I thought it would be more convenient if I condensed all three parts of the Ultimate Guide to Finding The Best Coupons. This is my ultimate couponing compendium comprising every single way I keep our food bill under $300 per month. This post is extremely detailed so you might want to get a cup of tea and a notebook. Enjoy!
Remember to sign up for all the sites I have listed. Â You will be glad you did.
The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best Coupons – Part 1
Best Coupon Websites to print coupons on items from the grocery store:
Best Brand Websites to print coupons on items from the grocery store:
I find the key to saving a lot at the grocery stores is to learn to be methodical. Â A lot of deal bloggers post the upcoming sales flyer for certain grocery stores at the beginning of the week. Since I predominately shop at Publix, I go to this site on a Monday morning and start searching for coupons for items that are going to be on sale for the upcoming week. Â In my area of the south, Publix starts their sale on Thursdays. Since I know what is on sale on a Monday for the upcoming week, I get busy searching for coupons.
This is my process. I look for a coupon database that many deal bloggers have on their site. Â The blog I mentioned above has one. Â I search every item that I am going to buy and if there is a coupon available, I print it. Â If the coupon is a PDF, you can print as much as you need. Otherwise, you can get 2 prints. Â A perfect example of this is about two weeks ago, Publix had Sandra’s Chicken on sale for $4.99. Â Even better, it was a BOGO deal (Buy One Get One Free). There was a $1.00 coupon at Sandra’s Chicken website. Â I was able to get 2 boxes of chicken for $2.99. Excellent price.
3 Things To Do When There is No Coupon:
If by chance, there is no coupon in the coupon database, I do ALL the following things to get my hands on a coupon:
- Go directly to the brand website for the item. Â For example, if you are going to buy Mid’s Pasta Sauce and there is no coupon listed in the coupon database, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a coupon available. It means the blogger hasn’t caught wind that there is one available. So I google Mid’s Pasta Sauce and the first listing that comes up is for midssauce.com. Look around on the website for Offers/Coupons/Promotions and see if there is a coupon available OR at times you may even find a rebate form.
- Go to the product’s Facebook page and see if they have a coupon available. Â There are times if you “Like” their Facebook page, they will direct you to a coupon to print for their product. Â If not, I send a message on Facebook and ask for one. You would be surprised to know there are times when they get back to you with a link for a coupon OR alert you to an upcoming coupon link for a new product that they are releasing.
- Go to the company website and click on the “Contact Us” button and ask for a coupon. Â I tell them that there is a sale currently going on and to please send a link to a coupon. It doesn’t hurt to let them know how great their products are while you are emailing them. At times, they will even throw in a coupon for a free product and a higher than normal value coupon. Though most times they will ask for your address to mail you some. Â You may not get them in time for the current sale, but since sales rotate every few weeks, you can use them in the future. Also don’t forget to ask for a rain check at your grocery store for the products that are on sale while you are awaiting the coupons.
Companies To Contact for Coupons
Here are a few companies that I have emailed and asked for coupons.  Some I do on a regular basis and others I emailed in the past. Almost all the time, these companies respond asking for my address OR they send me a link.  Better yet, these coupons are usually a higher value than what you would get in the Sunday newspaper AND there have been times that the company included a coupon for a free item that their company makes.  Find the “Contact Us” tab on the website and connect with the company that way. It doesn’t cost a dime, just your time 🙂
More Ways to Find Great Coupons
- Look on Craigslist.org in the free section. Â Sometimes you will find people that are offering Sunday bundle duplicates or even magazines that have high value coupons in them. Freecycle.org is another great site to use as well.
- When you are in stores shopping, pay attention to any hang tags on products, peelies (on products), tearpads in the store and especially Blinkie machines. Of course, don’t rip hang tags or peelies off products you are not buying. Just look over the products that you are putting in your cart to see if there is a hang tag or peelie on it.
- Also, remember that rebates = savings too. Â Even though you are receiving it after your purchase the item, think of the rebate payment as a coupon towards your next purchase. This site has a great list of current rebates and an even better refunding forum.
- Listia is an interesting site.  You can basically swap whatever you want for coupons – should someone be offering them in their listing. Refundsweepers has a swap forum as well. Also feel free to set up a coupon swap box where you work. Just have people that would like to participate put their unused, unexpired coupons in a box and they can feel free to choose what they like from what others have contributed. Both libraries I have used in NJ and in Florida have swap boxes as well.
- Another perk to coupon swapping is reaching out and swapping with people that live in other areas of the U.S. than where you live. For instance, since the cost of living on the West Coast is way higher than in the Southern part of the U.S., their coupons have a higher face value. What may be a $.50 coupon off 2 items here will probably be $1.00 off 1 item on the West Coast.
Even More Ways to Find Great Coupons
Learn the best sample sites and use them for free products. Â Many times the product will come with a higher than normal value coupon or, even better, a coupon for a free product. Here are a few of my favorite freebie sites:
Best Sample Sites to Get Free Products & Coupons
GoodHousekeeping Product Testing
I have signed up for all of these sites and over time, received a product from all but Minute Rice and House Party. Â But don’t let that stop you, different companies look for different demographics at different times. Be savvy and check into these sites weekly to see what campaigns are going on at the time. Â Of course, sometimes you may be in the right place at the right time to receive a free sample. Often though, these companies want you to provide them feedback for the product you are getting. Â So be honest when giving your opinion about their product. Â And, like always, I have gotten some great high value coupons or free product coupons from the company.
Also, there are quite a few sample companies that give out household items, beauty or personal hygiene products along with a free product or high value coupon.
Best Sample Sites to Get Personal or Household Products & Coupons
The above sample sites are your best bet for getting household or beauty type products to try as well as high value coupons. Remember though, I don’t think it is wise to buy these type of items at the grocery store. Â Unless you are basically getting it for free. Â I like to use drug stores such as Walgreens, CVS, etc. for these types of products. Â Since you not only get to use a manufacturer’s coupon, you can also use a drug store coupon and be eligible for the store’s reward perks as well. Also, Target is a good place to buy these types of items as well, especially since Target’s stock goes on clearance fast and often. I believe Target marks down their health and beauty items on Wednesday and cosmetics on Friday.
Another way to get coupons is by participating in reward clubs. Â You simply enter codes that are on packages of the items you buy and you get rewarded with coupons, gift cards, merchandise etc.
Best Reward Clubs to Participate In To Get More Savings
RecycleBank is a great reward program. Â You basically get points for watching an environmental video, answering a poll, etc. Your points add up very quickly over time and you can use them for coupons on items, magazine subscriptions and more. Â Kelloggs Family Rewards works the same way. Â You buy Kelloggs’ products and then upload your receipt as proof of purchase and you start collecting points. Â You can redeem your points for free rentals from Redbox, gift cards, and my favorite, high value coupons to print. A lot of times Kelloggs’ releases bonus codes that you just plug into your Kelloggs’ Family Rewards account and watch those points add up.
Another wonderful FREE way I get coupons is by getting FREE magazine subscriptions.  Again, I use sites like RecycleBank, Kelloggs Family Rewards, Reward Surveys and Mercury Magazines to get free subscriptions. Basically you can get up to a full year’s subscription to a magazine.  I get it whether I like the magazine or not.  Do you want to know why?  You might find money inside. I signed up for Real Simple Magazine (which I love) and found a $4.00 coupon for Curel and a $2.00 coupon off Tide. Here’s a perfect example:
Buying Inserts or Specific Coupons
If you simply don’t mind spending some money to get the exact coupons on the products you buy, then do this:
- You can tell what Sunday’s upcoming coupon inserts will be by going to this site. Â Then if you don’t feel like buying 20 Sunday newspapers – you can buy just the inserts or specific coupons for the products that you buy. Â Here are a few sites that do both: Couponclippers, Klip2Save, CouponCarryout.
Even More “APP”etizing Savings
Just when you thought that all the saving happened at the grocery store checkout lane, along comes APPs.  You simply download these Apps to your phone and check what rebates are being offered  Then you take pictures of your receipt and possibly the product’s UPC code. Follow the instructions on your phone on steps you need to do to get the rebate.  It’s a very simple process. Here are all the Apps I use and love:
Savings After Savings After Savings
Okay, even after every item has been put away in your pantry and cupboards you can still save MORE MONEY. Â Yup! Â Once you have your grocery store receipt or various store receipts go to Receipt Hog and sign up. All you do is snap a picture of your receipt, answer a couple questions and you may earn coins and free spins. After you have accumulated a certain amount of points, you can redeem your points for Paypal cash, gift cards or products. Â You can even donate to certain charities. One more little tidbit of information – you can add receipts up to 14 days old! Also, you can get more coins by filling out surveys and entering sweepstakes to win points.
Receipt Pal is very similar to ReceiptHog.  Simply snap a picture of your receipt and upload it to their site.  You get your points after it’s approved.  This site does have a weekly limit to the amount of receipts that you are able to submit.  But still, over time you get rewarded. Also, Receipt Pal is great because it accepts electronic receipts as well.  So make sure when you shop at Amazon you forward your electronic receipt to [email protected]
I hope that I encouraged you to really try to reduce your grocery budget with these methods. If I did, please send me a comment and let me know how much you saved! If you have any sites not listed above that you use for saving money, leave a comment and I’ll add it.
Good luck on finding the BEST store coupons!
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