Before you get ready to head out for your weekend shopping trips, you might want to consider doing some research on the products you want to buy. There are plenty of ways to save money on the things you buy every week; you just need to know how to find them! Below is a list of ways to increase your “savings potential” as you shop this weekend.

1. If you know that you will be shopping for specific items at specific stores, take some time to visit the store’s website. Store websites (and manufacturer’s websites) are great places to find coupons that will help you save money on your purchases. You might even try doing a simple internet search for the item that you want to buy. It could be available through an online shopping portal at a very cheap price!

2. Visit coupon websites like coupons.com. These sites offer coupons on everything from chicken soup to hair dye and the coupons are universal—which means that you can use them anywhere! Often the expiration dates are a few weeks out, so if you see something that you will need to buy soon, go ahead and print it out! Coupon websites also have great plug-ins that, when installed, will search for deals for you while you surf the internet.

3. Always grab the “in store shopper” guide as you walk into a store. Department stores and grocery stores will have these sitting in racks near their entrances. In these guides you will learn about items that are currently on sale. These guides also usually have valuable coupons that you can use at checkout. These guides are especially helpful in grocery stores as they will clue you in to deals that you might have otherwise missed.

4. Many people keep their coupons in an envelope somewhere in their couch. Instead, carry your coupons with you whenever you leave the house. You are more likely to remember to use your coupons if they are already with you. Coupons that live in a drawer at home are more likely to expire. There is nothing more frustrating than buying something and taking it home only to realize that you had a money saving coupon for that exact item that you could have used had you only had it with you when you visited the store.

5. Resist the urge to buy something you ordinarily wouldn’t buy but are now considering purchasing simply because you have a coupon! You would be surprised at how many people suddenly decide they need something (that they would ordinarily never buy) when a “buy one get one free” coupon presents itself!

You might scoff at clipping coupons as something that “only old ladies do,” but the truth is that spending just a few minutes clipping those coupons is well worth the time. Even if your coupons only save you five dollars each week, that still adds up to a yearly savings of $260!