The immense popularity of couponing these days has a lot to do with the economic downturn experienced by so many. It is important to note, however, that without a good knowledge of how coupons work and how to extract the most value from them, coupons may simply end up at the bottom of your purse or wallet, never to be used. Review the advice below to make sure you get real value from the coupons you clip.

To get coupons for brands you particularly enjoy, all you have to do is ask. Many companies are willing to send out coupons to people who email or write to them. Simply send a letter noting how much you enjoy a product and ask if they would provide you with coupons. You will be surprised at how often they oblige!

Make sure you understand and print off coupon policies for your local stores. Walmart, for example, has a printable coupon policy. Keep them in your coupon organizer for handy usage. On occasion, a cashier may not know the corporate policies for their stores, and having the policy may help you get the leg up in a disagreement.

Find out how much your store will double coupons to a certain amount. Find out about the rules at your local store. Sometimes they only do it a certain day of the week or some stores have specials in which they double coupons up to any amount. These are the deals to look for!

When planning to clip coupons, look at your list, and see if you can find coupons for those things. You may realize that there are other stores where you can save the most amount of money, rather than just going to your regular store.

A little bit of “dumpster diving” can increase the impact coupons have on your shopping. This doesn’t mean diving in a dumpster, just put on gloves and search out the newspaper inserts. Many people do not use coupons and simply toss them out.

When you go shopping, bring along all your coupons, even if you are not planning to utilize them. That way you will have the coupons handy just in case you find a special deal on an item when you get to the store.

Go ahead and get the Sunday paper so that you can find all of the coupons and discounts that are in them. You can save a lot of money buy paying a few dollars to purchase the Sunday paper for all of the coupons that are inside of it that offer you good deals.

Having a coupon for something does not mean you have to use it. Many people end up spending more than they should because they want to use a coupon. The deal might be good, but it is a waste of money if you do not use the item.

You don’t have to waste costly color ink printing coupons on your home printer. If you have an inkjet printer, you can set your preferences to print in black and white or simply remove the color cartridge. This way, everything will print in black and white. Retail establishments coupon codes for zenni Optical will still accept these non-colored coupons.

Shop at stores that multiply coupons. Some stores double or triple coupons everyday. Other stores have certain days on which they will multiply manufacturer coupons. Be sure to read the fine print, because some stores just allow a limited number to be multiplied, require a minimum purchase, or only multiply coupons with lower values.

Those of you who are bargain shoppers and who love to use coupons to save would be wise to browse through a store’s clearance section. The savings you can get with a clearance item coupled with a coupon can be quite significant. Make sure to see if any items on clearance are still eligible for coupon use.

If you want to make the most out of your coupon savings, check with all of your local stores to see if they double coupons. Doubling coupons means that the face value of your coupon is doubled, usually up to a certain amount, say, 1.00. So, instead of saving 1.00 on your item, you will save 2.00.

Save smarter by only using coupons for things you were going to buy anyway. Lots of people end up paying good money for items they really have no use for. Unless it’s something, you know you and your family will make good use of, don’t just get something because you have a great coupon for it.

Do not forget about your national chain drug stores. These places have a ton of their own in store coupons every week and stacked with manufacturers coupons you will be saving big. Alot of these places also have rewards cards that will give you dollars back to spend there once you spend so much.

As you can now see, using coupons can help you save a lot of money. That’s money you’ll have to spend on something else. Apply what you’ve just learned here, and soon your monthly budget will not be so tight. And who doesn’t want more room in their budget?