Hey Frugal Mamas! I am super excited for a brand new series we will be doing over the next couple months: Beginner’s Coupon Guide. It will be a four part series so make sure you are signed up for my mailing list so you don’t accidentally miss a single part. It is no secret that coupons can help you to stretch the grocery/household budget. However, they can also be confusing and overwhelming. Over the course of this series you will learn how to find coupons, how to understand coupon lingo, learning store policies, and how to get the most from your coupons.
Beginner’s Guide to Coupons – Where to Find Them
There are a few different places to find coupons. The two main categories for coupons are: newspaper and printable. Let’s start with newspaper.
Newspaper coupons
Obviously, the first place to find newspaper coupons is in your Sunday paper. But that is not the only place to find them. If you looking for free, your local library might have a box for people to leave their coupons. Some just have a box for the whole insert. Some require that the coupons be clipped and placed in a categorized organizer. Another place is to ask friends, co-workers, and family. Just let it be known that you are looking for whatever coupons they do not want and set up a way to get the inserts from them.
The third way is through a coupon clipping service. This is my favorite way. I find it cheaper than buying a paper and I can get higher yield coupons that we don’t often have in our local paper. Often there will be two versions of a coupon: $1 off 2 items and something like $0.75 off 1 item. The 1 item coupon is a better deal, especially if you have a store that doubles coupons. Those coupons aren’t normally in my area. If you want to know more, you can check out my post on coupon clipping services.
If you don’t have time to read it right now, here’s the cliff notes version: you go to the clipping website, you search, look by week, or look by insert. You find the coupons you want. Then you add them to your cart. Final step, you pay for them and shipping. Please note: you are not paying for the coupons. That’s actually illegal. You are paying for the service of them clipping them out for you.
Printable coupons
The obvious place for printable coupons is through coupons.com. That is where the majority of printable coupons are. But you also need to think outside the box. Kellogg’s Family Rewards is a great place to find Kellogg’s coupons. If you are a member, you can turn your points into high value coupons. Or you can get lower yield ones without using points. Another great way is to just search for “whatever the brand is” plus “coupon.” It often takes you right to the promotion and coupon section of that brand’s website. My probiotic brand offers a $5 off coupon every month, just for signing up for their newsletter. $5 is worth a little inbox clutter to me.
I sometimes find printable coupons just by keeping an eye on Facebook. Sometimes my favorite brands will release a Facebook only coupon. Other times I’ll just see it because one of my favorite deals bloggers will share about a coupon.
These are the basic ways to find coupons. There can be other ways, such as those that are in magazines, but these are the most used places and easiest places to find them. Make sure you come back for part two in the Beginner’s Coupon Guide series to find out how to interpret all the crazy sounding coupon lingo. What exactly is a catalina anyway?!? You’ll find out in a couple of weeks!
Part 1: Where to Find Coupons
Part 2: Understanding Coupon Lingo
Part 3: Knowing Store Policy
Part 4: Using Coupons to Save the Most Money
I always forget to take coupons with me to the store. I know I could save money if I could keep my coupons organized and remember to look for them. Thanks for the information!
I keep mine in a little expandable folder thing in my purse. Impossible to forget that way. 🙂