How to Save Money and Time Using Internet Coupons and Codes

Online Discounts 365 Days a Year

Clipping coupons is not new; it’s a time honored tradition of every homemaker from your grandmother in Brooklyn to the single dad down the street. And while not much has changed with the printed coupon, a good deal has changed thanks to the internet.

Online coupon sites have sprung up with frightening speed, and thank goodness for that. With the advent of online couponing comes a significant reduction in time necessary to find the coupons, an extended variety of coupons available (far more than you can receive in those circulars on Sunday) and the ease and convenience of being able to search for the right coupon to match your need, when it arises, rather than settling for a secondary product just because this week your circular had a coupon for it.

A great place to start is at www.coupons.com, www.couponmom.com, and Savings.com to find free printable coupons for grocery and convenience products. You can also go to the manufactures sites; publish their own coupons regularly.

Discount codes and promotional codes (promo codes) are a special combination of letters and numbers that you enter in at the time you purchase something online that allows the buyer to receive a discount. It is used by the seller to track just where the purchaser saw their product when they decided to buy it.

Using internet coupon sites and promo codes allows us to find the coupon for the right product we desire 365 days a year, and it only takes minutes. By the way, more and more retailers are publishing their advertising and coupon circulars online each week so you can save more by not purchasing that newspaper.

Another website you will want to visit is www.retailmenot.com. This site is particularly popular because the visitors here recommend coupons and codes that they have used giving you more confidence that when you go to the store to use the coupon, the discount will be honored by the retailer. This site is also easily searched to find the deal you want. At this site you will find both coupons and discount codes. Sometimes both can be combined for additional savings.

Did you know that Google has a tool to help you find discounts? When you are on the Google search page there is a drop-down menu when you click the “more” tab on the right. There you will find a choice called blogs. Next, all you have to do is fill in the item that you are looking for in the search box and you will be transported to dozens of blogs providing information on price discounts for that item. And because blogs are constantly updated you are sure that the information is current. You can also select “shopping” from this menu and enter the item you are searching for. Google will return results displaying places that you can purchase the item with pictures and prices. Compare the prices and find the best value.

Another interesting website is www.shopittome.com, which is very much like your own personal shopper. You enter the item you are looking for and the website will search on line for sales and report back its findings. I recently used this service to find a pair of Nike cross-training sneakers. I entered my size and I received an email alert when the best deal was found. I saved $42 on the pair which retails for $127.

Something that has been around for nearly a decade is the shopping bot. A shopping bot is a website that acts like a robot crawling though the web to discover all the prices from different retailers. It then displays the results in any order you wish, such as from lowest price to highest or from closest to your location to furthest. These sites can track prices over time so you can wait for the price to drop to a level you are comfortable with. You can even set a price point at which you want the site to alert you. When the price drops to that level, the site sends you an e-mail. It's a great way to research big ticket items. Examples of these are www.pricegrabber.com, www.nextag.com and www.pricingcentral.com.

Here are some additional tips for maximizing your coupon savings and experience:

• Plan your meals and shopping lists around the items you will be saving on with your new coupons.
• Try to use coupons when the item is on sale; this is especially true for food and home goods purchases.
• Stock up on common items when they hit their lowest price.
• Be flexible about brands you buy and stores where you shop.
• Know how your stores savings programs work. Do they have "buy one, get one free" deals? Do they double coupons?  Do they have special store coupons?