RoxanneMany people shy away from using coupons because they feel it involves too much work. After all, to find coupons, you have to scour through local magazines and newspapers, cut out and save ones you may use, then lug them to the store. Right? Not necessarily, as you can still use that old-fashioned method of finding coupons, or you can use the Internet, apps, and more to get discounts with ease.
Here are several items you should never purchase without a coupon, plus ways to find those discounts for fuss-free savings.
1. Restaurant Food
While you should limit eating out on a limited budget, we know that’s hard to do since drive-thrus, restaurants, and the like are so convenient when you’re short on time. To cut these sometimes necessary costs, find discounts by:
- Looking through the Valpak you get in the mail that is often packed with coupons for local restaurants. You can also use Valpak.com to find discounts in your area.
- Finding chain restaurant coupons through the Coupon Sherpa app.
- Using Groupon for online coupons to restaurants.
- Downloading the app for your favorite restaurants (if they exist) or signing up for their email newsletters on their websites so you can get discounts sent directly to your email address.
Using Google to search for coupons or promo codes for specific restaurants online.
2. Clothing
One of the easiest items to find coupons for is clothing. You can download apps for your favorite stores to get a steady stream of savings or subscribe to their email newsletters. If you’ve made prior purchases, you’ll probably get coupons sent to your mailbox.
The best way to save cash when buying clothes is to shop online versus in-store. When you do and are ready to check out, search for store coupons via Google or sites like Offers.com, RetailMeNot, or Coupons.com. Even better, you can have an app like Honey downloaded to your browser, so whenever you are ready to check out, it will scan the web for coupons and apply those discounts automatically, so you never overpay.
While some may not consider jewelry to be clothing, you should never buy it without a coupon either. The best times to buy jewelry are during holiday sales, but you can often find massive discounts via RetailMeNot or Google. As with everything else on this list, never pay until you search for a coupon first.
3. Car Services
Cars, gas, and the like are pretty expensive nowadays, and they can take out a massive chunk of your monthly budget. Here are several ways to use coupons to cut your car-related costs:
- Before getting an oil change, look for a coupon online via Google, the shop’s website, or Groupon. You can also find them in the local Valpak.
- Look for car wash discounts just as you would for oil changes.
- If you need a rental car, search for promo codes via Groupon or RetailMeNot to save. Use certain credit cards, and you could skip paying rental insurance too, which will lower your costs even more.
