the site www.coupons.com. Another method is to get coupons from the Ann Arbor News’ Sunday newspaper. Coupons are only inserted into the Sunday newspaper. You may purchase a Sunday newspaper at any local gas stations, pharmacies, and Kroger. You don’t necessarily have to buy a paper every Sunday. You can find out what coupons will be in newspapers for the week from the website like www.sundaycouponpreview.com. You can also get coupons directly from the brands that you use. An example of this is the Colgate deal above where you can print a manufacturer’s coupon directly from the manufacturer’s site. The most recent method of obtaining coupons is with the store’s mobile app. Kroger’s mobile apps offers a limited selection of manufacturer’s coupon on their mobile app.

You can also save even more money with rebates. Ibotta, Mobisave and SavingStar are a few of the most beneficial rebate apps available today. For the rebate app of ibotta, you can easily review the rebate items available. Then you may purchase the specific item, and take a picture of the receipt to submit it on the app. Once you accumulate $20 or more of rebates redeemed, you can cash it out as a gift card or transfer cash to your PayPal or Venmo account. SavingStar and Mobisave work in the similar way.

If you are interested in finding out more about couponing, you can go to www.thekrazycouponlady.com, where current coupon deals and how-to guides are posted daily. The website has great tips for couponing beginners. It is best to start couponing simple and at a comfortable pace. Start with a simple purchase of a sale item and match it with a manufacturer’s coupon. In our to respect for other shoppers and your wallet, always remember to only buy items you need, not just because you can get a great deal. Once the semester starts, you will be too busy for anything outside of the school, so use this free time during the summer to learn how to coupon and become a expert by the start of the semester. Happy couponing!