Call of Coupons: Weapons of Warfare

This week I am comparing the popular war game "Call of Duty" to the war on high prices with a series I have titled "Call of Coupons". We have already discussed The Rules and Terms as well as Band of Sisters. Today I am going to talk about weapons. Call of Duty players use guns and bombs, but we use sales and coupons. Here is a list of some of the weapons you might find useful in the call of coupons.

1. News Paper- This is going to be your rifle! Newspaper coupons are pretty much neccessary if you want to advance to the next level. The "big city" Sunday paper is the one you want to obtain. Lots of stores offer a 2 pack for less. I spend $2.00 to get 2 copies of the Star Telegram (double the coupons) every Sunday. I used to think "why would I want to spend money on the paper when I am trying to save money". Having a valuable coupon is like cash in hand. If you could buy a $50 bill for $2.00 I am sure you would do it. This is the same thing, although don't get too carried away with that idea.

2. Printer- There are also printable coupons. You have to be careful with these because they can sometimes be fraudelent. However these can be extremely valuable. Stick with major websites like coupons.com which you will find a link to on my sidebar. You can also trust that any coupons downloaded from the official website of the product is legit.

3. Coupons that come in the mail- You can sign up for coupons and get them in the mail or some times they just come without asking. These are great too.

4. Coupons you get at the store- There are tear off coupons that are often located right near a product , coupons that you can peel off a product (these are called peelies), and coupons that print at the end of your receipt (these are known as CRT's) any of these are just as useful hang on to them.

5. Sales- One thing every serious coupon user knows, but the average consumer is unaware of, is that coupons are most valuable only when used on a sale item! If it is something that you need and were going to buy anyway, that is different, other than that never use a coupon unless it is paired up with being on sale. This is like your hand grenade, the results are explosive. Sometimes you can even "make money" on these deals. The simplest example I can think of is a recent powerade coupon. If you have a coupon for $1 off powerade and they are on sale for 75 cents you will have 25 cents in overage. Overage is anytime the value of the coupon and sale is over the amount of the item you are purchasing. Your overage can be applied to another product. Not all stores will do this, but either way you can at least get the product for free.

So those are your weapons soldier and when used properly they can really slash some prices.