Handing over coupons at the checkout used to be considered very uncool but these days, no-one bats an eyelid. Why? Because ultimately, we’re all looking for ways to spend less and coupons and discount codes are fast becoming a recognized way to do this. If you’re not already using coupons at the grocery store or finding discount codes for shopping online, you’re missing out on great ways to save more. Want to know more? Here are some tips for getting started with coupons and discount codes.

How You Can Save Money with Coupons

Using coupons is a great way to help you to save money, but contrary to popular opinion, you can use more than one at the time. Here are a couple of ways that the most savvy coupon users get the most out of their coupons:

Time it right. You can often use coupons on items that have been discounted, which is a great way to maximize the savings. You’ll get the best savings if you use a high-value coupon that is offering a sizeable discount when the item in question is selling for less than its full price, even if it means that you have to wait to buy it.

Double up. If you can combine coupons from store circulars with other coupons, you can reap the benefits of coupons.

How to Find Coupons and Discount Codes

If you’re new to the idea of using coupons and discount codes to get bargains, here are some of the places that you can find them:

Store circulars. Grocery stores usually have a circular to inform shoppers of the offers that are currently available.  You may also be able to find up-to-date coupons to use in-store. However, these tend to be date specific so if you don’t use them quickly, they won’t be valid for later use.

Blogs. There are lots of blogs dedicated to the art of online coupons and some of these even do the hard work for you by comparing the various coupons available to determine which offer the best value. Likewise, there are various sites which bring together discount codes so that you don’t have to spend hours tracking them down for yourself.

Inserts in Sunday papers. Many of the Sunday papers have inserts containing coupons galore.

Manufacturer’s websites. If you visit the websites of brands and manufacturers, you will often come across coupons that can be downloaded and printed off, particularly for newly-launched products, to entice you to buy them.

Grocery store websites. Many grocery stores now have an Internet presence, and you’ll often be able to find coupons and loyalty offers here to up the potential savings.

Social media. Many brands are now on Facebook or Twitter and you can receive exclusive discounts if you follow them or like their page. These are often in the form of discount codes for online shopping rather than printable coupons for in-store shopping. Signing up to receive email newsletters from retailers can also be a good way to receive incentives and many will include a printable coupon or more commonly a discount code for online shopping within the email.

Internet searches. If you’re after coupons or discounts from a specific retailer, a simple search for ‘(brand name) coupons’ or ‘(brand name) discount codes’ can bring up lots of potential results. It can be quite time-consuming though to sift through and find results that are still current so you may find it more useful to use one of the many sites that are dedicated to finding coupons and discount codes as these will often make it a lot easier to see what is available from specific brands or retailers.

If you’re not already clued-up on using coupons and discount codes, you’re missing a big trick as far as saving money goes. It can be time-consuming to find relevant coupons and codes (less so if you go straight to the coupon and discount code websites that do most of the work for you) but it is well worth the effort if you can knock something off your bill at the checkout!

So, do you use coupons, and if so, where do you find the best deals?