Actually the reason I don’t like the Sunday Newspaper is because most of their coupons are for big projects that you would only occasionally need. Like roofing, tiling, building a deck, upholstering your furniture and etc. You know something that we don’t do or use often. If they have grocery coupons, the coupons are actually for new products or brands that I’ve never heard before. What I need more are coupons for daily necessities.

Recently, I’ve got so many free good coupons on the mail. Some locals and some general like Doves, Victoria Secret and etc. I get some coupons regularly from my 90 year old aunt. I was a little bit sad though because most of the time I end up throwing away coupons. Not because I don’t want to use them but because of the timing.

A few reasons why I throw away coupons:

1. Expiration date. Some coupons have a short expiration date. For example a week. Because I don’t go to grocery every week, then I have to throw away the expired ones.

2. Some coupons that I received are coupons for new products or products that I don’t normally use or wear.

3. Time difference. For example restaurant coupons. Some restaurants coupons are not valid for weekend (Friday,Saturday and Sunday) when we usually go out for dinner.

Coupons mean money to me. I’m sad because while throw away some coupons, I believe there are so many people out there might need that specific coupons.

I have been thinking of giving away coupons that I don’t want and share them with other people who need it. But I don’t know how. I’m still thinking the best way of sharing…Have any idea?

You’ve probably stood in a checkout line behind someone who has a coupon for every item they’ve purchased, and it seems like eternity until they are finished. But, they probably saved over 50% to 80% off their grocery bill in that few minutes!

How, you ask?

If you want to try your hand at snipping scissors for savings, first you need the coupons! The best source for coupons is in the Sunday newspapers. The inserts are tucked in the middle with the advertisements.

With the cost of a Sunday paper usually ranging from $1.00 – $1.50, it is a good investment with sometimes hundreds of dollars worth of coupons. And can you believe most people throw them away? Ask your friends, relatives and neighbors to save the inserts for you. Be on the lookout for businesses who subscribe and leave papers around for customers to read (ie Gas Stations, Laundry Mats). Check recycling bins. “Dumpster dive” if you have to.

On Monday, ask your newspaper carrier and stores if they have any leftover Sunday papers that didn’t sell. Vendors usually only have to send in certain parts of the newspaper (ie the heading) of those that didn’t sell to get credit for unsold papers. But they still have the coupons inside!

Unfortunately around Holidays, coupon inserts aren’t as plentiful. So, you may want to check the Newspaper in the Newsstand on Mother’s Day before searching the couch cushions for pocket change. And not all Sunday newspaper carry the same inserts. Some may have one, and another three. And even if they carry the same inserts, the amounts of the coupons may be different! It is common that coupons have a higher dollar value in an urban area over a rural area.

More ways to obtain coupons is directly from the manufacturers. Call the toll-free number on your favorite brands asking for coupons. Telling them first how much you like their product is a good introduction to your plea. Most will be happy to mail you coupons. Also check out to see if the product has a website. Email them or use their contact form to inquire. Don’t forget to include your mailing address.

Look over your empty canned goods labels and boxed food items before throwing them in the trash. Usually you can find a toll-free number to call (see above) on the package. Some packages also adorn their own coupons good on their next purchase. And many companies are now participating in Boxtops for Education and Campbell’s Labels for Education, so take a second to cut out the little symbol for the school of your choice. Those 10¢ add up fast when many people save, and all schools, public and private alike, appreciate them.

Also look for “hang-tags” on items in the store. Some will say “Save $$$ now” and if you read the print, it does not have to be used on only that certain item. Look for hang-tags on wine, as some offer $$$ off soda, meat or produce, with NO alcohol purchase required.

Another plan to acquire coupons is to beg, borrow or steal from other couponers. Ok, maybe not steal. Barter. If you don’t know any coupon locales, you can meet them through Refund/Coupons Magazines and Internet Chat Boards. It is prohibited to actually sell coupons, but you can “purchase” coupons from Coupon Services who charge a “handling fee” per coupon (for their time to cut, sort and mail). You can even bid on coupons on eBay!

The newest way to add coupons to your collection is to print them directly from the internet to your printer (ie FreePrintables.net)! Some stores have yet to accept these thinking they are counterfeit. But printable coupons are definitely the wave the of future. Many sites make you register first, and your name may even appear on the coupon or are barcoded with your information. Others may only let you print one or two of the same coupon before you get a “Sorry you’ve already printed your quota for that coupon” message.

Once you have your coupons, it is best to have some rhyme or reason to them, so it is easier to find the coupon you want when you need it. You can use a simple recipe box with dividers, a three ring binder with divided pages (like for baseball cards), or you can even buy a “real” coupon organizer.

Then you need to categorize your coupons within your organizer. There are several ways people sort theirs. The most simple way is to organize by generic classifications (ie Baby, Pet, Frozen Foods, Dairy, Paper Products, Health & Beauty, etc). Another way to sort is by expiration date. Couponers with thousands of coupons file the full inserts by the name of the insert (SmartSource, Valassis, Proctor & Gamble) and the date that it came out.

Make a date once a month with your coupon organizer to weed out expired coupons. This can be done easily while watching your favorite show on the television. Your kids can even help. If you have an extra stamp to spare, mail those expired coupons overseas for the the deployed military to use at the commissaries. Some commissaries accept coupons up to six months after the expiration date.

Never throw out any coupons thinking you won’t use them! Even if you have coupons for products you know you won’t use, you may find those products on sale or clearance and after using a coupon may be only a few cents or even free! Save health and beauty items for gift baskets. Donate canned goods to food pantries. Sell Cleaning Supplies at a rummage sale. You get the idea.

Watch the weekly ads and stock up when something you use is on sale, and especially when you have a coupon for those sale items. Some stores will let you combine a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon (ie Target and Walgreens). Other stores price match if you bring in their competitor’s ad. Pricematching is good if the original store is out of stock and your coupons expire before the rain checked items come in. It’s also good to save on trekking all over town to get the sales when you could get them all at Super-Walmart, for example.

Ask if your favorite store offers a reward program. Baker’s offers a club card you swipe every time you shop to get their discount prices. HyVee’s checkout spits out Catalina coupons to use on your next purchase when you purchase certain items. Register all of your grocery and drugstore cards at Upromise.com, and they deposit 1% – 5% of the purchase price of thousands of different brands into a college fund for the person of your choice!

Some lucky shoppers get to take advantage of “Double Coupon Sales” or even “Triple Coupon Sales” where the store actually doubles the value of the coupon, up to a certain amount. For example, the store may advertise “Double Coupons up to 99¢!” Any coupon value 99¢ or lower, will be doubled, but $1.00 and up will be normal value. The store themselves eat the doubled value as an incentive to pull in shoppers.

Be sure to browse the Clearance Sections of your store. Target is known for having deep discounts on their end shelves hidden in the store. Also, if your coupon boasts “Valid on ANY size”, buy the trial size! Be sure to calculate if you are getting a deal. Sometimes, it may still be cheaper to buy a generic brand of something, than to use a coupon on a name-brand something.

If the price of a product is more than the value of your coupon (ie Shampoo is 99¢ and you have a $1 off coupon), it is up to the store whether they will give you whole value of the coupon (where you make a profit) or just deduct the cost of the product. Either way, the store will be reimbursed for the full amount of the coupon plus the standard 8¢ redemption fee they receive. So, even though cashiers act like they hate coupons, it’s in the store’s best interest to accept them.

Rebate and Refund forms are another way to “cash” in on savings. These are obtained the same way coupons are, only they are not as plentiful. The best ones offer “Try Us Free!” Read the fine print, as most require you buy the product within a specific time period, and mail in the cash register receipt (with the purchase price circled) along with the UPC barcode from the product. Mail in as soon as possible, so it doesn’t get forgotten about before the deadline. Many, many people forget to mail in their forms or don’t read the fine print and miss out.

Stores, like Ace Hardware and Office Max, offer their own rebate booklets where you can take advantage of multiple offers with one form to get cash back. Some stores, like Walgreens, Shopko and Menards, offer their “cash back” in the form of store credit. You can turn around and use your store credit next month to buy new products that are FAR (Free After Rebate)! And you can combine coupons with rebates!

“Triple Plays” are music to Couponer’s ears. This can mean that 1) the product is on sale, 2) you have a coupon and 3) the store offers a monthly rebate program. Or 1) there is a store coupon, 2) you have a manufacturer coupon and 3) you have a mail-in rebate for that product. The possibilities are endless. And most possibilities turn out with totally free products.

Unfortunately most perishable items do not have coupons for them. But you can still save! Watch when meat is marked down. Markets must sell their cut meat after so many days, so you can get meat 50% off or more on the cut off day. If you don’t need any meat for the next few days to use it, freeze it to use later! Also watch for big ten pound tubes of hamburger to go on sale, as it is a lot cheaper per pound. Buy some freezer bags and divide it up into smaller portions and freeze.

Long timer couponers have year long supplies of certain stockpiled items, like toothpaste, razors, shampoo and cleaning supplies. When they are out of an item, they simply “shop” their stockpile closet. Not only did they save money buying the item, they saved time not having to run to the store to buy it again.

And There’s More Coupons!

Watch for coupons to save when dining out at your favorite restaurant, to get a free membership to the gym, or even to save 25% off new clothes at the mall boutiques. These are also found in Entertainment booklets, newspaper ads and printable online.

Now, that you know how to save on most everything you need or want, there are also virtual coupons! Most online merchants offer promotional codes to be used during the checkout process for percentages off your purchase or even free shipping. ShoppingBookmarks.com categorizes thousands of coupon codes for hundreds of merchants. No need to go out now. Sit in front of your computer and have your good delivered to your door for less!

Most American families use some coupons at the grocery store, restaurants, and other merchants. But there are super savers out there who have mastered the art of coupon shopping, and if you are serious about saving money, you can learn a lot from them. Here are a few tricks of the trade.

First, peruse your Sunday coupon circulars carefully, specifically the sections from your local grocery stores. Go ahead and clip your coupons, but also look for what is on sale at different stores. If there are items that you have coupons for, you will save even taking the coupon amount off of a sale price. Stock up on pantry items and paper goods that won’t go bad, and your savings will be really effective.

Many stores now have savings club cards, and it is usually free to apply. Just stop by the store’s customer service desk on your way in to shop, fill out an application, and you can have your new card activated for immediate use. One savings type that these cards often feature are buy one, get one free items. If you have coupons for these items, your savings can really add up. Since you are getting two of the item (even though the store is only charging you for one), you can use two coupons if you have them. If your store also doubles manufacturers’ coupons, well, you can see how you can start getting some items practically for free.

That’s great, you say, but who has the time to clip and sort all those coupons, then sift through the circulars for sale items? If you have young kids at home, they can help you out, and it can be a learning experience for them at the same time. They can have scavenger hunts through the sale items in the circulars, looking for the items on your grocery list. You can also give them a pile of coupons to sort. Older kids can separate the coupons into the different categories, younger ones can look for all the coupons for one particular item, like toothpaste. In addition to sorting and matching skills, you can also use this time to talk to your kids about what coupons are, why you use them, and why they are helpful (maybe your kids are able to take dance lessons or play on a soccer team because you save money shopping). Discuss making priorities with your finances and living on a budget.
About the Author

Dana Bradley writes about Luggage Coupons,Shoes Savings and How to Save on Remodeling

Introduction by Jane Morris – Qualified Shopaholic and Retail Therapist.

Do you have a long-suffering husband or partner who dreads the very words when you say ‘”I’m just off shopping, Dear”.

Well, if that is the case, this article may well help you to escape more often, and be able to justify your results. How? – Well How about by getting into Online Coupons, and when your partner says ‘How much have you spent this time?’, you can respond by saying – “Well, I saved over 15% on all my purchases today, so you should be grateful” – and go and put the kettle on…

Now, I’m all about saving money, especially if only to justify my regular excursions into the shopping malls.

If there is a bargain to be found, I am all over it. My husband calls me the coupon queen. I get my coupon clipping tendencies from my mother, it’s a genetic trait. My husband and my father are the exact same way, if you hand them a coupon they are entirely too embarrassed to actually use it. Or, if you give then to your kids, and ask them to keep an eye out for the specific items, you get to the checkout, and they meekly hand you them all back – unused.

Who cares if they can get a free meal or a huge discount, they conveniently lose the coupon before it needs to be presented. I personally present and take advantage of as many coupons as I can each and every time.

You know, since I first started using the internet, I have noticed that there are online coupons everywhere. If you want to take advantage of free meals, there are online coupons for that. If you want to save a few dollars on pet food or car rentals – you guessed it, there are online coupons that you can print out for that as well.

A lot of websites only offer savings through use of an online coupon that you can only find on their site. I absolutely love that. Not only can you sometimes get a better deal online than in person, but online coupons can get you free shipping or additional savings.

Free shipping is never a bad deal because paying for shipping can sometimes cost you more than the item you’re purchasing. Some companies will have an online coupon that you can print out and present in person.

My husband’s company does exactly that and it’s a great concept because it helps them to know how many people are actually viewing their site. There are quite a few companies that do that just to help people get more familiar with their business and what their products are. So for the suppliers, these online coupons are really great at providing marketing stats and all that sort of good stuff, so if it makes them more money, which they pass on to me, I say “Bring on More – Make Your Profits Soar!” (See, I should have been a copywriter as well in my spare time – anything to make me a few more dollars for the next shopping expedition).

Coupons can save people quite a bit of money. Or, they can be offering a small savings that when you add it up over time, really can turn out to be quite a large amount of money being saved.

I have a tendency to shop at companies or on websites that offer online coupons or free shipping. A favorite clothing site of mine frequently offers a 15% online coupon that you have to print out and present in person at the store. Well, you can imagine how many times I went to their store.

If it were not for the frequent online coupons, I most likely would not be shopping in that store. What’s even better is that the coupon can be used for items that are already on sale.

That’s an opportunity simply far too good to pass up. However, I’d most likely be walking right past that particular store had I not discovered the online coupon.

So, get your laptops out, search for online coupons, and let your mouse do the savings. You’ll be amazed at the scope of items you can get great deals on.

About the Author

Jane Morris is a self-confessed shopaholic. As it is incurable, Jane has set up her own online guide as to where to save money with on-line coupons. See it here. http://www.onlinecouponsforyou.info/

Target is one of the most popular stores for shopping, so it’s no wonder the Target.com website has experienced massive popularity as well. If you find yourself shopping at the brick-and-mortar version of Target more than you shop at their website, you may be throwing away money without even realizing it. There are Target coupons you can use online that can not be used in the brick-and-mortar stores, so you may want to give online shopping another look before you make your next Target purchase.

Target coupons offer consumers a variety of money-saving options. Whether you want free shipping, a ten percent discount, or $5 off your order, it is likely that there are Target coupons available through affiliate websites that will give you exactly what you want.

If you are worried about selection, set your fears aside. Many of the items available in the brick-and-mortar Target stores are available in the online version as well. Health and beauty products, electronics, designer clothes by Tara Jarmon, and more can call be found by shopping online at Target.com and Target coupons can be applied to almost any Target.com order you place.

While Target coupons cannot be combined together, there is usually no problem using the coupons on items with discounted sales prices. So if you had a Target coupon for ten percent off and a coupon for free shipping, you could not use them together. However, if the item you were purchasing was on sale for ten percent off you could use one of the coupons to save even more money off the already-low sale price.

When you do have multiple Target coupons to choose from, make sure you use the one that will give you the best discount. For example, you may have a free shipping coupon and a ten percent discount coupon. You might automatically go for the ten percent discount coupon, but if your order total is only $30, the free shipping coupon would probably save you more money in the long run. Make sure to do the math before deciding on which of the Target coupons to use.

The best way to get Target coupons is by visiting an affiliate website. These sites will either direct you to links that will automatically activate the coupon or they will direct you to links where you will be able to enter the coupon code they have provided you with. Some people have actually tried to take advantage of shoppers by offering to sell them Target coupon codes. Should you come across such a scam, don’t fall for it. Affiliate websites will provide you with all of the Target coupons you need and you won’t have to pay a dime for them.

The next time you feel the need to shop at Target, go to an affiliate website for Target coupons and do your shopping at Target.com. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You’ll be surprised how much more your dollar will stretch when Target coupons come into play.
About the Author

Copyright © 2006, Michael Glozman. Find more Target Coupons at Cheapstingybargains.com