WHEN TO USE COUPONS!

Hey Smarty Pants...step away from that coupon and keep your hands where I can see them!!! Why, you might ask, would I be telling you to put a coupon down right after I told you how imperative they are to saving you hundreds and even thousands of dollars? It's because you have a happy coupon trigger finger and you need to learn when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. Wow, that's a lot of country western references in a row. Sorry, I must be tired.

Knowing when and how to use a coupon to it's highest potential is just as important as having the coupon in the first place. So you've got a $1.00 coupon for Oreos just sitting there staring at you? You hadn't planned on buying any Oreos this week but since you have the coupon, why not use it, right? WRONG! First of all, you're buying something that isn't on your shopping list (we'll talk more about that later) and you're buying something you hadn't planned on buying just to save $1.00. Well, that's not really saving $1.00 is it? Plus, chances are those Oreos aren't on sale this week and you're wasting the $1.00 coupon on a full-priced item. The idea is to "sit on" your coupons until the item goes on sale...then use your coupon along with the sale to maximize your savings.

Over time, you'll learn what a good sale price is for the items you typically purchase and that's when you want to use your coupons. Sales usually run on a 6 week cycle. Chances are if Life cereal is on sale today, you can pretty much count on it being on sale again in about 6 weeks. Items do also go on sale in between those periods but the greatest savings usually average 6 weeks. When an item is on sale and you have a coupon, that's when you want to stock up. Purchase at least 6 weeks worth of that particular item. If the item has a really long shelf life, maybe you would want to purchase more if it's something your family uses frequently and a stockpile is born.

If you apply this method of sale+coupon=maximum savings, pretty soon you'll have your own mini-mart in your home and that's when you really start to notice the money you're saving.

As always...shop like a Smarty Pants!