Okay so im sure by now your tired of hearing me blab on and on about setting up a solid foundation. You are ready to finally really get started with actual physical coupons. Well I promise you I wont mention it again. We are going to put your organizational skills to the test now. In order to actually get started with coupons you need to find some first. The number one question I always get while telling somebody about couponing is where I get my coupons from. Well I get them from all over and you will to. I actually have a really hard time passing a coupon and not picking it up. I’m pretty sure its become an addiction now.
When I first started coupon I had no idea really where to get my coupons beside the Sunday paper. I used to buy only one from the gas station because I’m cheap, but quickly realized that one just wasn’t going to cut it. I started looking around other couponing sites but everyone was pretty vague about where the coupons where coming from. Eventually I started talking to a friend of mine who happened to work at a gas station at the time and she told me they throw out the Sunday papers at night. THEY JUST THROW THEM OUT!! She told me if I came in after 12 she would give them to me for FREE!! The down side to getting all the papers for free was I had to take the whole paper and I would whined with about 70 of them. My point to this is to ask around, you never know what you will end up with.
I am going to tell you honestly I got tired of getting up in the middle off the night and I just buy them now from the dollar store in the morning. I usually buy a bundle of 10 every week. That is what works for me, what I feel comfortable with. I know you will find you happy medium to and to help you I am going to list all the possible ways I can think of to get coupons. Don’t feel overwhelmed by all of this just pick and choose which ways you would like to get coupons.
The Sunday Paper
In my area Dollar Tree carries the Sunday paper for $1 each. If you have to buy it, save money and hit a dollar store.
Also be sure to check online for discount subscriptions if you do plan to sign up for your local paper.
Ask friends and family for their inserts.
Check the local gas stations, if they don’t give them away they most likely throw them in the recycling bin. My local gas station actually had a policy change while I was still getting the papers and they had to actually be trashed instead of given out. My friend would bag them up and put them on the side of the recycling bin. It never hurts to make friend with the night people!
Hospitals and Hotels always offer papers for free to guests. See if you can pick up the ones that were not picked up. Don’t be afraid to ask really the worst that can happen is they say no. I know someone who exclusively picks up the Sunday paper from a hotel they have no connection to. They just went in and asked.
Contact the circulation manager at your local paper. If they can’t offer you free ones maybe they can offer you a discounted price.
If you feel comfortable check your local recycling center. You can find a gold mine if you are willing to check it out.
Online
I’m just going to list the most popular ones because there are just to many sites to mention them all.
Hopster.com
Coupons.Target.com
Free Samples
It’s a little known fact that some of the best coupons come with the freebies you get in the mail. Why wouldn’t you request them.. free product and coupons that can even sometimes be for a free full-sized product! On a little side note, I really love getting little freebies in the mail. They are great to use for traveling. Some of the best freebie sites are listed below.
Proctor and Gamble – Get samples from popular brands like Pampers, Tide, Bounty, Crest, Always, Mr. Clean, Cascade, DAWN, Charmin, Gillette, DURACELL, Swiffer, OldSpice, Febreze, and IAMS.
Womanfreebies.com – Samples, coupons, sweepstakes and freebies from your favorite big brands!
If you are worried about receiving a boat load of emails you are not interested in you can do one of two things: create a separate email address just to sign up for freebies or sign up for Unsubscriber. Unsubscriber is the simplest way to stop emails you don’t want. Just move unwanted messages to the Unsubscribe folder and Unsubscriber takes care of the rest. It really cleaned up my inbox when I was ready to abandon my email address and create a new one.
Contacting Companies Directly
Contacting companies directly and leaving feedback is the best way to get high value coupons mailed to you. It takes two second to email them to let them know you love something and it can really pay off. Bargain Blessings has a really great list of over 173 manufactures to contact for high value coupons to get you started.
Clipping Services
If you need to get ahold of a lot of one coupon/ insert a coupon clipping service would be idea for you. With most clipping services you can clip as many or as little as you want and mail them directly to you. If you miss getting the paper for a week, no need to panic they carry inserts back dated inserts to. Check it out for your self.
Thecouponclippers.com
Weclipyousave.com
Magazines
Make sure you check your magazines before you trash them Some can contain really decent coupons like All You and even Better Homes and Gardens.
Social Media
In this day in age social media is taking over everything. That goes for coupons to. You can get some of the best coupons from company pages on Facebook and twitter. Be sure to like your favorite brands to keep up with when they post new coupons.
I hope I have given you a few ideas on where and how to find coupons. Make sure you subscribe, you’re not going to want to miss the final and most important (I feel) part of Getting Started With Coupons. See you soon,
