How To Coupon: Use 'Em of Lose 'Em! - How to Coupon - Cooking

How To Coupon: Use ‘Em or Lose ‘Em!

No Comments | Written on May 11, 2012 at 9:00 am, by Rachel Achmad

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Avid couponers know that it’s a good idea to sort through your coupons twice a month, just before the second and last Sundays. Why? Because those are the dates when most coupons expire. In other words: use ‘em of lose ‘em!

Not long ago, coupons used to be valid for months. Occasionally, I’ll still see a coupon that’s good for three months or more, but it’s far more likely now that they’ll expire within six weeks. Manufacturers issue coupons as marketing strategies, and they want them to work fast.

That’s doubly the case when you encounter a new food product on the shelves, particularly one that looks experimental. Chances are that any coupons issued for such products will have a very short time frame — but the trade off is that the coupons are usually a great deal.

This just happened with a product called Silk Fruit and Protein. It’s a soy milk/juice smoothie, and it has “new product experiment” written all over it. Sure enough, I’ve already encountered high-value coupons in my inserts and a store sale. (By high value, I mean a coupon that is 75 cents or more off just one carton, as opposed to a dollar off, say, three cartons).

Since my store doubles coupons, that means $1.50 off a single a carton, and since my store sale had them on sale at $2 each — cha-ching! — I got them for a mere 50 cents. Their regular price? More than $3!

The manufacturers got their wish: for me to try their new product, and I got my wish: a cheap and healthy after-school snack for my kids. There was even plenty left over for breakfast the next day. If this product is hit, though, those coupons will vanish and be replaced by much lower-value ones, or none at all. So take advantage of these deals while you can!