I love coupons. Because of my food allergies, I can’t use a lot of grocery coupons, but I do make heavy use of coupons for personal goods like shampoo. I don’t think I’ve paid full price for a bottle in a decade. Grocery stores and manufacturers are getting stingier with their coupon policies, so you have to try a little harder to the best deal. If you’re new to coupons, check out this list of my favorite coupon sites:
Sunday Newspaper
Although SmartSource and Red Plum are making forays onto the internet, they still offer their best coupons in the Sunday inserts. If you don’t currently get the paper, the coupons alone will probably cover the cost, so it could be worth it. Right now, the coupons are the only reason I still subscribe to the ever-shrinking Los Angeles Times.
Hot Coupon World
This site not only offers a great forum, but it has a searchable coupon database so you can figure out which insert offers which coupon, or hunt down printable coupons from manufacturer sites.
Organic Grocery Deals
If you like to shop organic, visit this site for the latest organic deals.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts is not a printable coupon site. Instead they offer a limited range of local coupons that are loaded directly onto your grocery club card. No more wasting paper on printables!
SmartSource
They now offer some coupons on their website that you can print.
Red Plum
They’ve also put some of their coupons online.
Maunfacturer Sites
Visit the websites for major manufacturers like Proctor and Gamble to print coupons for their products. You may also have to visit brand sites to find the coupons.
CoolSavings
A lot of these coupons seem similar to the coupons you find at Red Plum or Smart Source, but most will only allow you to print a coupon one time from each site. Since you can usually use multiple coupons if you buy multiples of the product (3 coupons for 3 boxes of cereal), try visiting several sites to get multiple coupons. Note: I haven’t tried this, so you might have to clear your cache or cookies before you can print the coupon again, even at another site.
Coupons.com
Go here for another set of printable coupons.
CouponMom
More printable coupons from a variety of sources.
Coupon Cabin
Great for online coupon codes and printable store coupons.
Coupon Mountain
More online coupon codes.
Retail Me Not
More online coupon codes.
Ebates
Not coupons (mostly), but rebates for online purchases.
Fat Wallet
Another source for rebates. Some merchants give different rebates through the different sites, so it pays to compare.
Remember, coupons aren’t limited to grocery stores and online stores. They’re also accepted at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Wal-Mart, and other big box stores. If you combine coupons with CVSing, you can score some mega deals. Also, make sure to compare prices after deducting for the coupon and any doubling by the store. Sometimes a coupon makes it cheaper, but sometimes it doesn’t. If another brand is just as good, and cheaper without a coupon, then it’s the better deal.
Even if you only save $5 a week with coupons, that’s $5 less than you currently spend. They don’t take much time or effort, so why not give it a shot?
