Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half! with Stephanie Nelson, The Coupon Mom
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Five Ways to Save

When Shopping This Holiday Season 

Stephanie Nelson, CouponMom.com

This holiday season, aim to shop strategically and expect to save big. Stephanie Nelson, CouponMom.com, says there are a lot of deals if shoppers will follow her tips and make a plan.  

1. Plan and Budget - Come up with a holiday gift list and plan. Decide who you will be buying for, what you can afford to spend overall, and divide that among all your gift recipients. Then shop the deals, coupons and savings strategies to stretch the budget. Check the store ads and CouponMom.com for special deals in the coupon code section.
2. Compare Prices - When you are shopping for a specific item, compare prices online before hitting the stores or shopping online. Prices can vary significantly, and an online retailer may offer free shipping and have no sales tax.
3. Be Coupon Savvy - Use coupons to drop the price even further:
--sign up for the email newsletters of favorite retailers and shopping malls to be the first to get special coupons.
--follow a retailer's Facebook page to get access to special coupons or limited-time flash sales.
--go to an online coupon site like http://www.CouponMom.com to find coupon codes for discounts and free shipping.
--watch newspaper ads and catalog mailings for in-store coupons.
4. Buy discounted or bonus gift certificates to give as gifts or to use to shop for gifts -

--take advantage of bonus gift card offers that many restaurants offer at this time of year to give as gifts (for example, buy $100 worth of gift cards and get a free $20 gift card)
--redeem cash back rebate dollars from credit card programs for bonus gift card values. For example, use $20 of your credit card rebate dollars to get a $25 gift certificate to selected retailers.
--if you are using a gift card to shop for gifts, be sure to combine them with coupons if available
5. Save your receipts for Price Guarantee policies - most stores have some type of price guarantee policy that will give you a refund if your item’s price drops after you’ve purchased it, within a specific timeframe.  Some stores will refund the difference in price within seven days, and others have longer timeframes.  Check the retailer’s website for details or ask a store associate. 

Stephanie Nelson is the Coupon Mom. With more than 6 million members, Coupon Mom gives members access to thousands of printable coupons for groceries, restaurants and more. As the nation’s top expert in couponing across the country, Stephanie has been on every major national television talk show and taught millions how to save money for the past 11 years. She has been called ‘”the rock star of the recession” by the Washington Post and her book, The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, is a New York Times best seller.