How to Use Online Coupon Codes Like a Boss!

Happy  Money Monday, Tandem fans.  We’ve all seen those news reports where someone buys three shopping carts full of groceries for $1.47. Ever want to learn how to do it yourself?  DealNews.com has Never Pay Full Price: The Ultimate Guide to Online Coupon Codes to get big savings.  Among their tips:

Coupons are easiest to find if you have already decided which store you want to purchase from. If you visit the Coupon Center here at DealNews, you can use the “Find a Store” search box on the right side of the page to type in the store name. You can also use the main search box at the very top of the page. This will take you to the store page, where you can find both coupons and deals for that particular store.

You can also do a general Internet search. We find that it typically suffices to enter the store name and the term “coupons” in Google or your preferred search engine (ex. Best Buy coupons). This should bring up a wide variety of sources for finding coupons for that store.

Perhaps you don’t know what store you want to purchase from, but you know the item you want to buy. If you are set on a particular model of TV, for instance, you can search the model number on DealNews to see if any deals are listed for it. Using the model number is a quick way to pinpoint the exact item you are looking for. If you don’t see a current deal, you may have to take it a step further and find out which stores are selling the item that you want. Use a search engine like Google to type in the model number, or a combination of brand and model number, to find stores that sell the item. Determine which of the stores you would feel comfortable purchasing from and, from there, you can use the search by store technique to find out if any coupons are available.

Not Finding Any Coupons? Try Signing Up for Emails or Go Social

There are some stores that rarely or never offer coupon codes, so you may not find anything when you search. But, there are still a few other ways to find a discount. Certain stores will send you a coupon right away if you sign up for their emails. Some of the coupons sent to email subscribers may be one-time use codes, which means the code is generated to be unique to that subscriber and can only be used once. At other times, clicking through a link in the store’s email is the only way to get the discount. As such, you generally won’t see these offers listed on coupon and deal sites.

You can also check all of the store’s social media pages. Liking or following a store on social media outlets like Facebook or Twitter may notify you of a coupon. Even if you don’t have an account at one of these sites, you may still be able to view the store’s page to see a coupon listed exclusively there.

You might even contact the store to ask if they have any coupons available. If you have never ordered from the store before, you are in a particularly good position to do this, as stores are more likely to have discounts to attract new customers. In any case, it doesn’t hurt to try.

In the absence of any coupons, you might find that one store’s price without a coupon is better than another store’s price with one. That TV you’ve had your eye on may come out at a better price at a store like Walmart or Best Buy without a code, especially considering whether free shipping is offered. You’ll want to calculate all of the actual costs involved before making a decision on where to purchase.

Read the whole series here.