Coupon 101: Coupon Sources (Part 2)
Welcome back to Coupon 101: Coupon Sources! This is part 2 in a 3 part series on coupon sources. The last post went over finding coupons in your Sunday Paper as well as Internet Printables (you can see that post HERE). This post will deal specifically with eCoupons.
eCoupons (aka Digital Coupons or Loadable Coupons):
I personally am fairly new to using eCoupons but regardless of my experience they are still coupons that can help you save even more money! eCoupons are coupons that can be “loaded” to your store’s loyalty card and are deducticted from your total when the required item is scanned.
To start with these coupons you will first and foremost need a loyalty card for your grocery store. You most likely already have one since they are needed to get the best sale prices. If you do not have one for your store you’ll want to sign up next time you go! (Most stores also allow you to sign up online)
Once you have your card you’ll need to do a little bit of research to see which eCoupon sites work at your store. The sites that I am personally familiar with (and have personally used) are:
- Shortcuts.com
These coupons are redeemable at Vons and Ralph’s in my area. (They partner with 25 stores total) - Cellfire.com
These coupons are redeemable at Vons, Pavillions, & Ralph’s in my area. - Kroger eCoupons (SoftCoin)
These coupons are specifically for Kroger stores (Ralph’s) - CouponLink
These coupons are specifically for Von’s stores. - P&G eSaver,
These coupons are redeemable at Vons and other Safeway Affiliates.
- Upromise
These are not taken off your total at purchase. Instead the value of the coupon is added to your Upromise account (which saves money towards a college fund). These are redeemable at Stater Brothers, Ralph’s, Albertsons, Vons, and CVS.
You can see in the list above which stores the coupons are redeemable at. But before you can redeem them you will have to load them to your stores card. Some (like Cellfire) only allow you to load a coupon to one specific store while other’s (like Shortcuts) allow you to load a coupon to your account and then redeem it at any of the stores that are registered to your account.
To load a coupon to your loyalty you will have to create an account with each individual website. Once you have your account, loading the coupon is as simple as clicking on the coupons you’d like to use. (Most of these sites also offer a printable “shopping list” that will tell you which items you have coupons loaded for.)
So what are the benefits of using eCoupons?
First and foremost is that they work with paper coupons. If I go to the store to purchase yogurt and have an eCoupon loaded to my Ralph’s card I can also use a paper coupon from the Sunday paper – thus increasing my savings!
Another benefit – especially if you don’t like paper coupons – is you don’t have print them!
What about the downsides?
The biggest downside (in my eyes) is that you can’t double these coupons at stores that double (i.e. Ralph’s and Von’s). But if you are pairing them with paper coupons then it this wouldn’t be a problem as the paper coupon will be doubled.
Another downside is that you can only load 1 like coupon at a time – if you purchase 2 of the same items that you have a coupon laoded for on your loyalty card it will only take off 1 coupon. If there is an option to print a coupon or load it I will always print it as you can typically print it twice. (The exception to this is that if you have a coupon loaded that hasn’t expired and the ecoupon site puts out a new round of coupons with the same coupon you already have loaded –THEN you could have 2 of the same coupons loaded at the same time)
Although both of these are downsides they are not a hindrance for me to not use loadable eCoupons. Using eCoupons are another great way to keep more money in your pocket and I hope that you’ll try them sometime!
Be sure to check back for the next installment of coupons sources when I will go over all the remaining coupons sources.
(This post contains a few affiliate links)
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