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I've had several emails after my Homeland post asking how I saved so much money and if I had any good advice about couponing, so I decided to blog a series on how to coupon. Every Friday I'll be blogging 1 of 10 consecutive lessons on couponing and by time we're done, you'll be ready to save mega bucks too!
Lesson 1- Coupons: Where to Find Them
Sunday Paper- There are several places you can obtain coupons your best bet is the Sunday paper. Every Sunday (excluding holidays) there are usually two coupon inserts, the Smartsource and Redplum. Once a month (the first Sunday) there is third insert from Proctor & Gamble. Occasionally, there will be an extra Smartsource or Redplum or inserts from other companies such as General Mills, Campbell's, and Kelloggs/Keebler. You want to obtain at least 5 copies of each insert. You can do this by asking your friends and relatives to save them for you or if you subscribe to the paper ask your paper carrier for his extras (they just toss them). If you have a paper recycling bin near you, ask permission to get the extra Sunday papers (this where the carriers toss them ). You need the extra copies for stockpiling. We'll discuss stockpiling in later a lesson.
Online- Printables or IP coupons as they're called are fast becoming the way of the future as far as saving money at the store. There are so many sources for coupons online, almost too many to mention here. A lot of times manufacturer's will offer coupons on their website but your best bet for coupons are from the following:
This list above contains just a few of the places you can find printable coupons but it will get you started.
Grocery Store- Grocery stores can be a treasure trove of coupons if you know where to look. Here's some places to look for coupons when you shop:
- Store ads- many stores will have manufacturer's coupons or store coupons in their weekly ads or have special coupon fliers in the store. Usually you'll find them on display near the entrance.
- Peelies- Manufacturer's will often place coupons right on their products that you can peel off and use. Peelies can be on boxes, cans and even frozen foods.
- Tearpads- Another way manufacturer's entice you to buy their products is to send pads of coupons to retailers. Stores then place the coupon pads near the intended product for you to tear off and use.
- Blinkies- When my grand-kids were little they were fascinated with these things. Blinkie machines are found in the grocery isles, have little blinking red lights and automatically spit out coupons. Blinkies however, are usually low in value and state do not double. My store doubles coupons so I don't use a lot of these. But don't discount blinkies, especially if the coupons are for something you regularly use. Your store may clearance something down that you can get free with a blinkie.
- Wine Tags- If your state allows wine to be sold in stores (Okla. does not) then watch for coupons hanging around the neck of the bottles. Most state you do not have to buy wine to use them.
Magazines- More and more magazines are placing manufacturer's coupons in their issues. The best magazine hands down for coupons has to be All You. All You Magazine can only be found at Walmart or obtained by subscription. Each issue has over $40.00 in coupons! Right now you can get a FREE 2 issue trial of All You Magazine by clicking HERE.
Blogs and Message Boards- Follow a blog or join a message board to keep up with all the latest coupon deals. They do all the work for you by searching out places to find coupons such as facebook, manufacturer's websites etc. and posting in their blog or message forum.
Ok, now that you know where to find coupons go out and get 'em! Next week we'll cover how to organize and store those great coupons you've scored.
About the Author
Queen Mum has written 5372 posts on ConsumerQueen.com.
Queen Mum does all of our store matchups and misc deals.She also Helps Melissa with Coupon Classes. *Click below to send Patsy a Deal.*
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Just starting this today. I am open to any suggestions. Just me & my husband but trying to get my kids involved. In this economy we all need this. Thanks for your work on this site. So far very easy to navigate.
Hi Jackye…do you live in or around OKC? We offer coupon classes to help you get started. Our next open class will be at the Edmond Walmart at Danforth & Santa Fe on 3-12-11. Watch for the sign up …we’ll be posting it soon on the blog.
I am intrested in couponing… Any helpful info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Samantha
Hi Samantha, Do you live in the OK area, if so check out our coupons classes listed under the coupon class tab. You can also check out our lessons under the coupons tab. Our coupon classes are about 2 hours long so I can’t list everything here but one piece of advice I can tell you is get at least 5 copies of the coupon inserts from the Sunday paper from friends and family. When you see toothpaste really cheap or free with coupon buy 5, not just 1. Put those away and by the time you go through the toothpaste it will be on sale again and there will most likely be coupons again. Stores sell in cycles and coupons are put out in cycles. Do this with all your health & beauty, canned goods, toiletries etc. As your stockpile grows your weekly grocery bill will shrink because you got all the stuff you use either free or cheap. Pretty soon all you will be spending money on is perishables and you can find coupons for meat as well as produce to use weekly. Stock up when things are cheap so you don’t have to spend much later. Just don’t go overboard buying so much that it expires and gets wasted. Buy only what your family will use before it goes bad. Hope this helps!
I have climbed on board. I live in Blanchard and our grocery strore will not allow you to use the printable coupons. I have been going to Norman to shop but I really need to start saving locally too so that I do not have to drive very far to pick up the one or two items that I need. I just picked up 2 of the sunday paper. It is a start. I could use all the help I can get. I just afford the gas of having to drive to Norman more then once or twice a month. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.
Get as many of the Sunday coupon inserts as you can from friends and family etc. At least 5 copies of each. Then, when you see something on sale at your local store cheap or free and it’s something you’ll use buy 5. Put the extras away to use when you run out. Pretty soon you’ll have a stockpile of stuff that you got cheap or free and you’ll only need to get the perishable stuff at the store. This will save you time & money. Having all that stock on hand will allow you to only have to go to Norman once or twice a month. It takes a little time to build up a stockpile but once you do it you’ll be set! By the time you run out of something the store will probably have it on sale again. Sales tend to run in cycles. Good Luck!
im new to this website.i hope i can learn alot.i am a fan on facebook
I hope so too! Welcome to the blog and let us know if you have any questions.
Good afternoon, Im so new this couponing. The printable coupons, do you have to have a certain printer for this, or can I print black and white? Im clueless. mahalo
You can print coupons in black and white….doesn’t matter:)
No you can print them in Black and White
We buy most of our groceries at Aldi’s and they don’t have all name brand items, which save us money. But, we also have to go to Food Lion for some other items that we use some brand names. Since Aldi’s does not have a lot of the brand names, we can’t use coupons there. We do try to use any coupons that we can at Food Lion for toilet paper, pet food, butter, etc. because we do like certain brands in these cases. Is there anyway to save more here? Thanks!
I am starting to coupon. Im a stay at home mom and every little area we can save we can. Im new at this so any tips or anything i would really like! I live in the southern OK area so anyhing extra help is greatly apreaticated.
Hey Lynzie, what town do you live in? We are starting to hold coupons classes in lots of different areas in Oklahoma.
I don’t understand how to use enough coupons to get an item for free. I thought if a coupon says 1.00 off you usually still spend 2-3 dollars. Can you help me understand how to do what ya’ll are doing. I do not live in OK I am on an army base in Missouri. Thank you for the help. By the way, we only have a walmart in this town.
Mary, it depends on how much the item costs before the coupon. If you find toothpaste on sale for $1.00 and you have a $1.00/1 toothpaste then it’s gonna be free. You can get free stuff at Walmart too. You just have to know what items are on sale or what Items will be cheap or free and what coupons to use. You find that out by following a blog that posts all the free and cheap deals in your area. You can click on the “find my store” at the top of our homepage and then click Walmart. This will bring up the most recent free and cheap stuff we’ve found at Walmart. Your Walmart’s prices may differ but a lot of the stuff will be the same, you just have to check your store. Be sure to pay attention to the date the post was made so that you don’t read something that’s out dated. Now our Homeland here in OK doubles coupons up to $1.00 so we get a lot of stuff free that way. For example, Homeland may have pasta on sale for $2.00. If I have a $1.00/1 coupon it will double to $2.00 making the item free. Hope this helps!
Hi,
I am wondering if it is possible to do the couponing thing even if you don’t live near a metro area? Where I live, we only have 2 grocery stores, Walmart, Aldi & Walgreens. I would really love to get into couponing, but is it worth my time in a smaller area?
Thanks so much,
Katie :0)
Is there a website that you can see if it has coupons that go along with the deals going on at your local grocery store?
Yes there are…..where to do you live? If you live in the Oklahoma area we post all the deals for our stores.
I live in denver colorado
What major stores do you shop at there? Maybe I can find a blog for you. We post Target & Walmart grocery deals.
We have walmart,King Soopers(Kroger) and Safeway(Kroger),Thank you that would be awesome…. Im just starting to try this out and im still a little confused on it all but im determined to figure it all out!!!! Lol
Hey Monica…..you might try DealSeekingMom.com I know she does Kroger. You might also google “kroger grocery deals in Denver” or any other store you go to and it may bring up websites that cover deals in your area. Good Luck!
I am looking forward to couponing, I would love to save some money on my weekly food bill. thanks Jim.
P.S. Also I liked what you had to say about TLC not showing the real truth about couponing.
Thank you very much, I appreciate your help!!!!!
can you use more than one coupon for a single item?
You can if it’s a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon. You can’t use 2 manufacturer’s coupon on 1 item
What does ‘Limit one per purchase’ mean??
One per purchase means 1 coupon per 1 item……can’t use 2 of the coupons to buy 1 product. If the coupon says “1 per transaction” it means you can only use one of those coupons per shopping trip.
I started clipping coupons last week and went shopping only to find I didn’t use one of these coupons because the store brand was cheaper than
the name brand even with the discount from the coupon . Two hours of my time wasted what gives ? how can you really save with coupons
Yes you can definitely save with coupons, I and many, many others do it all the time. You just have to know what’s on sale at your store and what coupon to use and where to find it. That’s where we come in. I don’t know where your from so I can’t tell if looking at our store deals would help or not. But if you live in OK all you have to do is click on “find my store” look at the weekly ads and use the coupons listed. Also, you might want to read our lessons on couponing, especially the one on shopping with coupons as it will explain what stockpiling is and how it can save you a lot of money. I very rarely find the store brand is cheaper when I combine a coupon with a sale, especially if I’m shopping at a store that doubles coupons. I’d be glad to help in any way I can to get you started saving money. Let me know where you’re from and what major stores are near you and if we don’t post the deals for those stores maybe I can find a blog that does.
ok..so I am trying to print coupons off of the internet but they never seem to be as easy as a click of a button. They redirect me to other sites that require more information that I need to sign n/sign out of and before I know it I have a HUGE headache. I only have a small window to do”Couponing” in so I need it to be effectient and timely. I can not keep do this!! Something that is suppose to save me so much $$ should NOT be this stressful!!!
We want to start couponing but live in Lowell, AR, where Wal-Mart is so prevalent. I don’t think they give double coupons, do they? Won’t it be hard without double coupons?
Not at all Barbara….I get lots of cheap stuff at Walmart and Crest Foods and neither doubles! Just check out our Walmart deals under “find my store”. Now prices won’t be the same at all Walmarts but should be close and may be even cheaper in your area since Arkansas is the “home” of Walmart LOL!! Remember, Walmart gives overage now so you can save even more there!
Im losing my mind trying to find coupons onlin e that match sales. I have been on here for hours. Please help.
Hey Carla, what store are you looking for coupons for? If you live in OK you’ll find the weekly store deals and where to find the coupons under “find my store” If not, you can find a list of online coupon sites by clicking on “coupons” then “printable coupons”. If you can give me a little more info I’ll try my best to help:)
just stumbled on this blog to find some help in couponing..looks like some great tips! looking forward to starting!!!
I am new to this whole thing. I do my shopping every two weeks at a King Super store and then in a town even further away at Wal mart, safeway and albertsons and I have member cards that I download digital coupons for, but I haven’t found a store yet that doubles coupons here in Wyoming.
Veronica, it’s nice to have a store that doubles but can save even if you don’t have one that does in your area. I shop at Walmart and Crest Food here on OK an neither one doubles but I get alot of cheap and sometimes free items at each. Find the cheapest store in your area and check their ad every week to see what you can get with your coupons:)
Thank you!
Hi. I am new to couponing, Didnt think I needed to but my sister was diagnosed with cancer and her 2 kids now live with me. I went from being a single eating out woman to “insta-mom”. I live in Jax fl and shop at Wal-Mart but willing to venture out to save. Any tips and help could and would be greatly appreciated.
Hi! If you’ll click on “coupons” at the top of the blog page and then click on “how to coupon” you’ll find a wealth of info on couponing. The first 3 lessons are for beginners. If you have any questions on anything just let me know.
Hello, this is a great site! I live in Canada though and am having trouble finding coupons. Any suggestions? Most of the coupons I print off say valid in usa only.
Thanks
Donna
Try googling “Canada grocery coupons” It should bring up sites for you to print or find coupons.
Hi I really want to start couponing, I live in Fort Worth Tx any clue as to where to start. Please guide me thanks.
Myra the best thing I can do is tell you to read the first 3 lessons on couponing we have listed under “coupons” then “How To Coupon”. Those lessons are for beginners and will give you some tips on finding, organizing and shopping with coupons. If you have any questions just let us know
Hi. I was wondering, can you use more than one coupon on one item?
You can only use 1 manufacturer’s coupon per item. If your store as their own coupons they will usually let you use a store coupon + a manufacturer’s coupon on the same item:)
Hey I just started getting the sunday paper and in each of mine I have only had one insert in each one is there at least two everytime? Am I just missing one or something? Thanks
Not always, two but most of the time
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