subject: Extreme Couponing - How To Extreme Coupon Right, 2 Important Lessons [print this page] Are you a conscientious shopper looking to get the best bang for your buck?
Do you want to save money through extreme couponing and coupon shopping? If so, you are a part of a growing pool of shoppers who increasingly recognize the great rewards of using coupons for your purchases. Much as the idea of couponing seems simple, shopping with coupons do come with its share of challenges at times. Merchants do have a few tricks up their sleeves. The good news is that if you prepared, you will maximize your chances of success easily. Here are two examples potential challenges that shoppers could face when using coupons.
One of the tricks that I've experienced is the merchant sending out coupons a few days to a few weeks ahead of the date the coupon will go into effect. If you look at most coupons, they usually have validation days printed on them. A lot of them have no beginning dates but they include ending dates, such as "Valid up till Dec 31, 2011".
However, some include beginning dates as well, and that is where you need to take a closer look. There are some merchants who will send out coupons ahead of the day the coupon is valid. One reason could be that they are hoping that this will attract some folks into their stores without and these unfortunate shoppers will end up having to pay the full prices without any coupon discount benefits.
Now, even if have checked that the coupons are valid for the days that you are visiting the stores, there are still other challenges that you may face. Some stores will not re-stock any of the items that are being advertised to be on sale or discounted by having these coupons. That means when whatever items they have in stock in sold out, shoppers will not be able to buy them anymore. If you are lucky, some stores may be kind enough to offer rain checks, but there is little guarantee for stores to do that.
How to coupon effectively then? If you are up for the challenge of extreme couponing and beating out the merchants or other shoppers in your quest to optimize all the benefits of the coupons you receive, here is some advice. Based on the above scenarios, you want to check the validation dates of the coupons you are using. You will also want to get to the store early on the date the coupon sale starts, to ensure your best chances of securing these coupon sale items.
