Maximize Your Savings When Using Free Coupons For Groceries

The current difficult economy and the consistent raise in food prices have made it difficult for many families to make ends meet and get enough food on the table. Many smart shoppers know that using free coupons for grocery shopping can stretch their food budget.

Grocery coupons are easy to find and easy to use. Even a casual coupon clipper can save money using coupons only once-in-awhile, but to be able to save money on a consistent basis takes time and effort. It is not unusual for experienced coupon users to save on average 60% or more on their grocery bill every month.

Coupons for groceries and other products can be found anywhere. The newspaper is still the most used means for food manufacturers to deliver coupons for their products. But now-a-days the Internet has made locating coupons a breeze. Don't overlook some not so common places as sources for your coupons, such as your local public libraries or a local coupon swap club. Keep in mind that almost all coupons have expiration dates. So don't let coupons go to waste by letting them expire, and wasting your time that it took you to collect them.

Here are some tips on how to get the most from clipping and using free coupons for groceries:

Organize your grocery coupons. If you can't find your coupons, chances are you won't use them. You need a filing system to organize your coupons to make them easy to find. No one system works for everybody. You need to try out a few systems to find the one that works for you. Two basic grouping for your coupons should be food categories or type and expiration date.

Plan ahead. Before you head out of your home to go grocery shopping, compare the week's sales flyers and target the best deals. Try to limit all your shopping to one or two supermarkets or grocery stores so you don't have to drive around town and spend money on gas. Call your favorite store and find out if they honor their competitors' sale prices on the same items.

Sign up with stores' loyalty card programs. Membership has it rewards. In the case of groceries - lower prices. Loyalty card members usually get lower prices on some items already on sale. Most stores also offer bonuses at the end of the year if you accumulate a certain number of points during the year.

Use coupons on sales items. Whenever possible, plan to use high value coupons for items when the items are on sale, especially if the store double or triple coupons. To take full advantage of this, collect multiple copies of the high value coupons and stock up on the items when their come on sale.

Know when not to use coupons for groceries. Store brand grocery items are gaining in popularity with shopper, because the products are usually less expensive than national brands and just as good if not better in quality and taste. And supermarkets are promoting their own brand more and more with sales. So if you have coupons for a national brand but the price of the store brand is still cheaper... buy the store brand and save the manufacturers coupons for another day. Try the store brand before you buy a lot of it to be sure you like it. You're wasting money if you buy something and end up throwing it away.

It doesn't take too much time to clip and use grocery coupons and a small amount of effort can save you hundreds of dollars every year on your food bill. It may take some time and tweaking before you get a system working efficiently. But in these trouble economic times, using coupons for groceries is the best way for you to save money on your food bill.

You can save money on your monthly grocery bills by using free coupons for groceries that you can get from the Internet. Buying your groceries with manufacturers coupons will save you hundreds of dollars a year. Visit www.couponsforgroceriessite.com for more ideas on where to find free grocery coupons to print from home.