Facts about Different Types of Coupons

I mentioned previously that September is National Coupon Month. I thought it would be fun to share some interesting coupon statistics with you since we all love these little pieces of paper that are like money!

Newspaper Insert Coupons

Did you know the industry refers to the coupons in the Sunday inserts as Free Standing Inserts (also known as FSI's for short)? According to a study conducted by Inmar, nearly 90% of all coupons distributed in 2011 were via the weekly inserts. Redemption rates with the inserts were roughly 50%. That means the other 50% of people who received the inserts didn't use them.

I think my heart just stopped.

And if that didn't make your heart stop, coupons for Health and Beauty care items only had a 25% redemption rate (up 11% from 2010). Can you believe that? Health and Beauty items are one of the top 3 budget busters. Using coupons for Health and Beauty care items can save you a TON – even for smaller families!

You can find a list of several newspaper deals in your area so you can ensure you are getting the ultimate lowest price! Also make sure you subscribe to the largest distributed newspaper since they typically have a better variety of coupons.

Printable Coupons

These are fast becoming my favorite type of coupon to redeem. The biggest reason is that anyone can start today and save just by having access to a computer and printer. Manufacturers can produce a coupon through one of the popular sites to print coupons and get an immediate return on that promotion.

Remember, coupons are advertisements so you will buy the products.

The most popular AND legitimate coupon printing sites are Coupons.com, Coupon Network, RedPlum and SmartSource. When you print the coupons from our site, we receive a small commission for each coupon (as does any other site). You can find links to the printable coupon sites quickly at the bottom of the page here on Savings Lifestyle!

THANKS for supporting Savings Lifestyle by printing your coupons here!

With these printable coupon sites, you will be asked to install software onto your computer. This is so that they can track the amount of prints you made. You can only print TWO coupons per computer (or mobile device) in your home. The software is attached to your IP address and each device usually has a separate IP address.

Hypothetically, if you had 5 computers in your home like we do (we are a digital family) then you could print 10 total coupons. Just so ya know, I don't do this since my kids would DIE if mom wanted to put coupon printing software on their computers. That is totally not cool, apparently.

Finally, Facebook coupons and offers are on the rise. Generally Facebook's standards are more stringent than anything so you should be safe printing coupons from Facebook. As a matter of fact, you want to do something interesting? Leave a comment on the Savings Lifestyle Facebook page and share which brand you have “liked” recently for a coupon or a freebie. :)

Digital Coupons

Digital coupon companies are newer media in terms of couponing. The first digital coupon company on the market was Cellfire. They have some competition now with stores offering their own digital coupons and apps, as well as companies like Upromise and SavingStar.

While they are becoming popular, this format doesn't exceed 1% for all coupon redemption in the US. I think more companies will start to utilize this form of coupon redemption so I suspect that number will increase drastically. Maybe part of the reason the coupons aren't as popular for redemption are the fact that there are restrictions in place.

For one, digital coupons do not double. So, if you have a paper coupon that you know will double, thus increasing your total savings, you should use that instead.

Secondly, you cannot use a paper coupon with a digital coupon. If by accident you loaded a digital coupon onto your loyalty card and forgot about it, many stores require you use that coupon instead of the paper coupon.

Third, if for some reason the coupon discount isn't given at the register, the store is technically out of the loop on it. These discounts are managed through the various digital coupon companies NOT always the store. So you have to call the digital coupon company to get the discount rectified, whereas a paper coupon is in your hand and you know it will always work (usually).

You can find links to the digital coupon sites quickly at the bottom of the page here on Savings Lifestyle! Just like printable coupons, when you “clip” digital coupons using our links, you are supporting Savings Lifestyle so THANKS!

Coupon Apps and Text Offers

Do you have a smart phone? It's a 50/50 split for those who attend my coupon classes. If you do have one, you may be amongst the nearly 25 million Americans that use coupon apps each month, according to data gathered by The NPD Group.

They also state that coupon app users typically have children too. No surprise there! My smart phone not only helps me save, it helps me stay organized and keep our youngest occupied when we're at games or appointments!

You can find a list of apps to help you save time and money. Those are some of my favorite apps!

Magazines with Coupons

Last but not least, another great place to find coupons are in magazines. While there is a smaller percentage of magazines overall that contain coupons, I still encourage people to subscribe to magazines that may carry products they use.

For example, if you enjoy Weight Watchers product, you should subscribe to Weight Watchers magazine as they always have coupons for the brand's products. I also subscribe to Clean Eating Magazine and they have coupons occasionally for natural/organic products.

You can get many magazines for $5 or less for a 1-year subscription. We always share magazine deals here whenever we learn about them so you can take advantage too. Typically at least one place online will have a decent deal to share each day. Always purchase at the low price but NEVER renew since you can simply purchase again at the low price AGAIN. The renewal rates are usually 3-4 times the deal price!

My one exception to the $5 per year price rule is with All You magazine. All You is my favorite magazine! Not only do they have fabulous articles on saving money, with tips and advice from yours truly too, you can also get great coupons inside. In fact, one issue alone will more than pay for the $30 price for 24 issues. Since you can only get the magazine at Walmart, it definitely pays to subscribe (here is more information if you are interested).

What is your favorite type of coupon?

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