Shopping with Coupons | Get some Coupons
This is the second baby step of my snacks on Shopping with Coupons: A Beginner's Guide to Saving. This snack is focused on Getting some Coupons. You need these to shop with coupons, right??!
I have said repeatedly that coupons are just money waiting to be redeemed. In a way, I compare the results of couponing like putting money into your 401k. The small amounts stashed away each month may not seem like much, but after a year that money has given you a nice return (or maybe not as of late :-( . The same thing can be said about coupons. That $.50 coupon can add up to thousands of dollars. As of this writing, my total saved this was $5,400. That would be a big fat ZERO if I didn't use coupons!
Some places you can Get some Coupons:
Sunday Inserts
- These can be subscribed to with your local paper. This site will help you find the lowest price for your local papers. You can also purchase additional papers at your local grocery store too.
- The dates the Inserts were published can be found on the spine of Insert. My weekly store snacks will also tell you what date the coupon was published and the Insert name, i.e., “$1 in the 9/7 Smart Source” so this is definitely good to know!
- The following are inserts that are published on a scheduled basis: Smart Source, Red Plum, P&G, General Mills.
Product Coupons, aka, “Peelies”
- These are the stickers that you find on products in the stores. Peel them off and use them up!
Red Box Displays, aka, Blinkies
- These are Smart Source coupon displays that are placed in the stores by the product in which the coupon is valid.
Catalinas
- These are coupons that print with your store receipt. Sometimes these Catalinas are for $ off $$ from purchasing a certain promotion (i.e., Buy $25 in P&G and receive a $10 Catalina for your Next Order).
- I wrote a post to explain this further, “What is a Catalina?“
Clipping Services
- The Q Hunter, The Coupon Master, The Coupon Clippers, and Coupons & Things by Dede
- Ebay
- Please see my snack, Buying Coupons on Ebay and Clipping Services where I explain why this can save a lot!
Magazines
- Several magazines have random coupons but my favorite magazine that is a couponer's dream is “All You.” Please see my snack, All You.
Online Coupons, aka Internet Printable Coupons (IPs).
- Please check out my Printable Coupon Page.
eCoupons available for Kroger Stores. Click on the links to find more about each. eCoupon site
- Shortcuts
- Cellfire
- P&G Esaver
- Upromise eCoupons (valid for Kroger and CVS stores)
Sunday Insert Preview Sites
- We provide a coupon preview each week, but you can also check Sunday Coupon Preview or the Coupon Database to find a complete listing as well.
Another good snack I have shared is Coupon Lingo. This shares all the acronyms and words that you'll hear couponers using (ECB, RR, SS, RP, everything :).
Check out the new Coupon Database to find coupons for products you need too!
This list isn't all inclusive, but these are the places I use the most to find my coupons. Actually, you will rarely see any match-ups in my weekly Snack Summary that are NOT from one of the resources above. These coupons are most readily available to you so I share sales that match with these.
Now, aren't you just chompin' on this snack and ready to save some money!
Read all of the steps in the Beginners Guide to Saving.
do you subscribe to more than one newspaper to get multiple coupons? along the same lines, what is best way to get multiple coupon inserts at the best price?
Andrea,
Speaking of catalinas…you know how sometimes a Manufactuer’s coupon will print at a Kroger catalina, and it will say, “Redeem at Kroger.” But my understanding was that since it’s a MC, you can use it at any store (they are just trying to get you to think that you have to come back to Kroger). So I’ve tried to do that, and one 2 different occasions the cashier (and the manager) told me that I couldn’t use it at a different store. What can I do?
Sally – I do not personally subscribe to more than one paper (yet – I am going to).
To get multiple inserts at the best price, it is probably good to order them through a clipping service IMO. I have found that I don’t always use ALL of the coupons in each insert and I really only need multiples of a few q’s to use for stockpiling purposes. So, I will purchase just those q’s rather than the entire insert and it’s more cost effective.
Now, if there are several q’s in one specific week that I want a lot of, then I’ll buy multiple papers at the store. The only issue with this sometimes is that not all inserts are always included in the store papers. This is rare BUT it has happened to me a few times and I was bummed.
I found out from a great resource that the newspapers only get paid marketing dollars for the inserts that go to subscribers NOT the ones that are in the papers you buy at the store. So, there is a reason sometimes the coupons are left out and if it’s an important coupon, I don’t want to waste my money and purchase the newspaper at the store for the inserts when I know I can the q’s I need through a clipping service.
Emily – for Catalinas how does YMMV sound for an answer :-) I have heard that CVS, Walgreens and Meijer will accept Catalinas from other stores. BUT, I have not personally does this yet.
Since it is a manufacturer q, I don’t see why they wouldn’t take them since they are getting reimbursed when the address is on the catalina. But, you can always ask your stores and see what they say. That’s what I plan on doing when I get a really good catalina to use – I’ve never really had any that made me want to ask yet :-)
Another idea is to email the corporate office and ask them. If they clearly state you can, just take that email to the manager on duty at the time and share it with them.
I used a catalina from smiths and used it at walgreens, but I must say I cut out the smiths name, and they took it, not sure if they would have if the name smiths was still showing.
I called Walmart’s customer service line and asked about using coupons with MFC and another store’s logo on them. They said that their policy was to take any and all MFC’s so Catalina’s should work there. Hope that helps.
Do you ever have problems getting the electronic coupons from Shortcuts.com or P&G eSaver to work at the checkout? I went to Kroger today and neither of my e-coupons was applied to my balance. I expected one for 50 cents off Cottenelle and another for $2 off 2 Herbal Essence shampoo/conditioners. The computer was slow about taking off discounts at the end since the cashier didn't swipe my Rewards card until he was in the middle of ringing up my items. I also wonder about the interpretation of the expiration date of the coupons, which is today (12/31/08). Any advice?
Thanks!
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sometimes you have to go to the shortcuts webpage and input your receipt information, they usually refund the amount in general coupons.
Hello!
Can you explain “stacking” to me and when the circumstances have been that you have been able to stack. :)
Andrea – what is the name of that journal you can get for $20 annually through the mail that gets you a free Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer? I can’t think of the name of it for the life of me and after talking to the Cincinnati Enquirer today and being told they do not offer discount on multiple subscriptions I am not thinking this other deal would be better in the long run. Thanks!
Jamie, the Enquirer actually does do multiple discount subscriptions but you have to order through a link you see somehwere. You can find the details on that listed at the link below. It’s $0.99 per Sunday subscription.
https://savingslifestyle.com/2011/06/cincinnati-enquirer-newspaper-deal/
The other paper you were talking about is the Bethel Journal. It’s $20 for a year and you get the Enquirer free on Sunday’s. Other info is in the post here:
https://savingslifestyle.com/cincinnati/sunday-cincinnati-enquirer-delivered-20-a-year/
HTH!