How often do you go to the grocery store and dread going through the checkout?  You know that the few simple items you need will somehow turn out to be a shopping cart full of stuff, bringing your total up dollar by dollar.  As the total rises, you begin to feel guilty about some of the things you bought; you begin to wonder how you can continue to purchase food and household items for your family with such a limited income; or, maybe you’re one of those folks that simply want to save some money when it comes to shopping.  Well, let’s begin.
The use of coupons has been around since 1888.  Coca-Cola was the first company to ever issue a coupon for a free item, therefore creating a chain of events that would eventually lead to coupons being used by more than 70% of American citizens.  Couponing has been looked down upon for many years.  It was thought that the only people who used coupons were single mothers, parents without jobs, large families, or simply families that didn’t have enough money for purchase of normal household and grocery items.  This idea has kept many people from using coupons, and in my belief, has put even more people in severe debt. 
When it comes to people that actually decide to use coupons, they normally approach the process at the completely wrong angle.  They need some toilet paper for the house, so they scrounge through their coupons to find one for a dollar off, then they run to the grocery store and purchase the item.  They still end up paying almost full price for the purchase; therefore, making the coupon nearly useless.  I’m going to explain a rough overview of when to properly use coupons.
A general formula that most “Couponers” use, is to apply a coupon to a sale item, then use your store loyalty card/program for extra discounts.  A safe rule of thumb is to never use a coupon on an item that is not on sale.  Certain items go on “sale cycles” every few weeks (different, depending on your location; normally six weeks in the Tennessee area) and that is when the coupon with the highest value needs to be applied.  Let’s say a bottle of ranch dressing normally sells for $3, but you have a coupon for a dollar-off; most people would go to the store and use the coupon without thinking about the “system”, yet I would wait until the item goes on sale. 
For example, we’ll assume that you get the coupon on July 1st and then the dressing goes on sale right after that.  Chances are the sale will last for a few weeks, the price will continue to drop, and right before the sale ends the item will be at, what we call, it’s Rock Bottom Price (RBP.)  It is at this point that you should apply your coupon and purchase the item.  So, for the dressing let’s assume its RBP is $1.50, seeing as how you have a dollar-off coupon, you can purchase the item for only fifty cents, compared to three dollars.  Quite a savings! 
As you can see, there is a system to using coupons that most people don’t take the time to learn. Yet, if you take the time to master this system. You can have some great savings.  Some “Couponers” will turn a simple trip to the grocery store into a massive stockpiling trip.  They will purchase several hundred dollars worth of items, sometimes even thousands, and end up paying less than $100.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to do that for your family?  Next week, we’ll discuss how to properly use coupons to get the best value for your purchase. 
Don’t forget to check out my column page on Facebook by searching for “Saving Dollars & Making Sense.”  If you have a question, feel free to message me on Facebook or email me at  savingdollarsandmakingsense@gmail.com.
I may also be hosting a workshop here within the next month discussing the things I’ve written about thus far, as well as things I’ve yet to write about.
So if you’re interested, just keep that in mind as well.