ISLAND LIFE SHORTS
Couponing bigger than ever in the digital age
Associated Press
Put down the scissors: Coupons are increasingly available by phone, by e-mail, online and in other digital forms. Here are hints on how to stretch your budget with the latest generation of an old standby.
Dozens of Web sites, which are searchable by retailer and product category, do some legwork for you.
At www.coupons.com, www.retailmenot.com and many others, you just click on the coupon you want and print it out. Yahoo's recently revamped deals.yahoo.com/ is similar but covers such a broad range it can be daunting to search.
You can even search for and buy coupons on eBay.
There are services such as www.cellfire.com that deliver the deals you choose to your cell phone or let you upload them to your grocery store loyalty card.
Also check the Web sites of companies that make your favorite products for direct offers, and check your favorite retailers' and grocers' sites, especially for deals on shipping.
For example, www.Krazycouponlady.blogspot.com, which focuses on low-cost food shopping, outlines the policies of specific stores, highlights the best deals of the week, offers tips to beginners and encourages comments and questions from visitors.
New ways of using coupons can yield new results. For instance, if your neighborhood store is having a promotion on your favorite type of yogurt, don't stop there. Search online for store or manufacturer coupons (remembering to look by brand and maker as well as retailer) to combine with the promotion to maximize your savings. Check your store's policies, though, because there may be restrictions on combining more than one discount.
