Don’t you hate it when you clean out your coupon file and come across expired coupons? You might feel as though you have let money slip right through your fingers. Your first instinct might be to toss those coupons in the trash, but did you know they have some other practical uses you can try? Take a peek below at 7 things to do with expired coupons you can try! You will never look at expired coupons the same way again.
1. Send them to military families.
Did you know that military families can use expired coupons on the army base? You can send coupons that are less than 30 days expired to them; just sort them into two categories: food and non food. You can mail your coupons to:
Support Our Troops
P.O. Box 70
Daytona Beach, FL 32115-0070
2. Practice fine motor skills.
Give old inserts to kids along with a pair of safety scissors. Allowing them to cut the coupons out along the dotted lines is a great way to practice those fine motor skills and strengthen little hands.
3. Practice sorting and classification skills.
Give your expired coupons to your child to practice sorting and classification skills. Have them sort the coupons into categories based on what the item is. Or, you can have them sort according to the value of each coupon. Coupons are great for sorting and practicing these essential skills.
4. Play store.
Give your old coupons to your children to play store with. They will love doing what they see mom and dad doing, using coupons to save money while they shop! You can even give them a little wallet or envelope to store their coupons in.
5. Use them to teach money math.
Coupons are great to use when teaching kids money math. Create story problems using coupons so they can flex their brains and practice their addition and subtraction.
6. Donate inserts to pet shelters or thrift stores.
Pet shelters will be happy to shred them for bedding for small animals such as hamsters, while non for profit thrift stores can use the inserts to wrap valuables. Call these agencies and see if either can use your old, expired inserts.
7. See if you can use them!
Believe it or not some stores will accept coupons as long as they are less than 30 days past the expiration. You won’t know unless you ask, so call your store to see what their expired coupon policy is.
So are you looking at expired coupons in a new light yet? I hope so! Give these tips for how to use expired coupons a try and see what you can come up with!
judy maharrey
Saturday 24th of January 2015
This is a great idea! I did not know about the military families using expired coupons. As for the other uses, thay at least make me feel better about my expired ones!