Super Couponing Tips: How good is your deal?

One of the questions I hear most often is, How do I know I'm getting the best price? Here's my standard. Whether buy a bottle of barbecue sauce or a winter coat, my goal is always to cut the price by half or more. While I love to get "crazy" deals (such as matching a $1 coupon to that barbecue sauce when it goes on sale for $1!) my usual goal is to cut the price of products I purchase in half.

When you use this simple rule of thumb — cut the price in half — it becomes easy to recognize when an item falls into a good "buy" range. While you may find that over time your range of savings will fall a little over or a little under this mark, it's a good one to aim for. When shopping for groceries, you're most likely to achieve that goal by combining both a sale and a coupon.

For example, this week I purchased a 12 double-roll pack of name-brand toilet paper. Its regular price was $7.99 but it was on sale for $4.99. With a $1 coupon, I cut the price to $3.99 — half price! I knew this was a good buy, too, because the per-roll price hit my personal "buy" benchmark for toilet paper: less than 25 cents per single roll, less than 50 cents per double roll or less than $1 for a mega roll. I paid about 33 cents per double roll, a very good deal.

Of course, when a good sale comes around, you'll want to stock up as much as you can. I had four coupons for the toilet paper sale, so now I have plenty in the house until the next great sale.

Want another example? This week, I also stocked up on pasta. A popular brand was on sale for $1 per box, down from $1.50. I had coupons good for $1 off the purchase of two boxes that dropped the price from $1 to 50 cents per box! That's a drop of about 66 percent, even better than cutting the price in half!

I apply this cut-the-price-in-half philosophy to just about everything I buy: groceries, household products, clothing, housewares and additional purchases, too.

Recently, I received a coupon good for 20 percent off from a major clothing store. Armed with the coupon, I headed out to look for deals.

In the boys' department, I spotted some great buys for my sons. Long-sleeved shirts were on clearance for $3, marked down from $10. Now, three dollars is already a fantastic price for a boy's shirt, but with the 20 percent off coupon, the price dropped to an incredible $2.40! I bought several shirts in different styles, all at this great low price.

Here's the question you must ask yourself: what price are you willing to pay? Your goal may be different from mine. Achieving a 20 percent or 30 percent savings may be your goal, and that's fine. Any money saved is better than paying full price!