Are You a Clueponer?

Part of the reason why I set this blog up in the first place was for a challenge. I wanted to be able to put my experiment out there for all to see. And who knows, maybe it'll encourage someone out there that they can do it too. I've been relentlessly devouring as much information as I can and as a newbie it is a little overwhelming. As stupid as this may sound, I never thought that stores would have different coupon policies. I figured they were all the same, but I was wrong, of course. That's why I'm a clueless couponer, or Clueponer for short. So for you other newbies like me, here are a few things I've learned that you might just want to know:

- Manufacturer coupons that are under a dollar can be doubled at certain places (check your store's policy). For example, let's say you have a coupon for 50 cents off a can of corn. If your store doubles coupons, then that coupon turns into a dollar off instead. Here's the catch...even if they do double coupons, doesn't mean they will literally double the amount. For instance, a different coupon for corn is 75 cents, which means it's under a dollar and subjected to be doubled. The thing is, you won't get $1.50 off because the most a retailer will give you for a double coupon is a dollar. So for the 75 cent coupon, the store will add an extra 25 cents to bring your savings up to a dollar. You have have to pay attention to the coupons because even if a store will double, some manufacturer coups will say "do not double".

- When a coupon says "one per purchase", it may be a little bit confusing if you're new to this. Before, I thought it meant I could only get just one, but really what it means is one coupon per item. Not that if I were to buy five of the same things that I'd have to do five different transactions. It just means that if I'm buying five, I can use five of the same coupons in that one transaction so there's one that's applied to each item.

- Even when your coupons expire, they are still good. Send them overseas to our soldiers. They are allowed to use them six months past their expiration date.