Coupon Basics - Where to Find Coupons

Want to start saving lots of money and turn those coupons into cash??  Sure, why wouldn't you. 

Where to Find Coupons?
1.  The best place to start finding coupons is the Sunday Newspaper. 

Sunday newspapers are the most reliable source of coupons. They provide savings on a broad range of products. Three publishers print inserts, they are generally found “inserted” into the pre-printed ads and store circulars:
SmartSource
RedPlum
PGBrand Saver (P&G, usually the first weekend of every month)

SmartSource and RedPlum do not provide inserts on major holiday weekends.  I'll try to keep you updated as I go along with this blog on what is coming out. So you can stock up on a couple of newspapers. 
It is important to realize that not every newspaper subscribes to coupon publications (inserts). Also, not every newspaper subscribes to the same set of inserts, even within the same city. Even more complicating, coupon value in inserts, from the same publisher on the same weekend, frequently varies by region, even by town! “30 cents on two” in Orlando maybe “$1.50 on one” in Los Angeles!  Since, being from St. Louis, we get a larger paper and will usually have all of the inserts. 

Check the front page of the coupons; it often will state the $ value of offers contained (i.e., save $80 in this SmartSource Insert).

Check if there are specific brands featured that week — for example, Unilever typically publishes their quarterly coupons for all brands in a single edition of RedPlum, as does Nestle. Kraft publishes coupons for their brands together in SmartSouce, as does Kellogg’s. General Mills and Betty Crocker coupons come out at various times, but typically are featured together in SmartSource.
Check for any show stopper super coupons

Check for ultra high value, free item, or hard to find coupons

If you don’t see anything of interest, you may not want to waste time, energy, or money obtaining additional copies. If it does, however, it’s time to Turn those Coupons Into CASH!

One key to super savings is having multiple copies of the coupons you really want. You need to have a coupon for every item in your shopping cart! If you are going to buy 5 of one item, you need five coupons good on that item! You can achieve this by obtaining multiple copies of the inserts, as inexpensively as possible. There are several ways to do this:

1.  My favorite spot to get extra papers is "Dollar Tree".  Did you know you can get the Sunday paper there for only $1.  Make sure the coupons are physically in the paper you pick up before you buy it. Look through them and make sure all of the inserts are there. You need to balance the cost of that paper against the savings you will actually see. Are the coupons worth the price of the paper to you?  If it is a great coupon week, I usually purchase 4 or 5 extra papers. 

2. Call Your Newspaper: If you don’t receive your regular inserts call the paper on that day and request that they deliver them. You are paying for the paper; you’d probably complain if the news section did not come; the inserts are money in your pocket. Make sure you get what you are paying for

3. Check At Your Local Store: Many grocery stores discount the price of Sunday papers. Stores also return unsold papers for credit when the next paper is delivered; generally inserts do not need to be returned. Ask the late night shift, you might be surprised.

4. Check Local Restaurants, Hotels, Hospitals, Airports, etc.: Basically anywhere people purchase papers and sit down to read them. Ask people if they are going to use the inserts. If they leave their paper behind, take it before it gets tossed. Make friends with the receptionists, hostesses, lobby managers, and ask them to save them for you when they are tidying up the area.

5. Check Newspaper Recycling Bins: Apartment, condos, hotels, businesses, neighborhoods, communities, even the recycling centers will often allow you to look through their paper recycle.

6. Inquire Within Your Community: Ask friends, family, neighbors, even colleagues for their inserts. Most people don’t use coupons, and are delighted to contribute.

7. Start A Coupon Collection / Recycle Box: People are usually glad to donate their inserts at work, in the break room, at church, at your club, your child’s school, wherever people you know gather.

8. Contact Friends, Family, A Coupon Train, and Exchange Coupons Across Locales: They may not want that $2 coupon on toothpaste from their insert, while you may have one they are looking for!

Stay tuned later in the week, I'll discuss other ways to find coupons.