If you currently not couponing because you don’t think they will really save you much money, your assumptions about coupons are wrong. You need to throw those old assumptions out to realise the hidden opportunities that exist. I know this is likely to be difficult for you because it was extremely difficult for me. If you have any common sense at all, you should think that couponing is a complete waste of time. I did. The reason for this is simple. If you use common sense when you use coupons, you end up doing it all wrong. Seriously. Don’t believe me? If you have “common sense” you have likely assumed that couponing is a waste of time up until this point because:

1. Most coupons are for junk food.

2. Most coupons are for things that you don’t buy.

3. Most coupons are for brand name products and even with a coupon, these are more expensive than store brands.

4. Coupons take too much time to clip, sort and organize to be worthwhile for the little bit of savings that you get.

I’m sure there are many others, but these are a few of the misconception I had before I started this from previous coupon trials and failures over the years. If you believe any of the above, you probably do so from your own previous experiences with coupons. This is how coupons and couponing appear to work to most people at first glance.

What we are going to do is to completely turn this “common sense” way of looking at coupons up on end and use coupons the way that they benefit us the most, not how the stores and manufacturers expect us to use them. I will get into this is more detail in later steps, but it’s important to understand that leaving your preconceived notions of how coupons work will make it a lot easier to embrace how to make coupons work best for you.

Also resist the temptation to assume that “couponing is easy.” The truth is that couponing becomes easy, but when you first begin, there is a large learning curve that needs to be overcome. The good news is that the more you practice, the easier it becomes and it shouldn’t be long before you can say that couponing is easy for you.

The first step is getting a base of coupons to use. Those coupon inserts that come in the Sunday newspaper are far more valuable to you than you can imagine when it comes to cutting your grocery shopping bill. I know what you’re still thinking. “I don’t even use any of the brands that come in those Sunday coupon inserts.” Even if you know that don’t use any of the items that the coupons are for, they are still very valuable to you (remember, refrain from falling into your old assumptions about couponing – it will become clear later).

Basically you want to get as many Sunday coupon inserts as you can (there are 2 main companies that put inserts into the Sunday paper — SmartSource (abbreviated as SS by most couponers) and RedPlum (abbreviated as RP by most couponers) of both these inserts. You really need a bare minimum of 2 of each, but you should shoot for a minimum of 5 of each (I know, that sound ridiculous, but believe me, you are going to be wanting even more in no time). The easiest way is to just have 5 Sunday papers delivered to your house, but there are a lot of other ways to get hold of these inserts if you don’t want to spend that much money. I only have a single Sunday paper delivered to my house, but usually collect 20+ inserts each week without spending any extra time doing it. This is how I do it.

Now when you get these inserts, you are going to be tempted to look through them to see if there are any coupons for products that you use and cut those out. DON’T. Seriously. Fight the temptation. The goal is to make couponing as easy and painless as possible and I believe for most people, the most painful part of couponing is the cutting, sorting and organizing (it certainly is for me). The only thing you will do by looking at the inserts is waste time trying to figure out a convenient way to cut, sort and organize the coupons that you think you will use. There is no convenient way. At this point and time, you don’t care what coupons are in the Sunday paper inserts. You just want them.

You want to leave the coupon inserts completely intact. Again, don’t even bother looking through them. All you want to do is take out a thick pen and place the Sunday date the coupon insert arrived on the front cover (if you are not sure, the date will be on the outside fold of the insert, but in small print so it is difficult to see) so that it is easy to read when you need to find it again. Then find a place to file it (I simply place mine on a bookshelf where I can easily find them when I need them in the future). This will be the extent of your Sunday newspaper coupon organization.

Begin collecting these inserts from this this coming Sunday (it is even worthwhile to go through your trash if you know you threw last week’s inserts out but still have them) and think about ways you may be able to get more of them.

Just an advance warning. For the next 4 months, you are going to miss out on some deals because you don’t have the Sunday coupon insert filed away that you will need. This will be extremely frustrating. I know that there were more than a few occasions when I wanted to quit because I heard about a great deal and then couldn’t take advantage of it because I didn’t have the coupon insert that I needed because it predated when I started saving them.

This is especially true at the very beginning when you only have a few weeks worth of inserts and I think a lot of people do quit because they believe that they will never be able to take advantage of the deals out there. You will. You just need to be patient as you build up your Sunday coupon insert stash. Realise that if you miss a deal now because you don’t have the Sunday coupon insert, by collecting and filing them away now, you will be in a position in a few months to take advantage of a similar deal.

Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have and I will do my best to answer them. Next step is learning about eCoupons

I will be wearing the same orange Tshirt as in this photo. I will be inside, but if there are more than a few people that show up, we may move to the outside area. If you know that you will be coming, please let me know by email or comment. I hope that it works out that I can meet with at least a few of you.

The SmartSource company places coupon machines in grocery stores where you can take a coupon right then and there to save on the item you purchase. These SmartSource coupon machines are often referred to as “blinkies” by most couponers. They get this name because the coupon dispensers usually have a green blinking light designed to attract your attention while walking down the grocery store aisles. Blinkies are usually found directly in front of (or at least nearby) the product for which the coupon is being dispensed is for.

Blinkies are free and you can take as many as you need. The coupons will have an expiration date and can be taken to be used at a later date as long as it is before the coupon has expired (it doesn’t have to be used on the date you find it). They also do not need to be used at the store where they are found, but can be used at any store where manufacturer coupons are accepted

While Blinkie coupons are free, there are some basic etiquette rules that you should consider when taking them. If you pull a coupon from the Blinkie machine and decide that you don’t want it, there is a slot on top where you can replace it so that someone else can use it. Also, only take the number of coupons that you will actually use. There are a limited number of coupons in each Blinkie coupon machine, so to hoard them. Simply take the number that you believe that you will realistically use.

It is well worthwhile to keep a lookout for Blinkies on each trip to the grocery store you take and they can often get you a good discount when combined with other promotions that are going on.

This is what they look like:

To receive full membership benefits, just

• print your FREE 60-day trial membership offer:

BJ’s 60 day free membership coupon

• take it to your nearest club (you can find locations here)
• Activate it at the membership desk, and receive FULL Member benefits for 60 days.

So, what are the benefits? Well, unlike most warehouse stores, BJ’s has a FANTASTIC coupon policy. More about that below

In addition, BJ’s prices are about 30% below regular retail prices at local stores, including items in these categories:

• Apparel
• Automotive
• Baby
• Bakery
• Cameras
• Club Brand
• Computers
• Electronics
• Entertainment
• Fresh Produce and Meat
• Gas & Propane
• Gifts
• Grocery & Gourmet
• Health & Beauty
• Home & Housewares
• Household Basics
• Jewelry
• Meal Solutions
• Office Supplies
• Pet Supplies
• Seasonal
• Toys

Then, there are the COUPONS!
Unlike most membership and warehouse clubs, BJ’s accepts all manufacturers’ coupons — including the ones that come in your Sunday newspaper — giving you additional savings.

In addition, they offer their own, larger value in-club coupons. You can locate these membership-only coupons:

• online (for example see BJ In-Club Coupons )
• in BJ’s Journal, a BJ’s Member magazine
• through special-offer mailings
• in BJ’s in-Club coupon flyers

You can also use more than one coupon when you buy their multi-packed products (a pack that contains multiple full-sized packages of a single product shrink-wrapped together)! For example, if you have 2 coupons for 50% off an 8-oz. bottle of face cleanser and you are buying a multi-pack that contains 2 or more 8-oz. bottles of face cleanser you may use both coupons.

With the new coupons available in stores, booklets, and even newspapers for TOYS, you might find some great gifts, and great savings too!. It might just be worth a free trial!

To access and use the coupons, you simply sign up for Zavers with your store card, and click through the list of coupons online to select those you want to use.  Once the coupons have been linked to your store shopping card, the discounts will be automatically redeemed at checkout when you use your shopping card.

You can store and use up to 40 clipfree coupons through Zavers.  Paperless coupons are not doubled or tripled.  Some manufacturers allow the use of a paperless coupon and a paper coupon for the same item, while others do not.
Stores currently participating in this new program include:

• A&P
• Waldbaum’s
• Superfresh
• The Food Emporium
• Pathmark

Kellogg’s coupons

and consider signing up for their updates.

You can also learn about the

Special K $10 “skinny jeans” rebate, the

$10 bonus bucks when you buy 3 cereal boxes rebate, and even

which cereal brands have specially marked boxes with $5 in coupon inside

as well as other current AND past offers.

So, what other offers are you looking for?

The new site

Tablespoon.com

is designed to provide a huge reference of searchable commercial kitchen-tested recipes (like the ones from Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, and their other brands), along with your own recipes, and share them with friends and family. You can also rate the commercial recipes.

There is also a large block of 100 printable coupons to go along with the recipes. (The site is currently in beta testing, but I understand the coupons will link up with recipes soon). The printable coupons are powered by Coupons.com, and include some from the coupons.com monthly site, as well as other coupons exclusive for site members.

I’ll admit, I’m getting overwhelmed by the number of electronic and printable coupon sites to keep track of, but this site seems to offer some fairly good coupons in a large range of categories.  Here’s an example of what you can find in this month’s 100 coupons, with a face value of $153.75:

Tablespoon.com coupons

Save $.50
on any one (1) StarKist® Pouch Product

Save $.50
when you buy ONE any variety Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen vegetables

Save $1.50
on Any ONE (1) DiGiorno Ultimate Toppings Pizza Product

SAVE $1.00
on ONE package of Kellogg’s® Special K® Blueberry Cereal (11.4 oz. or Larger)

Save $0.50
on any ONE (1) Steamfresh® Lightly Sauced vegetable or pasta variety

Save $.50
when you buy ONE TUB any flavor/variety Betty Crocker® Frosting

Save $.40
when you buy any flavor Box or Pouch Betty Crocker® Potatoes (Except Potato Buds®)

Save $1.50
when you buy two (2) 15 oz. or larger package of COFFEE-MATE® Liquid or Powder any variety

Save $.50
when you buy any variety 19 OZ. – 24 OZ. ONLY Green Giant® Frozen Bagged Vegetables

$1.00 off
FOUR (4) or more rolls of Scott® Long Lasting or Mega Roll Paper Towels

Save $2.00
on Any ONE (1) HUGGIES® Diapers

Save $.50 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Pillsbury® Crescent Dinner Rolls

SAVE $1.00
on any ONE package of Kellogg’s™ Special K™ Protein Shakes (4 ct. or Larger, Any Flavor)

Save $1.00
On any ONE (1) Snuggle® Fabric Softener or Sheets

Save $.50
when you buy SIX any variety Yoplait® Yogurt cups (Includes Original, Light, Thick & Creamy, …

$.75 OFF
on your next purchase of Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet Pineapple!

$.50 Off
any THREE (3) packages or ONE (1) BundlePack® of KLEENEX® Facial Tissue

Save $1.10 on THREE
when you buy THREE any flavor Progresso® Soups

Save $.55
On any ONE package of Keebler® Sandwich Crackers

Save $1.50
on any ONE (1) bag of Steamfresh Meals

Save $1.50
On One (1) Pkg HORMEL® Refrigerated Entrée

Save $.55
when you buy Original Cheerios® cereal (the one in the yellow box)

Save $.30 on TWO
when you buy TWO any size/variety Refrigerated Pillsbury® Grands!® Biscuits

Save $.50 on TWO
when you buy TWO any variety Green Giant® Frozen Boxed Vegetables

Save $1.00
on Any ONE (1) California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust Pizza

Save $1.00 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Chex® cereals

Save $.60
when you buy 40 OZ. OR LARGER Original Bisquick® OR Bisquick Heart Smart® Baking Mix

Save $1.00
Off One Ore-Ida® Steam n’ Mash™ Potatoes

Save $.75
when you buy any Kix® cereal: Kix®, Berry Berry Kix® OR Honey Kix®

Save $.50
when you buy any flavor 4.5 OZ. OR LARGER Chex Mix® OR Chex® 100 Calorie Snack

$1.00 off
when you buy EIGHT (8) rolls or more of SCOTT® Extra Soft Tissue

SAVE $.40
when you buy any flavor Yoplait® products listed: • Yoplait® Go-GURT® Yogurt • Yoplait® Kids Cup…

Save $1.00
On any TWO packages of Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies Treats® Crispy Marshmallow Squares

Save $1.00
on Any TWO (2) Packages of Maxwell House Coffee (10.5 oz. or larger)

SAVE $0.75
on any ONE package of Kellogg’s® Special K® Chocolatey Pretzel Bars (6 ct. or Larger)

Save $2.00
with purchase of two GE lighting products (Redeemable only at Target)

Save $1.50
on Any ONE (1) HUGGIES® Little Snugglers or HUGGIES® Little Movers Diapers

Save $1.00
when you buy two (2) Ghirardelli Baking Products

Save $.75
when you buy MultiGrain Cheerios® cereal

Save $1.00
on ONE Kellogg’s Corn Flakes® Touch of Honey Cereal (12 oz. or Larger)

Save $3.00
on Any ONE (1) HUGGIES® Pure & Natural Diapers

Save $1.00
when you buy any flavor Yoplait® Delights™ Yogurt Multipack

Save $1.00
when you buy any flavor YoPlus® OR YoPlus® Light Yogurt 4-pack

Save $.40 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Pillsbury® Sweet Rolls or Grands!® Sweet Rolls

Save $5.00
on a My Little Pony purchase of $20 or more.

Save $1.0
when you buy any flavor Yoplait® Fiber One® Yogurt Multipacks

SAVE $.40
when you buy ONE BOX any flavor/variety Nature Valley® Granola Bars

Save $.50
when you buy ONE any variety Progresso® Broth

Save $1.00
On any TWO packages of Kellogg’s® Special K® Bars (6 ct. or Larger, Any Flavor, Mix or Match)

Save $.40
when you buy any flavor 17.5 OZ. OR LARGER Betty Crocker® Cookie Mix

Save $.50
when you buy ONE any flavor Betty Crocker® Warm Delights® Bowls OR Betty Crocker® Warm Delights® Mini…

Save 75¢
On any 1 (one) Weight Watchers® cheese or cream cheese item.

Save $.50 on TWO
when you buy TWO packages of Pillsbury® Rolled Refrigerated Pie Crusts

Save $2.00
on GE Energy Smart® compact fluorescent lighting product (Redeemable only at Target)

Save $.55
when you buy ONE PACKAGE any variety Pillsbury® Simply…™ Refrigerated Cookie Dough

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) Mr. Potato Head® Spud Buds™ toy

SAVE $1.00
On any ONE package of Kellogg’s® Cinnabon™Bars (6 ct., Any Flavor)

SAVE $3.00
ON 1 MAYBELLINE NEW YORK PULSE PERFECTION VIBRATING MASCARA

SAVE $1.00
On any ONE package of Kellogg’s™ Special K™ Crackers (4.62 oz. or Larger, Any Flavor)

Save $.40 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Pillsbury® Italian Meal Breads (Includes any Loaves, Breadsticks, Dinner …

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® DinoRoars™ Hatchlings toy

Save $1.00 on TWO
when you buy TWO PACKAGES any variety Pillsbury® Refrigerated Cookie Dough

Save $.75 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Pillsbury® Refrigerated Holiday Cookies

Save $.80 on TWO
when you buy TWO any flavor Yoplait®

Save $1.00
Good on any Aleve Cold product.12 hours of sinus relief with one pill.

Save $3.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® LULLABY GLOWORM™ toy

Save $1.00 on TWO
when you buy any TWO Progresso® Products (Excluding Soup and Broth)

SAVE $1.00
on any ONE (1) HÄAGEN-DAZS FIVE™ 14oz ice cream product

Save $3.00
on one tube of Nexcare™ Cold Sore Treatment

SAVE $1.00
on any Jergens Naturals® Daily Moisturizer 16.8oz or larger

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® Activity Ball toy

Save $1.00
on Any TWO (2) packages of California Pizza Kitchen Flatbread Melts

Save $.55
when you buy any flavor/variety Pillsbury® Savorings® products

Save $10.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® Musical Sit ‘N Spin™ toy

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® STEP START WALK’N RIDE™ toy

Save $.75 on 2
when you buy any TWO Frozen Pillsbury® Grands!® Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, OR Mini Cinnamon Rolls

$.50 off
when you buy one (1) package of any Tetley Tea

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) MR. POTATO HEAD® Silly Suitcase™ toy

Save $.75
when you buy Whole Grain Total®, Total® Raisin Bran, Total® Honey Clusters®, Total® Cranberry Crunch,…

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® SWING ‘N SCORE BASEBALL™ toy

Save $10.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® Dance Cam™ toy

SAVE $1.00
Good on any flintstones multivitamin product

SAVE $1.50
when you buy any flavor Wanchai Ferry™ Frozen Entrée

Save $1.10
when you buy any flavor Wanchai Ferry® Dinner Kit

Save $.75
when you buy any Fiber One™ Frozen Muffins

Save $2.00
on any ONE (1) Energizer® Hearing Aid Battery pack

Save $1.00
when you buy ONE BAG any flavor Nature Valley® Granola Nut Clusters

Save $.50
when you buy any flavor/variety Fiber One™ Box Muffin Mix

Save $2.00
on the purchase of (1) MR. POTATO HEAD® or MRS. POTATO HEAD® toy

SAVE $.50
when you buy any flavor Chocolate Chex Mix® 4.5 OZ. OR LARGER

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® Busy Ball Popper™ toy

SAVE $1.10
when you buy any flavor Romano’s Macaroni Grill® Restaurant Favorites™ Dinner Kit

Save $1.50
Good on any TWO (2) POISE® Liners

Save $.40
when you buy any flavor/variety LÄRABAR®, JOCALAT® or JamFrakas™ bars

Save $1.50
Good on any TWO (2) POISE® Pads

Save $5.00
on the purchase of (1) PLAYSKOOL® Tumble ‘N Twirl Top™ toy

SAVE $1.00
ON ANY ALKA-SELTZER PLUS PRODUCT 10 CT. AND LARGER (EXCLUDES ALKA-SELTZER ANTACID PRODUCTS)

SAVE $1.00
ON ANY ALKA-SELTZER PRODUCT 12 CT. AND LARGER (EXCLUDES ALKA-SELTZER PLUS COLD PRODUCTS)

SAVE $1.00
on Zyrtec® Itchy Eye Drops

Save $1.00
on any box of Barbara’s Organic Cereals

It would be wonderful if everyone had access to great coupons. It would be even better if we all had the time and patience to clip them from papers, organize them, and compare them against sales prices at various local stores. It would be icing on the cake if the stores had all the items in stock, we could match the right coupon to the exact time, remember to had them to the cashier, and the coupons all scanned. What an amazing day that would be!

In real life, we all don’t have the time, patience or even the best coupons to get great savings at grocery stores. Even so, there are some “clip-free” alternatives that provide reasonably good savings:

PGeSavers. Proctor & Gamble has initiated a program, PGeSavers, that allows consumers to load coupons for their P&G products directly onto a store’s shopper/discount checkout card. Once applied to the card, the savings are typically valid for up to three months. You can opt to receive email reminders when the coupons are about to expire and/or new coupons are available. Items with coupon savings can also be added directly to your electronic shopping list. When the product is purchased using the store card, the coupon savings are automatically deducted at the register. If other family members use the card when shopping, they receive the same coupon savings. Additionally, family members can assist elderly parents or disabled relatives by going online and loading the appropriate savings onto their store shopping card, thereby eliminating the need for these relatives to haul around and handle paper coupons.

PGeSaver also provides exclusive access to a monthly email newsletter, free samples, sweepstakes, coupons, and product updates.

Shortcuts.com AOL has introduced a paper-free service, shortcuts.com, which allows shoppers to load manufacturer’s coupons directly onto store shopping cards. Simply click through the list of coupons online to select those you want to use, and they will be automatically redeemed at checkout when you use your shopping card.

Stores currently participating in this new program include:

• Baker’s
• City Market
• Dillon’s
• Fry’s
• Fry’s Marketplace
• Gerbes
• Hilander
• JayC
• King Soopers
• Kroger
• Kroger Marketplace
• Owen’s
• Pay Less
• QFC
• Ralph’s
• Randalls
• Smith’s
• Smith’s Marketplace
• Tom Thumb

New stores are being added regularly, so even if your local store isn’t currently using this service, you can review a list of stores that are considering this service here, and request an email notifying you if they sign up to participate.

CellFire.com Another clipfree source is CellFire.com, a free service allowing members to access and use grocery coupons from a PC or mobile phone. Coupons can be selected and loaded directly onto your store card. Stores currently featured include

• Safeway
• Kroger
• Ralphs
• Vons
• King Soopers
• Fry’s
• Baker’s
• Dillons
• City Market
• QFC
• JayC
• Smith’s

upromise ecoupons. Upromise has also added a new feature of clipfree coupons, upromise ecoupons, which are added directly from your computer to your grocery card, and redeemed when your grocery card is scanned. Over 22,000 stores participate in this service, which also allows members to earn college savings with your everyday spending — when you buy groceries, fill the gas tank, shop online, book travel, eat out, you name it. You’ll automatically get a percentage of your purchases back as college savings.

You can redeem up to $30 in upromise ecoupons each month! Stores currently participating include:

• A&P, A&P Super Foodmart, ACME Markets, Albertsons’s
• Balls Food, Bakers, Bashas, Bel Air, bigg’s, Big Y, BiLo, Brookshire, Buehler’s
• Cala’Bell, Carrs, City Market, Copps, Country Mart, CVS/pharmacy
• D&W Foods, Dicks, Dillons, Dominick’s, Dorothy Lane
• Family Fare, Farm Fresh, Festival Foods, Food City, Food Emporium, Food Lion, Food Town, Food 4 Less, Fry’s
• Genuardi’s, Gerbes, Gerland’s Food Fair, Glen’s Markets, Giant Eagle Giant (PA), GIANT
• Hannaford, Harris Teeter, Harter House, Hilander, Homeland, Hy-Vee
• Ingle’s
• Jewel-Osco
• Kash ‘n Karry. Key Foods. Kennies. King Kullen. Kings Super Markets. King Soopers. Kroger
• Lofino’s, Lowe’s
• Marsh, Martin’s Food Markets, Meijer, Metro Food Market
• Nob Hill Foods
• O’Malia, Owens
• P&C Foods, Pathmark, Pavillions, Payless, Pick n Save, Park n Save, Piggly Wiggly, Price Chopper, Publix
• QFC, Quality Markets
• Raley’s, Ralph’s, Randalls, Redner’s Warehouse Markets, Riverside Markets, Roche Bros.
• Safeway, Sav-a-Center, Savon, Scots, Shaw’s, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, ShopRite, Shurfine, Shursave, Smith’s, Star Market, Stater Bros., Stop & Shop, Super Fresh, Super G, SuperValu Foods, Sweetbay
• Thriftway/Shop N Bag, Tom’s, Tom Thumb, Tops Markets
• Ukrop’s
• Village Market, Von’s
• Waldbaums, Wegmans, Weis Markets, Winn-Dixie

Zavers.com. Zavers.com, a leader in providing paperless coupons, has recently launched a clip-free grocery coupon service. The Zavers program allows you to link coupons directly from your PC and/or your mobile phone on to your grocery store shopping card; however, unlike some paperless coupon sites, Zavers does not require you to sign up for both services (internet and text/mobile). Zavers.com also uniquely provides store coupons, in addition to the manufacturer coupons.

To access and use the coupons, you simply sign up for Zavers with your store card, and click through the list of coupons online to select those you want to use. Once the coupons have been linked to your store shopping card, the discounts will be automatically redeemed at checkout when you use your shopping card.

You can store and use up to 40 clipfree coupons through Zavers. Paperless coupons are not doubled or tripled. Some manufacturers allow the use of a paperless coupon and a paper coupon for the same item, while others do not.
Stores currently participating in this new program include:

• A&P
• Waldbaum’s
• Superfresh
• The Food Emporium
• Pathmark

Online shopping with Sunday newspaper inserts. Several internet shopping sites, like Drugstore.com and Riteaidonline.com, have the same Sunday insert coupons available for your online shopping items, and these can be combined with sales prices, rebates and special offers to achieve convenient savings. Coupons are typically high value, such as the $7 off Claritin coupon from a recent Sunday newspaper. You must remember to click through the coupon offer when adding the item to your cart. Only one coupon per item can be applied per order, i.e. one Claritin coupon, one Natural Instincts coupon, one Swiffer coupon, etc. One other factor to keep track of is the minimum order value required to get free shipping.

Personalized Shopper Card Savings. Most major stores provide “clip-free coupons” or additional savings for customers who routinely use their Store shopping checkout card. While some savings are advertised, many are not. There is a new trend for stores to provide frequent shoppers additional unadvertised discounts on items they personally use the most, including food, household cleaning products, beauty and hygiene products, etc. Check you receipts to see if there are “bonus savings” identified.

Return to Where to Find Coupons

These sites are typically created and maintained by the same companies that print the Sunday inserts (SmartSource, Red Plum, etc). They offer a similar variety of coupons, frequently on the same products.

Any difficulties with printing or redeeming the coupons should be addressed directly to the publisher, not the manufacturer. The trade-off between the cost of printing (paper, toner, supplies) needs to be considered against potential savings from the coupons.

It should be noted that as with those Sunday inserts, each publishing site offers a different selection of coupons, depending upon your locale, shopping habits, and even the site you are using to access their coupon database.

The major sites for “online insert database coupons” are:

• SmartSource
• RedPlum
• Coupons.com
• Boodle  (managed by Coupons Inc)
• CouponBug.com (generally coordinated with a local news station for your area)
• ValPak Grocery Coupons
• HealtheSavers (many different sites with varied offers to choose from)
• Mambo Sprouts
• PGEveryday  (A mixture of printable and postal mails offers delivered to your inbox)
• Newspaper featured coupons:  Log into your local major metro newspaper website for printable coupons
  for example, go to www.baltimoresun.com, select grocery coupons, and a unique page of printable grocery coupons will be displayed (powered by Coupons Inc.)

Manufacturers/Brand Coupon Sites

Most major brand websites do not publish and manage their own printable coupons and mailing lists, but contract this out to other firms, such as Coupons.com. These coupons are typically not available in the “clearinghouse” of the publishers other printable coupon sites, but are only available for people visiting the brand website and signing up for these “loyal customer” type printable coupons.

Since different brands use different distribution firms, and printing programs, and manage their printable coupons according to their own needs, it’s often easiest to find coupons for the brands you want using the information on manufacturer coupon links pages. However, there are some general brand-specific sites you can start with:

• Coupons Inc Clients list (lists all current offers for individual brand printable coupons managed by Coupons Inc;  just scroll down the list at the bottom of their page to view and click through to current offers.)
• Arm & Hammer products
• Colgate Palmolive brand coupons
• Reckitt Bencksier Home Solution News coupons
• SCJohnson Right at Home coupons
• Healthzone 365 (coupons for Motrin, Pepcid, Tylenol, Imodium, Mylanta, St. Joseph, Mylicon, Viactiv, and Lactaid.)
• My Healthy Seasons offers on OTC products

Grocery Store Website coupons
Three years ago, many stores refused to accept internet printed coupons. It was simply too easy for fraudulent coupons to be “created” at home, and the stores bore the cost of redeeming “fake” coupons they could not be reimbursed for.

Most grocery stores have worked with SmartSource and Coupons Inc to provide a secure source of print-at-home coupons for their loyal customers. These coupons, available from each grocery stores own web site, are coded directly in to the stores computer scanning system. When a coupon printed from a grocery store site is used at that store, the terms are already established and verified in the system, including coupon value, expiration date, specific items to be used on, etc. These coupons are also frequently printed with the stores logo directly on the coupon.  Stores require these coupons scan clearly to be redeemed, however, so make sure your printer has enough ink and quality paper before printing.

Each store determines which coupons they want to make available to consumers, so the available coupons vary greatly from store to store. Before shopping at a specific store, check their website for specific offers available.

Tips
All three types of sites provide coupons that can be printed and redeemed at local stores for savings on specific products. The coupons are printed directly from your computer using a standard printer, paper, and toner/ink cartridge. In general, the user must download and install coupon printing software (Active X script). Each publisher has their own software, with subsequent security and privacy issues.

Most, but not all, brands require users to register, provide a profile, complete a survey or other promotion prior to printing the coupon offers. Once registered, coupons are easy to access, and additional coupon offers may be sent through newsletters, emails, or other notices. Once you have registered at a site, manufacturers may also use email promotions to provide traceable coupons to you directly. Each recipient’s link is a unique, onetime-use-only link. Emails can be timed to promotions, purchases, or even the age of your baby!

Printed coupons  have unique coding to identify the individual who printed it. Most sources utilize Digital FSI encoding, within the Coupons.com information system. Information is collected and analyzed based on the coupons printed, and when, if, and where they are redeemed. There is a limit on the number of times a coupon may be printed, and each printed coupon is coded with a unique identifier to the individual account it was printed from. Once a unique link has been printed, it cannot be printed again.

 Very importantly, printed coupons may not be copied, reproduced, or transferred.  To do so is considered fraud, and it is traceable back to the original account holder for each coupon. Emailing them or posting them on forum sites only creates frustration and confusion.  However, many manufacturers utilize the Coupons, Inc Tell-A-Friend Brick to allow consumers to “send their coupon” to friends.  This allows people to “share” coupons while creating unique, legitimate, coupon codes for the additional coupons.  The consumer provides names and email addresses, and each friend receives a personalized email that contains a new unique coupon link. If the recipients register their profile with the manufacturer, the coupon may be printed.

Return to Where to Find Coupons

Auction sites are a good place to find coupons for the products you use regularly and in bulk. Coupons auctioned off are usually product specific and come in multiples. That is, most auctions you will get a number of the exact same coupon.

When using auctions to find coupons, it’s helpful to know exactly what coupon brand name you are searching for since there are literally thousands of coupon auctions going on at any single moment. If you use a particular brand product, simply input the brand name into the eBay search engine such as “pampers coupons.” If you aren’t brand conscious, you can input the generic term such as “diaper coupons.” Since most sellers are offering groups of coupons rather than just one, “coupons” will usually bring up more results that “coupon.”

You will also find that the auctions are also a good place to get coupons for items beyond groceries. You’ll soon find that there are a lot of restaurant, store specific, drug, cosmetic, travel etc. coupons to be had. You can use the link below to see a small sampling of how many different coupons are available.

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