The other day somebody mentioned to my husband something about the fact that I always find the very best deals and I usually have a coupon for some thing.
That’s actually a pretty true statement. I can sniff out a coupon a mile away. It is almost like a game for me - to see if I can find a coupon for whatever I’m going to buy. $.25 here, $1 there; it truly adds up! And I find coupons all over, so I thought I’d compile a list of the top 10 places (plus one bonus 1) that I usually discover coupons.
The Sunday Newspaper: We really subscribe to the paper for no other reason than the ads and the coupons that come in those ads on Sundays. You will find usually 1-3 little leaflet packets of coupons for grocery items in there. I can usually discover a coupon for brands and products I buy anyway. My favorite coupons are the ones that will provide you with a free item. I’ve seen this frequently with new candy bars and dog treats. Essentially the coupon is valid for whatever the item sells for within the store so you don’t have to pay a dime! You are able to also get ahead of the game and see what coupon inserts will probably be in every Sunday paper in 2008
The Wednesday Paper (The Grocery Ads): I don’t know if it’s like this everywhere, but where I live, our Wednesday paper holds all of the ads for the grocery shops. Browsing through these I can generally discover coupons for specific items at particular grocery stores. Fred Meyer usually has coupons for grocery items and Albertsons and Safeway frequently times do too (shops might vary in your area, but I’m sure you’ll still discover coupons in their ads). Sometimes coupons are only valid for a few days simply because they’re such a great deal ($1 for a jar of peanut butter or $.25 for a carton of eggs). The other day I found a coupon for Weight Watcher Intelligent Ones frozen meals for only $1 each (they are usually over $3 each) with a limit of five. I actually bought five, discovered an additional coupon and went back later that week for 5 much more!
Through Snail Mail: I usually hate junk mail cluttering up my mailbox, but a couple of times a month I’ll obtain a coupon book or small leaflet full of coupons. Many people most likely think about this junkmail, but I love it. Usually about as soon as a month we receive a bit coupon book that’s filled with coupons and specials from companies around my city. It generally has discounts on tanning, oil modifications, house repairs, restaurants, dry cleaning, you name it. I like this simply because I turn out to be much more knowledgeable about what businesses are around my house and I can attempt them out with much less risk because I have a coupon. We also obtain sheets of coupons from bigger chains like Dominoes, Pizza Hut, KFC, Arby’s, etc. These often have lots of valuable coupons that I store up for those consuming out nights.
Entertainment Books: I adore these things because they are an whole book full of coupons and savings, numerous of that are fairly substantial. They’re filled with coupons for eating out, grocery shopping, enjoyable activities, and all sorts of stuff. In our entertainment book last year we had a coupon for 50% parasailing at a nearby lake. My husband and I’ve always wanted to do this, however it could be fairly pricey. I discovered out that the cost for the both of us to go up together was $80 - however it was only $40 with the coupon. So we saved $40 and did this on my birthday last year. The average price for an entertainment book is about $35, but if that’s too much for you or you don’t believe you’ll save sufficient to break even, you can frequently purchase them later in the year for as little as $10. The coupons are only valid for a year so you’ve much less time to make use of them which is why it is cheaper, but we did this last year and didn’t miss much. Plus we saved $40 parasailing and it only expenses us $10 for the book.
Online: Search for “coupons” on any search engine website online and you’ll discover a ton of sites where you are able to print coupons correct off of your pc!
Through E-mail: Many of the online coupon sites have an e-mail list you can sign up for to receive coupons through your e-mail so you do not need to go on-line to find them. Also you can also obtain coupons to specific stores/restaurants whenever you sign up for their e-mail lists.
At Stores: Have you ever observed those little red coupon dispensing machines lining the aisles of your grocery store? I have to admit that I haven’t observed as numerous of them lately, but I do discover coupons at grocery stores from time to time - and they are conveniently located right underneath the item they are for. You are able to also occasionally discover coupons at the register whenever you are ringing your items up. For instance in the event you go to buy an item that the store has a special coupon for that week, but you don’t have the coupon, you can ask the cashier if they’ve an extra 1 and often times they will have a spare one that they can scan for you to give you the discount. Also, at places like Linen’s and Things where they give out a 20% off of any item coupon in all of their ads, they usually have extras behind the registers that you can use - all you have to do is ask.
Magazines: Numerous magazine also feature coupons in a great deal of their ads. You can frequently discover coupons for grocery items in magazines that are directed towards ladies (Good Housekeeping, Family members Circle, etc.). Fashion magazines tend to have coupons for various makeup and skin care items as well.
(Bonus) Referrals: These ones seems to be less common so I figured I’d throw it in as a bonus. Sometimes you can get discount on particular services and/or items by referring someone to that service/item (or becoming referred your self). For example, if we refer somebody to our current satellite provider (Dish Network) we get $50 off our bill and the individual we referred gets $50 off theirs too. Also, we lately bought new cell phones via a website and if we refer someone to purchase a phone via their site also, they receive a $25 coupon and so do we. It works fantastic for both.
Bonus Suggestion: Organizing Your Coupons: Because I find coupons anywhere, it seems that every table and countertop in my house is overflowing with coupons and frequently times when I need to use a coupon, I either forget where I put it or forget that I even have it. I’ve tried using an accordion coupon organizer, but that just became too difficult and time consuming to organize. Lately, I’ve begun a new process where I file all coupons in my filing cabinet. I only have 3 folders: 1 for grocery coupons, 1 for eating out coupons and 1 or specific store coupons (these are the kinds of coupons I collect most often to ensure that is why I created these folders). When I find a coupon I simply drop it within the appropriate folder and it’s out of my way. Then if I have to go grocery shopping, I pull out my grocery coupon folder and pull out any coupons for items I have to buy that week. And if we really feel like going out to eat, I pull out that folder and we usually decide where to go based on what coupons we have. So far this has simplified the coupon procedure very a bit for me and has allowed me to discover and use my coupons much more often. There are also a number of other ways to organize coupons
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