Times are very tough in this new economy. There no longer seems to be room for pride when trying to survive. Sometimes government assistance is necessary until you can get on your feet. Many are reluctant though as they do not want to be seen as disadvantaged.
One way to save money is by couponing. With a little preparation before grocery shopping, you can really stretch your food dollars. The following is a step-by-step guide to couponing.
1. Learn your store’s coupon policy. This is very important because you will have to know how many coupons they take, whether they honor other store’s coupons and if they double up on coupons. If you find out your store’s rules before you go, you will save a lot of time and frustration.
2. Look at the weekly sales paper and circle the products you use that are on sale. Clipping coupons doesn’t necessarily mean that you clip every coupon you see. You need to find out which food products are on sale so you can target those deals with coupons. This is an extra deal on top of the sale. This will also enable you to go to the store and not waste time finding the products you’ve pre-selected to buy.
3. Gather coupons on those products from your local newspaper, online and in the store. This step is important as the more coupons on products you want to purchase the better. Do not forget about the coupons that you can print from online. Once you have your coupons, find out how many you can use with each purchase.
4. Take time to calculate your savings before you go into the store. You should be able to know how much you will save.
If done correctly you can severely cut your grocery bill thereby eventually no longer needing food stamps, but definitely stretching your grocery dollars each month.
Source: About.com