If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase "social couponing" then you may be spending too much money on everything from restaurant meals and spa services to amusement parks and sporting equipment.

Coupon usage tends to go up in popularity during recession periods. However, the latest trend has truly taken coupons to the next level. Deal-a-day coupon sites, targeted by city, allow consumers to sign up at no charge and receive an email every day featuring a huge discount on one or more local retailers or service providers.

Wondering how much you can save using social coupon sites? {Imagine paying only half the normal price for things to do, see and eat in your local metropolis. Deals may be structured as a dollar-off amount (for example pay $25 and get $50 worth of food or merchandise), or a package deal offered at a deep discount (two-night stay with breakfast at an upscale resort for just $150).

Social coupon sites are good money-saving tools for more than just luxury spends. Some daily deal sites offer discounts on necessities such as professional services, landscaping, house cleaning, and more.

Best of all, most coupon sites have generous terms, allowing you up to one full year to use any discount you purchase.

Additionally, coupon site subscribers have the opportunity to earn credits or free coupons simply for referring friends and family to the latest deals, making it even easier to save money.

As the number of social coupon sites increases, a number of aggregator sites are cropping up. Instead of subscribing to each coupon site and potentially getting inundated with offers, you can visit an aggregator site, which compiles deals from several social coupon sites and organized a list by city each day. In this way, you can subscribe to just one site in order to view all the deals for a city on that day.

We can expect this social coupon trend to continue for the foreseeable future, most likely with an increase in customization for users. Here's an example. Instead of subscribing to a daily deal site for Atlanta, you would be able to choose suburbs or surrounding towns, such as Decatur, Athens, or Lawrenceville. Likewise, some social coupon sites are asking you for information about what kind of deals you’d like to see – that way, you only receive emails for deals that fit your personal interests, which cuts down on unnecessary emails in your in-box.

Additionally, we will soon begin to see an increase in niche-based daily deal sites. For example, we may see daily deal sites for restaurant owners, work at home moms, or small business owners. In the meantime, enjoy the savings.