Beyond the newspapers and online printable coupons there are tons of other ways to gather coupons. Some of them take more time than others, but I will try to put them in one convenient place. :) Before I begin, though, I forgot something very important in the last post. A note about the Printable coupons: you can only print off 2 copies of each individual coupon per computer. There is actually a scannable code on the coupon that will trace it back to your account, so make sure you're being honest about this, which I know we all are. :)
All You! This is a magazine that you can only find at Wal-Mart. Considering 1. you can get a better deal off cover price by just subscribing to it, and 2. I rarely go to Wal-Mart anymore, it's definitely worth just subscribing. Here is why: in the typical month, you can find at least $60 worth of coupons. Most will get you bigger bang for your buck than even the big city delivery papers. For example, around Easter time, there was a coupon in the paper for $2 off two packages of M&Ms. Not bad. In my All You, though, there was a coupon for $2 off just one bag. That doubled my savings. Also, by using that coupon, the magazine just paid for itself!
Samples: Going back to that "Specials and Promotions" spot on most products' websites, you also might find a free sample. When I first started coupon-ing, I wasn't really wanting to do the free samples. I wanted the coupon because I wanted the full size for cheap. I didn't want one smaller version of the product that I could only use once. Here is what I didn't know. There are higher value coupons that usually come with those free samples. Now I not only have at least a sample of one of my favorites, but I have a coupon for higher savings than I would have gotten in the paper. All I had to do was find the free sample spot on the website.
P&G brandsaver!!! Okay, even if you don't want to give out your address to companies for the free samples, you have got to take the time to do this one. P&G is the manufacturer for some of the best products out there like Gillette, Pantene, Venus, and Covergirl. The P&G brandsaver is absolutely free to sign up for, and you can do it four times a year. They will send you a booklet filled with really great coupons. In the spring brandsaver, there was a coupon for $5 off one Gillette ProFusion razors. I was able to get a free one with that coupon.
e-coupons: There are sites that you can actually take your loyalty card number, like your Kroger card, link it up to the website, and then load coupons directly to your card without having to print out. There are pluses and minuses here. Be careful about what coupons you link up. Sometimes the better deal is actually the paper coupon, and once you load the coupon on the card, you can't undo it, unless, for example it's the Kroger website you did it from. Here is how a paper coupon can be better. Most of the time, the coupon is an electronic version of one in the Sunday paper. Unlike the paper version, though, it will NOT double. Example: At Kroger they will double any paper coupon that is 50 cents or less. That 50 cent off bandaids will turn into a $1 off, which is huge! However, if you loaded that 50 cent off coupon to your card, not only do you HAVE to use the electronic coupon if you use your card at the store, it will NOT double. My best advice, when you're making your shopping list, let these be your back-up coupons. If you cannot find another one in paper form, load it. If it's a coupon that won't double anyway, like $3 off two shampoo, load it. That way you're gaining a copy of that coupon instead of using your paper one that you can't get back. You never know what deals might crop up next week for those that held onto their paper version. ;)
⁃ I would also like to note that you need to print off the list of your loaded coupons before you head to the store. I loaded a coupon for a free box of pasta when I bought tomato sauce a few hours before I went, and it did not give me the deal when I handed over my card. If I had my printed list, I could have taken it over to customer service where they would have adjusted it for me. Instead, I paid full price for the pasta and sauce. :( The website claims it only takes an hour after loading before you can get the desired discount. I say it's consumer beware. I don't use these often, unless it is the only deal I can find.
⁃ Here are some of the ones that you can use: Kroger.com, cellfire.com: you have to give them your cell phone number, though, shorcuts.com, and PGesaver.com: for your P&G products!
Redplum.com and smartsource.com: These are websites for two of the inserts that you can get in Sunday papers. They are powered by themselves, so you'll have to download a separate program for them than ones powered by coupons.com. Also, these tend to go faster than ones powered by coupons.com. I know that all electronic coupons, no matter the source has a certain number of prints that they will give away for the public. I think these go faster because they typically correspond to the coupons in the paper, which is why I didn't include this in the online section. It's a way of getting the coupons without buying the paper. It's not guaranteed to be there, though.
Recyclebank.com: The focus on this website is to make your home and your lifestyle a little more green, one step at a time. This is a cool website where you can fill out surveys, watch videos, and take "tests" to earn points. These points can be turned into coupons or goodies. It doesn't take too long in order to accumulate points. I think I played around on it for about 30-45 minutes, and I had enough to "buy" a coke coupon, which are REALLY rare, and I "bought" a free cloth bag. When I take this bag into stores like Target and Publix, I will get 5 cents taken off my entire order for each bag I bring in.
⁃ Side note about the bags, they don't cost that much, usually around a $1.00 to $1.50 each, however the pay off will take 20 visits before they even pay for themselves. I know I'll use them more than 20 times, however if I can find one for less than $1.00, or especially when I get them for free, than think about the money I will make by using them with very little to no cost up front. I think you can get 3 bags per household per month from Recyclebank. 3 free bags=15 cents off my entire order each time I go. I see that as REALLY being green, both planet-wise and money-wise. :) And if you don't think 15 cents is that big of deal, think about this: I got brownie mix for 4 cents. If I had even just one bag, I wouldn't have had to pay for the mix at all!
Finally, in stores. Certain stores put out their own coupons like Publix and Target. At those places, you can stack their coupon with a manufactures' coupon. Also, be on the look out for "peelies" which are coupons that are in sticker form on the product. Sometimes these are for instant savings on that particular product, or it's for a discount on a product that goes with it. My personal favorite are coupons off meat. On Hamburger Helper recently, there were $1 off ground beef coupons. Discounts off meat are rare! I don't know why, but I always feel guilt pulling off the peelie when I am not going to buy the product in that shopping trip. Maybe I need to get over it, though, because I know I miss out on deals later on. If you are going to buy the product and want to use the peelie, be sure to take it off immediately and put the coupon with the rest of your coupons. You might forget otherwise, and the cashier may or may not notice for you. Another form are "tearpads." You will find these right with the product. Most of the time, you have to buy two products to get the discount. For example: buy a box of coke and a bag of chips to get $1 off. Sometimes these are really good deals, sometimes not. I take one anyway. You never know when a super deal will come your way. If it doesn't work out, all you wasted was the time to peel it off the tear pad. The only other form are the "blinkies." These are the coupons that have the flashing red light in the aisles. These are very similar to the tear pads.
And that, folks, is how I get my coupons. Anything else, and I promise I'll report about. :)
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