With the advent of GroupOn and similar sites — and a bad economy — the age of the coupon is once again upon us. While many of us have abandoned clipping coupons from the Sunday paper (in part because most of us read the Sunday paper online), we find we need to stretch our dollar further than ever before.

One solution? The good old grocery coupon. We all have to eat, after all, so saving money means we can either a) save more money even after we’ve cut out those “luxury” food items or b) eat better than we could if we paid full price for everything.

But this isn’t your mothers coupon — we’re going online to save (is this a surprise?). The catch is that it isn’t as easy to find good coupons online as it was by, say, just opening up the Sunday paper. So, as a public service, we’ve done the legwork and found some sites we like. You’re welcome.

Coupons.com. Sooo easy — just click on (“clip”) the coupons you want, go to “print coupons” and voila! Money saved. The day of this writing, there were 140 coupons to choose from, for stuff we actually buy (cereal, yogurt, toilet paper) … and you can go back every day of the week, so by the time you’re ready for shopping day, you’ll have plenty of savings already in your pocket, so to speak. Nice.

CoolSavings.com. Go through and pick the coupons you want, or click the box to “print all” and you’ll have the entire day’s selection (a time-saver, but unless you’re going to actually use them all, this might not be the most environmentally-friendly option). No frills, but good deals.

SmartSource.com. Asks for your zip code to give you more geographically appropriate deals, and includes lots of beauty and hygiene items, and search for specific zip codes, brands, and stores to find what you’re looking for quicker.

ShortCuts.com. This site is a little different, as it offers both printable and electronic coupons — for the electronic variety, select the coupons to load directly on your store savings card (there’s a handy “find a participating store near you” option to help you find one that will work for you).

GroceryGuide.com. Another good choice if you’re looking for specific store sales — put in your zip code, and select up to two stores at a time from the list. In the area we selected, we found coupons for Walgreens, Walmart, Target and some local grocery stores to find in-store deals, and then there’s the typical printable coupon option as well for lots of common grocery items.

Photo credit: dmdonahoo