All of my life I have been a very organized and frugal shopper. I have been using and recommending printable grocery coupons for several years now.

In today's article I want to introduce you to a way you can save a lot more money at the grocery store by taking advantage of a procedure known as coupon overage.

Overage is the industry term for when you use a coupon with a value greater than the sales price of an item at the store. The difference between the two is the overage. As an example, suppose you have a printable grocery coupon for $1 off on a particular item. You manage to catch that product on sale for 90 cents. You use your $1 off coupon and in addition to receiving the product for my favorite four letter word, free, but also get 10 cents in overage. This is money that can be applied to other products you purchase.

In case you are wondering, stores get reimbursed from the manufacturer when one of their printable grocery coupons is turned in. The store will receive both the amount of the coupon plus an additional few pennies to cover their costs of processing. Coupons have become a popular and lucrative promotional method for the retailer.

However, something you need to know is that not all stores will allow overage. Before shopping, you should verify your local store's coupon policy and see if they permit it. The savings from overage can add up quickly. Coupon policy should be an important part of your choice of which grocery stores to do business with.

Something else I suggest is that you keep a printed copy of your store's coupon policy with you on your shopping trips. Many times store employees are not up to date on all policies and procedures. The print out of the store's policy has saved me time at checkout on more than one occasion.

Learn how to use grocery coupon overage. If you organize before each shopping trip, you can accrue extra money in overage every trip. It's like getting products for free!