1. Sunday Newspaper. This is the simplest and most cost effective way to get coupons. Around here, the Sunday paper costs $2.00 or less (I apologize as I have had a subscription too long to have to buy one, so my cost could be off). You will clip much more than that $2.00 you would pay for the paper.
We actually get one paper free with our subscription to the Belton Star Herald. So, I actually bought another subscription for delivery directly through The Kansas City Star. This puts two newspapers on my door step (or driveway, or sidewalk, or flower bed, or wherever it happens to land) each week. This gives me two sets of every single insert!
If I find great coupons that will save me more than the cost of another paper (i.e. $2.00) I will run out and purchase another paper.
I also have my mother-in-law save her inserts. She clips what she will use and gives me the rest. Lucky for us, we do shop a little differently, so I can give her some coupons and she does the same for me. This brings up my next way to get coupons….
2. Swap with Friends/Family/Neighbors. As I mentioned above, my Mother-in-Law and I swap coupons. This is a great way for you to get more of the ones you use and unload some of them you will never touch.
I actually walk through the store and look at shopping carts. If I see someone with a product that matches a coupon I will never use, I walk up and gladly hand it to them. The look on their face when they get to save money is wonderful!!! I love to give!!!!!
3. Internet Printable (IPs). There are coupons on-line all over the place. The best way to get what you will use is to go through your house, or even look over your last grocery store receipt, and go the website of the manufacturers of those products.
Sometimes you will find coupons right on the home page. Other times, you will get coupons when you sign up — they will get e-mailed to you as they become available.
There are some great sites you can go to to find several coupons in one place. They include:
coupons.com (can access through the bar at the top of my blog)
redplum.com
smartsource.com
Bettycrocker.com (will need to sign up)
Pillsbury.com (will need to sign up)
Box Tops 4 Education.com (will need to sign up)
4. Buy Coupons on Line. There are some sites where you can actually buy coupons.
Ebay.com has lots of them. You can type in the coupon you are looking for or even SmartSource and get full weekly inserts. Be sure that you are not paying more than you will save between the cost of the coupons and the shipping.
Centsoff.com is a coupon clipping service. You select the coupons you want and pay a small fee to get them. What is nice about these is you get ONLY what you want and/or need. Again, what what you are paying so that you don’t end up paying more than you can save.
5. Magazines. Lot of magazines have coupons included throughout them. There is one magazine that I would encourage people to buy as it always FULL of coupons!! It is All You Magazine. I actually get this magazine myself and when it comes in the mail I flip through it to take a look at all of the savings….kind of like Christmas every month!! LOL!!
If you are interested in All You — I can help save you money. Do not buy it through their site. Instead, go here and follow these instructions to get it at much lower cost!! You will pay less than $18.00 for a two year subscription….making it less than $0.80 per issue! Can’t beat that!!!!
These are the ways I have accumulated my coupon collection and what steps I will take to build it back up once again. I recommend you keep everything you get as you never know when you will see something on clearance or when you can’t help out a friend or even a stranger at the store.