Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Secrets of Saving: Where to Find Coupons

Another snow (or in this case, ice) day!  The little kids are watching Sesame Street and the big kids (we are hosting two Chinese students for the week) are upstairs in their room resting away their jet lag.  Since I've already shared my favorite way to organize coupons, I thought maybe I should backtrack a little and give you ideas on where to get all those coupons!  Here are some of my favorite coupon sources:
  • The Sunday paper!  This is the obvious one.  My in-laws get us a subscription to our local Sunday paper every year as part of our Christmas gift.  I love it!  The region you live in will determine the coupon inserts you get, but typical ones are SmartSource and RedPlum, along with a P&G insert the first Sunday of each month.  If you choose to buy your paper each week, remember that on most holidays, there are no coupons included!
  • Online!  There are some great online sources for printable coupons, including http://www.couponmom.com/, http://www.smartsource.com/, and http://www.redplum.com/.  Not all stores accept printable coupons, and those that do accept them typically have some restrictions, so make sure you check your store's coupon policy before wasting all your paper and printer ink!
  • Magazines!  Lots of the "mom" magazines, like Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, etc.  will have some coupons.  The best magazine for coupons, by far, is All You.  In the last issue, there was over $80 worth of coupons.  This magazine can only be found at WalMart and by subscription.  Right now, there are some sweet deals at Amazon for this magazine - the best one being a 2-year subscription for $34 (free shipping). 

         This makes it $1.42/issue, but there is also a promotion happening:  this month, if you spend $20 in the Amazon Magazine store, you will receive a $10 promotion code via email within 10 days of your purchase!  Amazon prices sometimes change quickly, so if you are interested, grab this one while you can!
  • eBay!  Once in awhile, when there is a super good coupon (like the Electrasol one I talked about here) - when this is the case, you can buy larger amounts of this specific coupon on eBay.  I love this option, because I sell things on eBay, and just use the profits in my account to make my purchases.  If you prefer, there are also coupon clipping sites like http://www.thecouponclippers.com/.
  • Friends and Family!  If you have friends and family who don't coupon, maybe they will share theirs with you!  Or you could swap!
  • Directly from the Manufacturer!  If you contact your favorite companies (via email or phone) with a coupon request, they will often respond positively - many times with coupons for FREE items! 
  • With Free Samples!  There are many free samples available, and they often arrive with coupons. 
  • The Coupon Fairy!  I love this one :)  Sometimes people leave random coupons in the aisles of the grocery store.  A few days ago, I was able to get 3 packages of YoPlus yogurt for $1 each because of this.  Thanks, Coupon Fairy!
Looking for links to coupons and free samples?  My favorite savings blogs are For the Mommas and Hip2Save - also The Frugal Girls is amazing.  Check them out!

Do you have any other great ideas for finding coupons?  Leave them in the comments!

I linked this up to the Penny Pinching Party going on here!

1 comment:

Lenore @ Lather. Write. Repeat. said...

Thanks for the tips! I'm totally a coupon gal too!

XO
Lenore

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