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Car Dealer Coupons, BEWARE

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About a month ago I got a coupon in the mail from the car dealership where we purchased our used 2004 Toyota Sienna. The coupon flier had several coupons, one which included a “special discount price” for a timing belt change. For those of you who have never paid to have a timing belt changed, it’s somewhere between $400 and $500 from the dealer.

Now, for most things I don’t take my automobiles to the dealership for auto maintenance, but for the timing belt many people have recommended I take it to the dealer. I guess a lot of work is involved for this process so I guess it’s the best option. Anyway back to my coupon for the “special discount price” on a timing belt change.

The coupon said the price for a 6 cylinder car was $479. Since I never even called anywhere else for a quote I assumed the coupon was a good deal. Only one problem I found, the coupon expires on the 30th of April and the first chance I could get the car into the shop was the 1st of May.

I thought it would be worth a call to see if the dealership would honor the coupon even though I would be a day late. For some reason I took the approach that I didn’t have a coupon and asked how much they charged to change a timing belt for a 6 cylinder Toyota Camry.

The lady checked the computer for a price and came back with a quote of $429. Do you see something wrong here? Had I taken my car in last week with my coupon I would have paid an extra $50 just because I had the coupon.

The appointment isn’t until tomorrow so I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I hope they will honor the quote. I’m not sure if the lady I talked to made a mistake or what but I’m going to be upset if it costs more than $429!

Buy Brand Name and Save

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Alright, I have to take back what I said in a previous post. I wrote an article a while back about how you can save a lot of money buying generic brand foods. I wrote that article before I truly understood the power of coupons.

Recently my sister-in-law introduced my family to a group of extreme savers who used the power of coupons to save hundreds of dollars per month on their grocery bill. At first I was a little skeptical because from previous experience coupons only brought name brand foods down to a price that was almost as cheap as the generic brands. However, after doing some research and some hands on experiements I am now a believer.

The key to the savings is to stockpile a lot of coupons and only use them when something is on sale, as well as combining paper or printed coupons with other incentives. For example there are some websites that allow you to load manufacturers coupons to you Kroger plus card as well as use a paper coupon for the same item. Sometimes you can get items for free or very close to free. My last weeks trip to Kroger yeilded almost a 50% savings in the gorcery bill!

I’m now somewhat addicted to coupon clipping and deal shopping so stay tuned for more information about this money saving topic!

Extreme saving with coupon loopholes

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Last week I was introduced to a new world in savings. I’ve always know that you can save some extra money on groceries if you use coupons, but didn’t realize exactly how much until now. My sister-in-law told me about a group of extreme savers who take complete advantage of coupons and sales.

Always save unused coupons until they are expired. Many time grocery stores run sales based on the current coupons in the local paper. They try to avoid offering sale priced items at the same time coupons are introduced. If you save your coupons a week or two it’s very possible that sale priced items will overlap with coupons bringing extreme savings on your grocery bill.

This week I found my own first coupon loophole with Kroger. They are offering 3 – 12 packs of Coke for $10 and you also get 2 free boxes of Ritz crackers. I also found a coupon for $2 off any 2 – 12 packs of Coke. So for $8 I got 3 – 12 packs and 2 boxes of Ritz crackers.

There are entire websites and blogs dedicated to these types of deals. They do the research for you for general coupons. You can however do more research for local coupons and find great deals. From what I see you can save tons of money for a few hours of searching.

If you are the type that thinks saving $0.30 or $0.40 on an item isn’t worth your time, think about the whole shopping list. If you can find a coupon for 20 items you use everyday and save $0.40 on each item this adds up. Saving $8.00 per week over the course of a year is over $400 you will save! Next time you get the weekly paper don’t just throw those coupons away you may be sitting on a small gold mine!

Saving on generic foods and groceries adds up quick!

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Buying generic groceries and other products can add up to some major savings. As the economy continues to worse we are looking for more and more ways to save money. For most of us coupon clipping isn’t as easy as it may sound. Many families including mine clip and keep the coupons but usually forget to take them to the store and actually use them. Others may clip coupons for items they normally don’t use which may be more expensive than the normal brand. So how can you still save some money at the grocery store? Buy generic foods and other products!

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