Coupons 101- When you use your coupons

Coupons 101- Part 3

When to use your coupons?

• When to use your coupons-  Just because you have a coupon does not mean you should buy an item.   In fact if you buy items just because you have a coupon, you will end up spending more money on items you don't really need, and are still over priced.  The trick is to wait for the coupon to go on sale or clearance which is an even better deal.
  
• Wait for a sale-  Wait for items to come on sale then use the coupon along with the sale.  Then buy several of that item, so you don't need to buy it again till another sale comes along.  Example- I have 10 tubes of name brand toothpaste. People I know tell me "But I don't need 10 tubes of toothpaste!". Well what I tell them is that if I can get paid over $10 to BUY 10 tubes of toothpaste (see my post here) then why not do it. And know that I wont need to spend that $30 dollars over the next year. Each time you can save like this adds up, and by year end you could save a ton of money. Or go on that vacation you wanted.
• Buy one get one free sales- When a store has a buy one get one free sale, this is a great time to use your coupons.  You can use 2 coupons.  One for the item you are buying and one for the item you are getting for free.  WHY,  you need to remember that a coupon is like cash.  The store IS getting paid for that product, by the Manufacturer.  So the store gives you the second item for free, but they can turn in the coupon and get paid for that item they just gave you for free.  Example- chips are on sale buy one get one free.  You pay $4.00 for the first bag of chips, and get the 2nd free.  But you have 2 coupons for $1 off a bag of chips. You can use both of those coupons.  One coupon is applied to each bag of chips (although one bag is considered free) Both coupons are applied to the total sale price.  Bringing the total to $2 for 2 bags of chips.  You would have paid $8 for 2 bags of chips, but using the Buy one get one (BOGO) free sale you have saved $4 PLUS $2 in coupons. 
• Stacking your coupons- Stacking your coupons is when you are able to use 2 coupons for one item.  You are able to do this when you use a in-store coupon ( a coupon that the store prints, normally in the weekly ad.  It will have the store logo on it) along with a MFR (manufacturer coupon).  When you use the in-store coupon and the MFR coupon together this is called "stacking" your coupons.  So watch for those in-store coupons, and see if you have a MFR coupon to go along with it.  
• Rebates-  A lot of company's offer a mail in rebate for their items as part of a promotion to get you to try or buy their product.  Many times this makes the item free after rebate.  Example- The store is selling nuts for $5.00, and they have a mail in rebate for $5.00 which would make the item free.  But if you use a $2.00 coupon on the nuts, after you turn in your rebate they will give you a check for $5.00. SO you will actually make $2.00 for buying the nuts.  
• Store match or double-  Some stores do this every week, but my local stores only do it a few times a year.  They will match you coupon amount, which gives you the chance to get twice the amount of your coupon.  Example- the store is selling juice for $1.00 but I have a coupon for $.50 off,  The store them matches the price of my coupon giving me another $.50 off, making my juice FREE.   Normally if a store matches or doubles coupons they only let you do a limited of items per shopping trip.  So I plan to make several trip through the checkout line.