Coupons For Groceries

Rain Checks

Did you know that if a grocery store or supermarket runs out of an advertised special-sale item, you can ask for a rain check.

Unless the advertisement specifically states the exact number of that item available at the store, or generally that the quantities of the item is limited, the store probably will offer you some form of compensation.

Not only is it good customer service for the store to try to keep you happy, but The Federal Trade Commission’s “Unavailability Rule” dictates it. The FTC put the “Unavailability Rule” in place to protect consumers from “bait and switch” practices. The rule spells out how, and if, you and other customers should be compensated.

It is frustrating to rush to a grocery store or supermarket looking for that advertised grocery item at an unbelievable price only to find the shelves empty. However, you can turn that frustration into an opportunity to save more money on your future grocery bills.

With a rain check, an I.O.U. issued by the store, you can buy that out-of-stock grocery item that is on sale today, two or three or even four weeks later, at today’s advertised sale price

The “Unavailability Rule” allows a store to substitute the out-of-stock item with a comparable item, or offer you a rain check to buy the advertised item at another date at the same advertised price. A rain check usually has an expiration date of a few weeks from the sales date.

However, if one rain check is good, more is better, especially for items that you like and use often. To get the most out of rain checks you need to stock up on a few or as many as you want.  The rain checks let you buy the same item at the lower sale price in the future without waiting for another sale to come around. It’s like having a hedge against a price increase on the item. a Of course, you can use manufacturer coupons to buy the grocery item and save even more money.

You can stock up on the rain checks by going back to the store a few times, knowing that the item is still out-of-stock, and each time asking for another rain check. The few extra rain checks lets you plan your grocery budget better, since you can now spread out the cost of buying a supply of the item over several days or weeks. You save money on being able to buy more of the item at a lower price with the rain checks and from not having to buy more of a perishable item than you can use at one time.

Depending on the store, customer service is usually where you will go to get your rain check. Rain checks are great ways to save money on your groceries, so get them and use them whenever you get the chance.

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Don’t Get Scammed by Fake Coupons

If you decide to buy manufacturers’ coupons for groceries from an eBay seller, questionable online grocery coupons websites or other coupons sellers, make sure you are not buying fake coupons. These fake coupons are usually the ones that you print out yourself after downloading them from a website and are not the printed coupons that come in your Sunday papers.

Coupon fraud is on the rise as the county’s economy worsens. However, most of the time, these fake coupons are passed around not to make money but just to do harm. Fake coupons cheat grocers, retailers, and honest coupon clippers. Generally, if a store is hit with many fake coupons and the store cannot absorb the losses, the losses will be passed on to all the stores’ customers in the form of higher prices. These fake coupons will also make the store’s management reluctant to accept printed coupons.

Counterfeit coupons are difficult to spot because they look like real coupons. However, there are a few clues that will help you tell them apart.

One clue that will tell you if a coupon is a fake is a missing redemption dates. Real coupons for groceries usually have an expiration date printed on the coupon, or expressly printed on the coupons that the coupons do not expire.

Another clue that will help you tell a fake from the real thing is a missing barcodes on the fake coupon. The manufacturers that issued the coupons and the stores that accept the coupons use barcodes to track the coupons.

Another telltale clue is if the coupon is for an unusually high dollar-off such as a coupon for $3.00 off on a $4.00 product. Generally, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

In addition, consider where the coupon is coming from. If the coupon is being passed around by chain e-mails, chances are that it is a fake and worthless. Legitimate coupons generally can only be printed from the site that offers them and cannot be forwarded in an e-mail as an attachment.

If you do find an online coupon that you are interested in, especially if it is from a site you are not familiar with, you may want to check The Coupon Information Corporation (CIC) to see if the coupon is a fake. The CIC is a non-profit association set up by consumer product manufacturers to fight coupon counterfeiting and fraud.

The CIC web address is Cents-off.com and should not be confused with CentsOff.com, which is an internet coupon-clipping service.

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Get Grocery Coupons Free From Manufactures

Instead of looking through your Sunday newspapers’ coupons inserts hoping to find the manufacturers’ coupons for particular grocery products that you want, why not make it easy on yourself and ask for the coupons directly from the products manufacturers.

Most food manufacturers have corporate websites, or dedicated websites for particular products, where you can access free online grocery coupons to print out yourself at home. If the coupons for particular products are not on the company websites, you can contact the manufacturers of the grocery items and see if you can get free coupons for these products.

A product’s packaging will usually have the company’s contact information printed right on it. The preferred way the company wants you to contact it is usually a 1-800 numbers. Some companies also provide a website address to make contact by email. If the contact information is missing from the product’s packaging, you can always look it up the on the Internet.

Companies print this contact information on their products’ packing because they like to hear from people that are actually using their products. While products go through testing and focus groups before they are released to the consumer market, companies like to get first hand, real time feedback from actual users of their products.

More often that not, the companies usually are happy to reward the people that do take the time to give them feedback about their products. If you express an interest in continuing to use a company’s product, the company will usually thank you for taking the time to comment by offering to send to some coupons for your next purchase of that product.

When you do make contact with a company, keep the contact friendly and polite. First, let the company representative know how much you and your family like the company’s product. Then mention that you have a tight grocery budget and politely ask if the company have any coupons for that product that they can send to you. Finally, thank the company representative again for the company’s great product.

It still requires some work on your part to get the coupons for groceries directly from the companies. However, the work will take less time and eliminates the hit or miss approach to getting the manufacturer grocery coupons you need.  In the process, you are providing valuable feedback to the company that made the product to help it make the product even better.

Filed under: Coupons Direct From Manufacturers
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Get Someone Else To Clip Your Coupons

If you are uncomfortable buying your coupons for groceries on eBay, there are online business outside of eBay that offer coupon-clipping services.

There are companies that will clip the manufacturers grocery coupons you want and mail them to you. These companies are usually mom and pop or small operation but will have professional and easy to navigate websites that take payments right over the internet. They also offer a greater variety of grocery coupons that the typical eBay seller.

Since one person can’t legally sell someone else manufacturers’ coupons, these companies legally give you the grocery coupons free and charge you a service fee to clip the coupons and sending them to you.

Paying someone else to clip your grocery coupons may make sense if you don’t have the time to do it yourself. Coupon clipping services will save you the time needed to search, clip and organize the coupons. You will have less paper waste, from not having Sunday newspapers, free up your living space, and save you money from having to subscribe to different newspapers just to get the coupons. You only buy grocery coupons you need and when you want to use them.

Most coupons-clipping services charge a small fee to set up a member’s account for you at their website. Once you account is set up, you pay a nominal fee each time you return to the site to use the services for more grocery coupons.  Once you pay for your coupons, the coupons are usually sent out by first class USPS mail the same day as your order.

If you decide to use coupon-clipping services, keep in mind that the coupons are free. Don’t overpay for the services where you end up paying more for the service that saving on you grocery bill. After all the purpose of you using manufacturer grocery coupons for your groceries is so that you save money on your grocery bills.

Here are three of the better-known coupon-clipping services on the internet:

Centsoff.com

TheCouponMaster.com

The CouponClippers.com

There are other outfits offering coupon-clipping services on the internet, but these three sites are great places to start if you are looking to clipping services for your coupons for groceries.

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Buy Coupons and Save Time

If you don’t want to spend the time that is required to locate and clip the coupons for groceries yourself, you can find what you need on eBay. There are many sellers on eBay selling manufacturers coupons for groceries.

Some coupon clippers end up with extra grocery coupons that they cannot use and decide to sell them to other people on eBay. Several coupons are usually sold as a group of related products for a few pennies to the total discount value of the coupons. The coupon sellers on eBay are usually other coupon clipper or individuals selling coupons to make some extra money. The sellers usually get their supply of coupons from online grocery coupon sites, directly from manufacturers, or clipping them from the Sunday papers.

Since eBay rules, and most if not all manufacturers, do not allow the sale of the actually manufacturers coupons, a coupon seller can’t charge you for the coupons themselves, but instant charge you a fee for their service of clipping and sending you the coupons.

The eBay rules also require the seller to send you the physical coupons. The seller cannot send you an email with a link to a site to get the printable coupons, or an attachment of coupons that you print out yourself. If a seller tries to sell you coupons by offering you a link to a website, report the seller to eBay and do business with someone else.  There are many other legitimate eBay sellers selling manufacturers coupons.

If you are uncomfortable buying grocery coupons on eBay, try some of the coupon clipping services on the Internet, away from eBay.

If you do decide to buy your coupons for groceries on eBay, just be sure you know exactly which coupons you are buying, that the coupons have not expired, and that they will not expire before they get to you. Make sure all this information is clearly listed in the auction description. If the description is unclear, and you really want the set of coupons, ask the seller to answer any questions you may have before committing to buy the coupons. Do not pay for coupons that you don’t want or need.

Paying someone else to clip your manufacturers’ coupons can save you time and money. However, do keep in mind that with getting coupons for groceries on eBay, you are paying for the clipping service and not for the coupons, which are free.

Do not pay more for the service that what the manufacturers grocery coupons are worth. Otherwise, you will defeat the purpose of using coupons for your groceries – which is to same money on your grocery bills.

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Make  Using Coupons Easier

To make your coupons-clipping activity pay off and save you money on your grocery bill, you will need a place to store the coupons and have a system set up so that you can easily retrieve the coupons when you need them. Your coupons are useless unless you can find them easily and use them.

The first step to successful coupons clipping is to organizing your grocery coupons. For that, you will need to buy or make a coupon organizer. Once you have a place to store your coupons, you need a system to file and retrieve them easily.

There are many ways to organize your coupons. Some people like to sort their coupons by department, others sort them alphabetically by product name and some people sort the coupons by expiration date. The key to coupon clipping success is to find a system that works best for you. No matter which system you use, several elements will be essentials to any successful system used to keep your coupons organized and accessible.

To hold your coupons, you can use an old shoebox, a plastic storage container, an accordion folder, a recipe box, an index card box or a specifically made coupon wallet. A recipe box, an index card box or a coupon wallet would be a good choice because you can buy standardized index cards that will neatly divide different compartment for the different coupons.

However, what you use to store the coupons is not that important as long as you have a system in place that lets you neatly, easily file newly clipped coupons, and easily retrieve coupons in your inventory.

Here is a suggested system to file your grocery coupons that should work well for almost anyone:

To start, sort the coupons by product groups, such as baking supplies, breakfast, canned goods, dairy, frozen foods, juice, meat, snacks, and so on. Then sort each group of coupons alphabetically by the products’ brand name. Then sort the alphabetically arranged coupons by expiration date, with the coupons expiring the soonest on top of the pile.

To keep your system manageable, file all your coupons away the same day you clip or get them. This will prevent the coupons from getting lost or piling up. You want to keep the filing system and process simple and hassle free, so that you will enjoy clipping coupons and more likely to use the coupons to save money on your groceries.

You also want to purge your system of old coupons on a regular basis. You don’t want expired coupons or coupons that you wouldn’t use to take up space in your coupons file. Set a regular schedule for pulling expired coupons, and stick to the schedule.

The idea of purging your old and expired coupons is to keep your filing system simple and hassle free, so that you will more likely to use the coupons to save money.

Before you go shopping with your coupons for groceries, prepare them before hand. You don’t need to, nor do your want to, take all your coupons with your when you go grocery shopping. When you are making out your grocery list, do it on the back of an envelope.

Then go through your coupons and pull out the ones that you will be using for this particular trip. Mark with a “c” or whatever mark you want to use next to each item on your list that you are buying with a coupon. Place the coupons inside the envelope in the order that they appear on your list. Also, put a couple of paper clips in the envelope.

As you shop, go down your list and pull out the coupon for the item you are looking to buy. It’s a good idea to shop with a copy of the store or supermarket’s flyer. Double check to make sure that the price on the shelf tag or item is the same as the advertised price in the flyer. Double check to be sure that the coupon you have is for the product you want to buy.

If the coupon matches the product and you decide to get the product, put the product in your cart and cross it off from your grocery list, and clip the coupon to the outside of your envelope. If the item is sold out, make a mark to remind yourself to pick up a rain check for the item.

Don’t just throw the item anywhere in the shopping cart. Try to arrange your items so that when you are at the checkout, you can place the items on the conveyor in almost the same order as your coupons that you will hand over to the cashier. This will make it easier for you to follow the cashier as she rings up your groceries to catch possible error.

Don’t leave it to the cashiers to charge you the correct prices on your groceries or deduct the correct amounts from your coupons.

Choose whatever method or system works best for you. Your system should make coupon clipping almost effortless and in return for your efforts, give you a measurable savings on your grocery bill when you shop with coupons for groceries.

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Finding The Grocery Coupons

You can find manufacturers grocery coupons online and off.

There are coupon swap clubs all over the country. If you can’t find a club near your neighborhood, start your own. It doesn’t have to be a formal club with many members. It could be as simple as trading coupons you don’t need with friends or neighbors. You and your coupons clipping group can make clipping coupons for groceries even easier for each other by exchanging a list of items that each use the most and be on the lookout for these products’ coupons.

You may want to try entertainment books. Schools and community groups usually sell these books to raise money. The books are usually local specific, and are full of local advertisements and discount coupons.

You can always find the grocery coupons you need on the Internet.  There are many online grocery coupons sites where you can search for and get free printable grocery coupons. Some sites are free with only a registration required and some sites charge a small fee. Some sites will also automatically email you the coupons that you want.

Some grocery product manufacturers’ websites offer coupons for their brands. Some sites require you to register before you can access the free grocery coupons to print out at home and other sites let you print coupons without any bother.

Many manufacturers also send out free coupons to promote their products right to your mailbox, or include coupons with advertising layouts, or as inserts between the pages of the magazine.

You can also find coupons for groceries inside grocery stores and supermarkets themselves. There are coupons in the store’s advertising flyer. There are coupon dispensers on the shelves, usually right next to the products. At sample tables, you can try out a product and often times you can pick up a discount coupon for that product. Don’t forget to look on the back of your register receipts for coupons to use on your next grocery shopping trip.

If you don’t want to spend the time to track down and clip grocery coupons yourself, go to eBay. There are many sellers selling coupons for groceries. Just be sure you know exactly what coupons you are buying and that the coupons have not expired. Keep in mind that with coupons on eBay, you are not paying for the coupons themselves but for the coupon clipping service.

Don’t overlook your local libraries. Some libraries set up bins for coupon swaps near the newspaper and magazine section. You can pickup free coupons that you need and drop off the ones you don’t need. If your local library doesn’t have a coupon bin, make a suggestion to have one put in place.

And … don’t forget to look in you Sunday newspapers. Nearly 90% of all manufacturers coupons for groceries issued in the United States are still delivered as inserts in your Sunday papers.

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Coupon Basics

If you are planning to use manufacturers’ coupons for groceries to reduce your monthly grocery bills, you should know a few basic strategies to maximize the amount of money you can save.

While you will save money buying your groceries with coupons, there is more to it that clipping coupons from your Sunday paper. Shopping with coupons for groceries takes time and patience to see results and real savings.

Here are a few quick tips to use to get make the more of your coupon clipping:

Know what’s on sale – Before you set foot in a grocery store or supermarket, you need to have a plan and clear goals. First, you need to go through your local supermarkets’ sales flyers to see what is on sale for the coming week.

You can buy the newspapers with the flyers or if you don’t want to spend the money buying the newspapers just for the flyers and coupons, you can usually pick up the flyers at the grocery stores or supermarkets.

Now a day, almost all supermarkets post their sales circulars on their websites a few days before the print circulars come up. Go to the supermarkets’ websites and check out what’s on sale.

Stock up on the grocery coupons you need – If you see that the week’s coupons inserts in the Sunday newspaper include many of the products you normally use, stock up on those coupons by buying extra copies of the paper.

Print free coupons from coupon websites – You can get free printable grocery coupons from online coupon sites or directly from manufacturers’ websites.

Plan your week’s meals around your store’s sale items – You will need to be willing to plan your meals around what is on sale or what you will be buying for the week with or without coupons.

Shop with a list – Always go grocery shopping with a grocery list so that you know exactly what you need to buy. Develop a shopping list by going through your pantry, freezer and refrigerator and note the ingredients you already have that fit into your meal plan.

To make this inventory check fast each time, start keeping inventory of your grocery items in your pantry and freezer. Keep a notebook near your pantry or freezer and keep track of the items as you use them. Make your grocery list based on what’s on sale, what you need and what coupons you have for what you need to buy.

Organize your coupons - If you haven’t already done so, organize your coupons to make them easy to file and easy to use.  Use an index card box or an expandable or accordion folder with separate pockets for your coupons.  Divide the coupons by group, such as canned goods, baby products, breakfast, baking goods, dairy, etc., and sort them alphabetically and by expiration dates. Try out a few systems to find one that works for you.

Shop once a week or less - Keep your shopping trips to the grocery stores or supermarkets to no more than twice a week to save time and money. Weigh the benefits and costs before driving too far to save a few pennies on a grocery item.

Sign up for your local supermarket’s loyalty card – Most supermarkets issues a savings, loyalty, or club card. They are free and only require signing up. You will not get some of the advertised specials without these membership cards.

Check for unadvertised specials at the door – Look for fliers near the entrance of the grocery store or supermarket that offer unadvertised one-day sales or special buys that you may want to add to your grocery shopping list.

Give up on store loyalty – Shop at supermarkets that will save you the most money and give you the best deals on the items on your grocery list.

Give up on brand loyalty – Buy the brands that are on sale that you can buy with coupons that will save you the most money.  Consider buying the store brands, or generic brand, if they are less expensive than brand name products.

Double Coupons – Almost all supermarkets give you double coupons. This means that you will get a discount equal to twice the face value of the coupon. But make sure you know how your supermarket’s double coupon policy works. Most supermarkets will double the face value of the coupon up to 50 cents, equaling to a $1 discount, or equaling the value of the grocery item. You do not get money back if the item is less that the amount of the discount.

Triple Coupons – Most supermarkets will run triple coupons days for special promotions or incentives a few times during the year.  With triple coupons, your chances of getting free groceries are very good, so take advantage of triple coupons when they come around. As with double coupons, supermarkets will limit amount of the discount you get with triple coupons. You do not get money back if an item is less that the amount of the discount.

Coupon Stacking – Some stores or supermarkets will allow you to stack, or combine, their store coupons with your manufacturers’ coupons. However, store coupons usually limit the number of the items that you can buy at that particular price.

Compare prices with unit pricing – When you are trying to decide between two or more grocery items that are of different brands and different sizes, make it easy on yourself by shopping using unit pricing – the price per ounce or piece. Most grocery stores and supermarkets now have the unit prices for all items posted on the shelves. Always bring a small calculator with you on your grocery shopping trips.

Get familiar with the layout of your grocery store or supermarket – Some supermarkets now have a map or diagram of the store posted on their shopping carts. Arrange your grocery-shopping list according to the store’s layout to cut down on going back and forth the same areas. Save frozen or refrigerated items for last to keep them from warming up too much

Practice safe food handling – If you have frozen or refrigerated item on your grocery list, bring along a cooler with ice packs in your car to keep these items chilled during your trip home.  If would also be a good idea to double bag fresh meats and seafood to avoid cross-contamination with fresh produce. Don’t pack raw foods that need cooking on top of food that are eaten raw.

Go home after shopping – Go straight home and get all of that food into the refrigerator and freezer as soon as possible – even if they are in a cooler.

More Tips -

Here are some more tips to consider for maximum savings:

Learn the regular prices of the items you normally use so that you will recognize good sale prices and act immediately.

Don’t waste time cutting or printing coupons for items that you don’t buy or use.

Don’t buy items that you don’t need or use just because you have coupons.

If you have the storage space or freezer space, store up or buy in bulk of items that offer good value.

Don’t buy more than you can use before the item either expires or go bad.

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