Pick up those coupons

About a week ago I was at one of our two local grocery stores. As I was walking through I noticed that they had one stack of coupons on the side of the cooler for meats. I had never seen anything there before, so I stopped to check out what the coupons were for. They were buy one get one free for Bistro Naturals sausages or hot dogs. It looks like maybe they are introducing a new product and are offering coupons to encourage you to try them. Finding hot dogs and sausages that don't have nitrates and are made from meat that is not mechanically separated and yet economical is not always easy, so this looked like a bargain to me! This is not the time you take one coupon, you check the expiration date (4/30/09) and ask yourself how many you could use. Honestly, I took all that was left and gave some to a friend. I bought four packages to try them out. There is no use in stocking up on them if we don't like them. Well, we did like them so the next time I was at that store I checked and they had some packages marked 50 cents off because they were within one week of their sell by date. So, I bought all 10 packages they had marked down and used my coupons. I brought them home and put them in the freezer and we'll enjoy them on the BBQ this summer. I got those 12 ounce packages of sausages for not the full price of $3.29, but buy one get one free, plus the $.50 off because it was near the sell by date, for $1.15! Now that is a deal!

When you see coupons while you are shopping, they may not be a great deal that day, but if it is something you use, pick up a coupon (or two or three) because it might become a better deal later. Our grocery store also had coupons for $1.50 off a package of Oreo's if you buy a gallon of milk. It wasn't a great deal this week. But if Oreo's go on sale and I need milk anyway, it could be a good deal in the weeks to come.

I don't use coupons for lots of things, but this time, I think I saved big.