A Guide to Couponing: America's Coupon Craze

America's Coupon Craze: A GUIDE TO COUPONING The coupon boom is sweeping through the country like never before, and when it comes to saving on household expenses, income bracket and social status don't matter. THE BASICS $1 discount until march 30th Coupons can't be used more than once. Coupons can only be used for the Only one coupon Copying coupons is illegal. Coupons may be used on clearance Ignore the nice picture and focus on the coupon's printed information, Expiration dates on coupons can't be negotiated. is allowed per described item. item. or sale items. COUPONS IN NUMBERS In 2011, 27% of coupons required the purchase of multiple items. 2010 2011 AVERAGE SAVINGS PER COUPON Coupon Slang $1.44 $1.54 TOTAL VALUE OF COUPONS DISTRIBUTED $485 billion $470 billion BOGO = Buy One Get One Free TOTAL SAVINGS $4.6 billion SSS $37 bilion DOUBLE COUPON = Grocery store doubles its value 332 billion coupons were distributed in 2010, but only 3.3 billions redeemed. Only 0.98% of value IP = Internet Printable Coupon MIR = Mail In Rebate redeemed! NED = No Expiration Date DID YOU KNOW THAT OYNO = On Your Next Order PEELIE = A coupon you peel off a package PSA = Prices Starting At 42% of Q = Coupon STACKING = Using a store and a manufacturer coupon together on the same item smartphone or tablet users Moms. have used a mobile WYB = When You Buy coupon are twice as likely to search for coupons online as other An hour of couponing yields about in savings. $100 women. Average expiration length of a coupon: ....... NOV OCT 99 weeks. WHERE TO FIND COUPONS? $$ $$* STORE MAILINGS A frequent shopper card might put you in a special coupon mailing list. AT THE STORE ONLINE Free grocery coupon sites have tons of printable coupons! Look on shelves, on the packaging of products, on the back of receipts and at the register. DIRECTLY FROM NEWSPAPERS THE MANUFACTURER AND MAGAZINE INSERTS Check the company's site for printable JUNK MAIL Check before coupons. you toss! r GROUPON.COM 11.80 LEADING COUPONING SITES TOP COUPONING mistakes 1 Using coupons on things you don't really need. WhaleShark Media 7.50 LivingSocial 6.70 Coupons, Inc. 6.30 U.S. 2ND QUARTER 2012. Missing out on stacking opportunities AVERAGE MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS (in millions) Not following specific-size requirements and guidelines. CLOSED DealsPL.US 1.80 MyPoints Sites 1.60 ORGREED.COM CouponAlert.com Not reading the coupon's fine print or having no knowledge of the store's policy. BrandsDeals.com 2.10 1.50 Not using coupons on items that are already on sale. FatWallet.com 1.30 %24 ORGANIZE YOUR COUPONS Ways to sort them out: How to store them: necial offer! PRODUCT Regular household items like plastic sandwich bags, envelopes, or a shoebox can be helpful. BY PRODUCT TYPE Want something a bit more official? Try using an index card box or a binder with clear trading card sheets. BY EXPIRATION From january 3rd to ma ch 30th DATE V For a more sophisticated solution, look up coupon organizing software. ALPHABETICALLY REFERENCES frugalliving.about.com abcnews.go.com statista.com CREDIT SEASON statisticbrain.com coupons.org couponing 101.com debt.org WWW.CREDITSEASON.COM © 2012 CreditSeason.com