coupons

Deciding which customer loyalty program you want to enroll in is like picking your favorite food: there are just way too many options. Thankfully, our friends at LearnVest got their hands dirty and dug up some of the most rewarding programs. Which one sounds best to you?

My key chain is heavy with rewards memberships and my inbox is perpetually overloaded with “exclusive” and “members only” offers. I'm not a dedicated “couponer,” per se, but I do love a good deal.

Yet, off the top of my head, I don’t even know how many loyalty programs I’m actually signed up for. That's a sign it’s probably too many.

Read on for more.

We're always so fascinated by the extreme couponers on TV, but they seem to have such extreme lifestyles that it's hard to imagine how to implement similar couponing practices in your life. One extreme couponer, who goes by the online name OpinionatedSouthern, recently shared a lot of great tips on how to coupon with fellow Reddit users. Here they are:

• Ask people for coupons: The extreme couponer recommends talking to friends and family to see what coupons they have to offer.
• Buy discounted coupons: You can also ask for coupons from local gas stations or marts, and you should offer to buy any extra newspapers or pamphlets with coupons in them at a discount. See if you can even get overstock for free.
• Play with overage: Some stores like Walmart give overage, which means that if "you have a coupon for $3 and your item is only $2, that extra dollar goes towards your other items." The Reddit user says she applies overage toward items that rarely have coupons, like meat and milk.
• Try new things: Don't limit yourself to the same groceries. Be open to trying new things. For example, the couponer says she sometimes caters the meals to what's on sale for the week. For example, she found a deal on turkey legs, $2.15 for 3. She then bought them and made meals with them even though she had never cooked turkey legs before.
• Be prepared to spend time and money: The couponer utilizes 65 hours a month for couponing and shopping and spends $60 on buying papers and coupons. But all her hard work and investment saves her about $1,000 on groceries each month.
• Access online coupons: Be sure to check out online coupon sites like Coupons.com, RedPlum.com, SmartSource.com, and CouponNetwork.com, which are apparently the best sites to print from. Further, "like" your favorite brands on Facebook to get access to some of the coupons they give out over the social media network.
• Check out the dollar store: The dollar store has many great deals, and you can even buy a newspaper from them for $1 instead of $1.50 like Walmart and other outlets, says the coupon expert.

Confession: I love daily coupon sites like Groupon, and LivingSocial, but sometimes I tend to spend more than I'd like. These deals can be oh-so-tempting and are a great way of exploring the crazy things you've never thought of doing (like skydiving) at a discount. However, it can hurt the pocketbook if you're not careful. Here are six ways to prevent yourself from going too crazy about daily deals:

• Don't rush: The deal is not going to go away forever if you don't buy it today. More often than not, similar coupons will surface, and sometimes I even see the same deal appearing again. Don't buy on impulse, and wait for the deals that you're looking out for, whether it be teeth whitening or a romantic Italian dinner.
• Get rid of it: Don't let the coupons linger around for too long or they'll expire. Consider gifting or selling them to a friend. There are also websites like CoupRecoup and Lifesta that are actually great places to hunt for deals.
• Set a cap: Set a limit on how much you will spend on coupons to prevent yourself from buying too many.
• Use up your coupons: Using up your coupons before buying new ones is a good rule to have so that you're more likely to use them.
• Read the fine print: Note all the limitations on the deal, which includes the date you have to use the coupons by and how many you get to use per person.
• Diversify: Subscribing to a couple of sites will give you more options and perhaps lessen the lure of the deals. Once you realize that the offers are a dime a dozen, you'll think twice about splurging.

If you're always scrambling to figure out what coupons you haven't used up or which ones are about to expire, you ought to check out CityPockets, an online organizer that tracks your buys from daily deal sites.

The free website currently syncs with 28 daily deal sites including the ever popular Groupon and LivingSocial. I found the site pretty easy to use — all you have to do is sign up for an account, pick a couple of coupon sites that you subscribe to, enter in the requisite email and password for each site, and wait for CityPockets to start accessing your various daily deal accounts. Your deals will show up all on one place, neatly organized in categories, so all you need to do is quickly log in to CityPockets to print out your coupon when you're dashing out of the house. Using this web tool is so much more convenient than logging into various daily deal sites, trying to figure out where you bought the coupon.

One of the best services the site provides is to send alerts when your coupon is going to expire. And if you're not planning on using the coupon, you can even resell it in the marketplace.

Medical discounts for half off may raise eyebrows and valid questions like whether the deal sounds too good to be true. In fact, most medical organizations are against doctors selling their services at a discounted price on daily deal sites, according to SmartMoney. Although these deals are usually for the less invasive surgeries such as dental work, laser hair removal, Botox, and chemical lifts, medical services should never be done "on a whim," says Malcolm Z. Roth, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

In their defense, daily deal sites like LivingSocial say they are very stringent on choosing who to work with. However, there is still an undeniable risk with medical procedures, even if they are minor. For example, the laser treatments can burn skin, and anything involving a needle can cause an infection. These dangers can be brushed aside by consumers who are lured by the heavy discounts and pressured by the time constraint of the deal.

Patients need to do more research on the reputation of the doctor, and looking them up on Yelp isn't enough. Scour the clinic's website and check to see if the clinical practitioner is licensed or board certified and where he or she has gone to medical school and done residency. You can also take a quick look at HealthGrades.com (which is sort of like a professional Yelp for doctors) to see if there is anything noteworthy about the doctor on the site. Although many of these minor surgeries don't require a medical school degree, it might be better to err on the side of caution and choose to see a licensed doctor who performs these procedures. Of course, this is all up to the individual and the amount of risk he or she is willing to take.

Have you ever bought a medical coupon on a daily deal site? How did it turn out for you?

Every time I step foot into my local health food store, I instantly drop at least $20. I feel good knowing the food I pick up is all natural, often organic, and fresh, but jeez — why does it have to be so expensive? If you're looking to save money on your favorite healthy brands, many companies post coupons on their websites you can print out. You may need to install a program, sign up for a newsletter, or answer a short survey, but if you're looking to save some dough, it's worth the time and effort. Here's a list of some pretty good deals that are available now. If these coupons have expired, click on the website's link anyway since companies are always updating their coupons.

• Food Should Taste Good: Go to the top of the website where it says "Special Offers" and click on "coupons." Join their fan club by giving some simple info and get a coupon for $1 off a bag of chips. Expires: 8/31/11
• Stonyfield Farms: Once you fill out a little form including your name, birthday, and email address, you'll come upon a whole page of coupons for all of Stoneyfield Farm products. Just click on the ones you want and print. I got a coupon for $.50 off two 5.3 ounce containers of Oikos Greek Yogurt and $.50 off a half gallon of Stonyfield Organic Milk (expires: 7/1/11).
• Silk: Fill out a little form including your name, email address, and a few questions, and receive coupons. Today I printed out a coupon for $.75 off a half gallon of Silk. Expires: 7/20/11

For more coupons keep reading.

Although bargain hunting on the Internet is fun, there seems to be too many junk coupon websites popping up which can make things a little frustrating. To save yourself some time, SmartMoney listed the best coupons sites that are worth clicking through. Here are my top five picks from the list.

• RetailMeNot: "RetailMeNot is still hands down the best place to look," Kathryn Finney, the founder of The Budget Fashionista tells SmartMoney. You can even set alerts, which will notify you if your favorite retailer releases a new coupon code. I've used this site for everything from hotel discounts to online department store coupons.
• Coupons.com: For those looking to save on groceries, Coupon.com will fit your needs perfectly. The site provides printable grocery coupons, and you can even load some onto your supermarket loyalty card with no printing required.
• Coupon Network by Catalina: You know the little coupons you get on your receipt after shopping at a grocery store or pharmacy? Apparently they are called "catalinas" and the company behind the product has a site with more deals that you can print out and a loyalty program. I looked through the site and it seems pretty user-friendly. Although the drawback is that not every supermarket and pharmacy participates in the Catalina program, most of the major chains do.
• Coupon Cabin: This site has a team that tests out the coupons and even guarantees some of them. If the coupons from some handpicked retailers don't work, the company will offer a $25 Restaurant.com voucher. The firm is working to provide the guarantee on all offers.
• DropDownDeals: This is a coupon toolbar you can download to your computer. When you're doing some shopping online, DropDownDeals will send a pop-up that will show you deals on the site that you're on. The toolbar seems like a no-brainer, because you don't need to do any extra searching for a coupon. The drawback to this tech tool is, not all the available coupons pop up.

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Oh reality TV. We love you because after a crazy day at work, you make our own problems seem manageable . . . at least compared to Real Housewives drama-fests.

But when it comes to the new TLC show Extreme Couponing, we watch the participants with a mixture of interest and — dare we say it — envy.

The new show features coupon clipping professionals who pull off feats like bringing $1,900 of merchandise to the grocery store checkout and paying only $103. That’s a 95 percent discount!

And they do this normally-frumpy coupon clipping with panache. There’s the sassy and adorable “Double Saving Diva” twins, who do their grocery store shopping with matching pink and purple sweaters. There’s the “super mom,” who feeds her brood of seven on $160 a month while sporting heels and a pair of size two jeans. And there’s the 24-year-old who paid off her $10,000 credit card bill with the savings.

This isn’t just for grandmas anymore.

But, could this work for a normal person? Ask yourself whether you have:

A Lot Of Time.

Six hours clipping and sorting, five hours at the checkout counter, and midnight trips to the store . . . say goodbye to free time.

Instead: Make it a party. Six hours is a bit much, but we loved that the 24-year-old threw a party for 20 of her friends on $26. If there is one time when a few hours of preparation might be worth it, this is it. (It also helps to budget for your party.)

To see if the extreme couponing lifestyle suits you, read on.