Happy September…and a Happy National Coupon Month to you and yours. Yep, as odd as it sounds there is a month set aside each year to honor the much-maligned, but honorable coupon. And, there is even a group behind that effort, a trade association known as the Promotion Marketing Association Coupon Council (PMACC).

Coupon Usage Is On The Rise

According to the PMACC, shoppers are using coupons a lot, noting that for the first half of 2009 alone, coupon usage increased by twenty percent. A double-digit increase in coupon usage began in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was mere weeks after the stock market collapsed in mid-September.

“Coupons are even more influential in consumer purchasing decisions today due to the economic downturn as shoppers realize it’s the smart thing to do,” says Charles Brown, Co-Chair of the PMA Coupon Council. “Both manufacturers and retailers are promoting at a greater pace to appeal to consumers who are seeking deals to stretch their budget and changing their spending habits in ways that are expected to continue permanently, even when the economy recovers.”

What About the “Y” Generation?

Well, I’m not sure if consumers will permanently embrace coupons, but if they’re as easy as the “clipless” kind then that may hold true. Sunday and Wednesday papers traditionally have had the bulk of coupons, but with newspaper readership plunging, there is a new generation of shopper coming up who has embraced all things internet.

The trade association claims that $400 billion in discounts are available every year for shoppers including coupons. The group claims that the average American family can save about $1000 per year on their groceries by clipping, a task that they say takes only fifteen to twenty minutes a week to accomplish.

Get Organized In Order To Save

“Organization is key,” said PMA Coupon Council Co-Chair Matthew Tilley. “Many shoppers sort coupons by category and keep their coupons in a file or envelope. But no matter how you organize your coupons the point is to be sure you take them with you to the store. When it becomes part of your shopping routine, the savings can be enormous.”

How about your family? Are you clipping coupons or are you relying on a store card for savings? I’m sure there is a handful of readers who don’t clip coupons. Period. What say you?

Adv. — Visit the nBuy Shopping Plaza to find savings on all of your purchases. You can earn shopping rebates, find school supplies, and save on stuff for your car.

Tags: clipless coupons, consumer, coupons, National Coupon Month, save money, shopping

This is one in an occasional series of articles discussing money saving tips.

Saving money in a bank account is one way to create wealth, but in these days of furloughs, cut backs, debt problems and excessive national spending, consumers need to come up with some other ways to help them save cash.

To that end we’ve compiled a list of suggestions, some of which we’ve pulled out of our own archives, alongside others offered by the experts with the appropriate attribution given.

7 “Saving Money Smartly” Tips

Think Before You Buy — Impulse purchases have been the bane for many consumers over the past several decades, but tighter credit restrictions have only reduced this problem, not conquered it.  If you can control your urge to spend, you’ll find that the largest savings are realized with this step. If not, everything else I have to say probably won’t mean much to you.

Shop Day Old — The price of a loaf of 12 grain bread is now between three and four dollars. That’s a lot of money to pay for what amounts to being just six to eight servings of food.  Your supermarket probably has a section selling day old bread, take the 50% savings and see if you really notice the difference. Even artisanal bread can be had for less if you know where to shop.

Shop Big — The smaller the packaged item, the more you’ll pay for that purchase. For example, that 12 oz. jar of yellow mustard may seem to be a good deal, but that 24 oz. jar is priced only 50% more although you are seeing a 100% increase in content. Of course, if you’re the only one using the mustard than the bigger jar will go to waste, but if you have a family then bigger is almost always better from a price per ounce standpoint.

Toss The House Phone — If you connect to the internet via cable, do you really need to deal with the phone company anymore? Maybe not. Landlines — your house phone — could be redundant especially if you rely on your cell phone to stay connected. Consider getting rid of the home phone especially if your usage is way down. Hook up with Skype to get a voice over internet protocol or VOIP connection for just a few dollars a month if you still want another line.

Clip Those Coupons — Cutting coupons is almost a national pasttime, but thankfully you don’t need to deal with paper and scissors all that much anymore. Some of the best grocery store savings can be realized by using your store’s consumer card, a plastic card the size of your credit card which allows the store to track your purchases while giving you great savings on select products each time you shop.

Manage Your Prescriptions — Your days of paying too much for prescriptions should be over. At least for the more common prescription medicines most people use.  Unless you have a need for a specific or uncommon prescription, you may be able to use a generic equivalent and pay only a few dollars a month through your local WalMart, CVS or other store offering low cost prescriptions. Some stores still offer customers up to $20 to switch, so consider taking these stores up on that offer too.

Keep The Change — Our family has managed to save hundreds of dollars every year by setting up various “keep the change” schemes. All of our pocket change goes into a “kitty” and we also have an arrangement with our bank to subtract an extra dollar from our account every time that we use a debit card or write a check. We have other savings methods but these are the easiest and most painless ones to do.

Check Back For Our Next List

We’ll be rolling out a fresh list next month, so please check back for updates. Feel free to hit the reply button to this article if you have a great tip of your own. Who knows, but we many just mention your tip and your website in an upcoming feature article!

Adv. — Are you looking for additional ways to save? If so, visit nBuy Shopping Plaza where we offer links to some of the best savings online including food items, books, bargain basement and more.

Tags: artisanal bread, coupons, internet telephony, prescriptions, VOIP

In 2008, consumers were shocked to see gas prices spike, hurtling past the four dollar a gallon mark and forcing many families to rethink their vacation plans. But gasoline wasn’t the only commodity to increase in price as food prices surged as well, in part because delivery costs increased while demand for some items, such as certain grain products, outstripped supply.

Though gasoline and food prices have retreated from last summer’s highs, there is something else that could threaten costs, possibly putting undue pressure on millions of families. Inflation, which hasn’t reared its ugly head in more than a generation, is poised to make a come back. The culprit? Government debt, including the $700 billion TARP bail out last fall, the proposed $900 billion “stimulus” bill and the likely multi-trillion dollars in additional expenditures coming our way.

All debt must be repaid and it is often left up to succeeding generations to pay off what they’ve inherited. In the meantime, that debt will have to be handled meaning that more monies will go toward servicing that debt than what you have been paying thus far. Likely, by 2010, we’ll see taxes increase across the board which will put pressure on prices to start moving upwards. No one knows how much of a hit we’ll be faced with or when it will kick in, but it will happen.

Stock Up And Save

One way that families can prepare for higher prices is to purchase some of their goods now in advance of price increases. When it comes to food, certain items have a long shelf life and can be kept for many months. This means that you could purchase food items at today’s more reasonable prices and use them many months out when food prices begin to rise. Regardless of when the impact of the federal debt kicks in, higher gas prices this summer will start to move food prices upward as well.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension of Virginia State University has published guidelines for food storage, but we’ll only take a look at long shelf life items, the foods you’ll want to buy in bulk now for later use.

Dried Fruit – If never opened, dried fruits can last for up to six months. Meanwhile, canned fruits and fruit juice have a longer shelf life, up to one year. You’ll want to follow temperature guidelines as extreme temperatures can ruin or shorten the lifespan of what you are storing.

Dry Milk – Fresh dairy milk will last 8 to 20 days, though it is possible to freeze milk and thaw it out months later for consumption. Dry milk, which is often a good alternative to fresh milk, can be stored under cool conditions in an airtight package for up to one year. Evaporated milk has a longer shelf life, 12-23 months.

Corn Meal – At room temperature, corn meal can last for a full year while refrigerating it extends its life to eighteen months, or two full years if frozen. Flour can also last for a full year and for two years if frozen.

Pasta – One of the most popular meals in many family households is one that includes pasta. And for good reason too: pasta is filling, wholesome and has a long two year shelf life.

Rice – Last summer, there was a huge worldwide rush on rice as people who rely upon this staple thought that there was going to be a shortage. Prices spiked and stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club began to limit the number of bags customers could purchase. Brown rice lasts six months; white rice for a full year.

Meats – Besides refrigeration, having meats on hand can be a challenge, unless you are willing to go with the canned variety. Canned ham will last a full year as will corned beef and chili. Most other canned meats will also last a full year including everyone’s favorite mystery meat, spam.

Fish – Like meat, fish has a one year shelf when canned. Includes tuna fish.

Of course, anything that is opened will see its shelf life drastically reduced, perhaps down to just a few days for some items. If buying in bulk, you can transfer items to new, sealable containers, and mark the date on them when it should be used.

Save On Groceries

Besides storage, there are some other ways you can save on groceries, perhaps trimming as much as 30-50% off of your food budget:

Buy Sale Items – You don’t have to be a coupon clipper to save at the grocery store, in fact some items are “clipless” requiring only a store program card to reap savings. Take out your weekly circular and choose those items which are on sale. In many cases, you’ll be limited to four of each, but you can still come away with significant savings.

Shop Wholesale – Sam’s Club, BJ’s and Costco offer wholesale savings on food items, especially big bulky foodstuffs. If you live in an area where there is a food co-op, consider joining for additional savings. At one time in our nation’s history, food cooperatives were the rage. Likely, we’ll see a comeback in them as prices climb.

Shop Discount – The largest discount store in the country is Aldi’s, a German owned food store that also owns Trader Joe’s. With Aldi’s you can find the similar items to what your grocer offers at prices which are far lower than the supermarket. A full 95% of the items are Aldi branded items, some of which compare quite well to name brand foods.

Clip Coupons – Coupon clipping was popular all through the post-WWII era and beyond. Sunday papers and Wednesday inserts make buying your local newspapers worthwhile. Some families buy multiple issues of the Sunday paper, scour for coupons, and then head off to the store for significant savings. Couponing takes a lot of work, but the savings can be phenomenal.

Relying On Yourself And Others

Relying on the government to provide for you could be a strategy that brings you much grief. America has always thrived on self-reliance (with neighborly help) and innovation, two attributes we’ll all need in the months and years ahead whether we’re buying food for our families, saving money, or paying down our debt.

Resources

27 Ways To Save Money On Food

Building A Family Budget

Food Storage Guidelines For Consumers

Tips To Reduce Family Living Costs

Why You Should NOT Eat Out and 20 Easy Recipes

Tags: Aldi's, canned food, coupons, fish, food, groceries, grocery store, meat, shopping, supermarket, tuna

Are you feeling financially pinched? Are you getting sticker shock every time that you grocery shop? You’re not alone! Higher fuel prices and a flat economy are conspiring together to make many consumers feel ill at ease. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to manage your finances during these slow times. Let’s take a look at some money saving tips to help you keep more of your money.

Shop Elsewhere — It could be time for you to ditch your favorite grocer or at least take the bulk of your shopping elsewhere. Speaking of bulk, warehouse stores such as BJs and Costco sell just about everything in larger quantities saving you 10-30% on your weekly shopping bill.

Eat Out Less — Mostly everyone enjoys eating out on a regular basis. You don’t have to stop this practice completely, but if you are in the habit of dining out two or more nights per week, then cut back to one night and pocket the savings.

Work From Home, Carpool, or Public Transportation — Will gasoline well above $3 per gallon and the average commute taking a half hour or longer, the hit your pocketbook takes every time you start up your car quickly adds up. You may not be able to convince your boss to allow you to work from home, but you could show her that once a week makes sense. Otherwise, carpool to work or consider public transportation.

Stop The Plastic – Using credit cards can be an expensive habit. Using them and keeping monthly balances will cost you plenty. That 25% discount you got when you bought your new wardrobe at Macy’s disappears if you don’t pay off your credit card balance immediately.

Cut Out The Excess — If you have cable television, do you need HBO or cinema options? Dump what you don’t use and save $10- $15 monthly. For your phone bill, combine your phone, long and local calling, cable, and internet access to one service provider — save $30 to $50 monthly. Cancel whatever magazine or newspaper subscriptions you do not need, buy your lattes from McDonald’s instead of Starbucks, and use coupons when food shopping.

Pay Off Your Debts — Wherever possible, pay off a car loan, a credit card, or other debt to free yourself of a financial burden. Use the savings to stay ahead of rising costs and always shop around before making any major purchase.

Saving money comes simply if you are determined to find ways to curtail your spending. Saving a little bit here and a little bit there will add up, keeping you ahead of the game and removing much stress from your life.

See Also: Debt Reduction Tips

Tags: BJs, budget, Costco, coupons, discounts, money, Sam's Club