Tuesday 31 July 2012

Top 5 Couponing Strategies

Couponing can be a fantastic way to save money and cut back on household expenses. However, it’s not nearly as easy as you think it would be. Many people attempt to try couponing not realizing how difficult it is and they quickly become aware that it’s a difficult task to endure. Here are my top five couponing strategies that I teach to anyone trying to get into the hobby of couponing:

Learn Your Coupon Sources

A few decades ago the only place you would be able to find coupons is in your local newspaper but now couponers have access to printable coupons thanks to Coupons.com and Coupon Network, online coupon codes, and mobile coupons. We have a huge variety of where we can find coupons, so lets utilize it!

Organize Your Coupons

You won’t get anywhere with couponing if you don’t get yourself organized. You should find a binder and organize your coupons by date. Most coupons have an expiry date so that’s what you need to go by so you don’t waste a coupon.

Buy in Bulk

One of the best ways to utilize Target coupons is to buy your products in bulk. When the product is on sale and you have coupons for it, take advantage of that and buy the product in large quantities.

Give Up Brand Loyalty

If you are someone who is “loyal” to particular brands, than couponing is not for you. A couponer is aiming to do one thing and one thing only, save money. If you only buy products from a certain brand, than it doesn’t matter if you have coupons for other brands or not because you wont use them.

Only Buy What You Need

When many people start couponing, they literally just starting purchasing any products that they find coupons for – this is defeating the purpose of saving your money. It’s great that you have a coupon for a particular product, but if you are never going to use that product than you just wasted that money. So before you go plurging on all types of products, just ask yourself “Will I actually use this?”.

Hopefully these tips will help you the next time you’re couponing at your local grocery store. And remember the best time to go to the grocery store when you’re going to use grocery coupons, Target coupons is early weekday morning when it’s quiet and you don’t have to worry about long line ups at the stores.

Friday 20 July 2012

5 Tips for Saving on Your Summer Vacation

Tis the season for summer vacationing! We all love taking a little road trip, jetting off somewhere, or taking a staycation, but vacations can also be hard on your budget. Here are some tips and resources that will help you cut back on your vacation expenses and keep you on budget.

Restaurant.com

Of course when your traveling with your family, you don’t usually have time to prepare home cooked meals so you usually end up eating out most of the time. Eating out for three per day for 3-4 people can soon add up to a very hefty bill. So check out Restaurant.com for coupons, ecoupons , target coupons and daily deals on restaurants that you can use while your on vacation to save.

Citypass.com

If you are going to one city in particular, you can search for a city pass. These are great! Basically, you purchase the city pass and you usually have access to multiple events, things to do, and attractions. It’s a great way to help you save hundreds on tickets and passes that you would buy individually.

Expedia.com

If you are required to fly to your destination, try to book as far ahead in advance as possible so you don’t get hit with a larger than normal plane ticket price. Expedia.com is one that I use quick regularly as it basically provides me all the search results for all flights and then I can choose the cheapest. However, there are other websites as well such as Hotwire.com, Orbitz.com, Kayak.com, Travelocity.com, and Priceline.com

Groupon.com

I’m a HUGE fan of Groupon and if I’m going to go on vacation to a particular city, I always sign up for email alerts from Groupon for that city. Again, a great way to get great deals that allow you to do more while on vacation.Groupon has attraction deals, restaurant deals, shopping deals, household coupons and entertainment deals on a daily basis.

AirBNB.com

This is a fairly new up and coming website that allows home owners to post their home, condo, or dwelling as a vacation rental for vacationers to save money. You can view their profile, owners get reviews from past renters, and these owners usually charge a fraction of the price that you’ll end up spending on a hotel.