Dawn of the Geeks

The Sunday Paper is one of the most valuable papers you will find. In it are contained dozens of coupons for products you already buy. The Arizona Republic costs $2 a week for Sunday only. The East Valley Tribune is $240.24 for 52 weeks or about $4.62 per week. The East Valley Tribune doesn’t have a Sunday only subscription like the Arizona Republic does. Research major papers in your area to find the cheapest way to get the Sunday paper. You may even save money by just walking down to the local convienence store and paying the newstand price.

In addition to the Sunday paper there are a number of sources to find coupons on-line including http://www.coupons.com. The selection of on-line coupons tends to be very small compared to what you can find in the Sunday paper.

Often grocery stores will multiply coupons up to a certain amount so for example a 50 cent coupon could end up saving you a dollar or two dollars. Lose any concept you may have of store loyalty. When prices are comparable, fine, go to the store you like most. But don’t pass up savings just because it’s not the store you usually go to. Stores don’t have customer loyalty. There’s no point in being loyal to stores.

With only a few coupons a week you can easily pay for the paper and then some. One of the tricks with coupons is that coupons tend to come out when the item is not on sale but do not expire until after the item goes on sale. Unless you need an item now, keep the coupon until the item goes on sale or use the coupon on the last possible day. And if the last possible day rolls around and you decide you don’t need the item, throw the coupon away.

Part of the purpose of coupons (from the marketing standpoint) is to get you to muddy your view of wants and needs. Buying items you wouldn’t normally buy just because you have a coupon is a good way to lose money. Buying an item that isn’t on sale just because eyou have a coupon is a good way to spend more money than you need to.

Buy only things you need and try to minimize the price you pay by waiting for sales and coupons.

You will find that the Sunday paper will save you hundreds of dollars per year for a very small investment.