Tip of the Day Tuesday: Where can I find coupons?

Many beginning couponers often ask me where I find my coupons. The easiest place to start is with the inserts in the Sunday paper. They typically come out every week (the exception is holiday weekends) and a preview for the coupons that will be in the inserts for the upcoming week is posted on Wednesdays at Taylortown.

Look into getting a subscription to your local newspaper. I was able to get one for an entire year for $40. That is much less than it would cost me to get it at the store each week. If you have a 99 cent store in your area, some of them also carry the Sunday paper!

Here are some other places where you can find coupons:

*Online: There is a link on the right side of the blog where you can print coupons. Some other places where you can print coupons from are: smartsource.com, couponmom.com, couponbug.com, and coolsavings.com.

Be sure to check manufacturer’s websites. Look for a “savings” or “special offers” link. Many of them offer printable coupons for their products.

On Hot Coupon World, they have a coupon database where you can search for various products and it will tell you what coupons are available for different products and where you can find them.

*Blinkie machines – Blinkie machines are the machines you will find in stores that have the blinking red light and spit out coupons. Most of the time, these coupons are not store specific!

*On the packaging of the actual products – Some products have a “peelie” coupon on the outside that can be peeled off and used toward that purchase. Many products also have coupons on the box or inside the box.

*Tear pads – Tear pads are coupons that are typically found on displays of products in stores. They are sometimes also found on the doors in the refrigerated or frozen foods sections.

*All You Magazine – this magazine is found only at Walmart and contains a number of coupons. The cost at Walmart is $1.77 per issue, but you can usually find subscriptions for $10 for one year or $20 for two years through school fundraisers. This link will tell you how you can get a discounted subscription:

*Trading Forums – the two I use most often are the forum on Trading Mamas and the forum on Hot Coupon World.

*On eBay – Some of my favorite “sellers” are kalamazooclipper, lisajanet81, dans-katys-coupons, and forever_johnson. If you are buying coupons through a seller on eBay, be sure to check feedback. I typically only buy coupons there with a “Buy it Now” option. Also, make sure you look at the shipping costs.

*Through coupon clipping services – I have been using these more lately because the shipping & handling from many eBay sellers has become outrageous or it’s just too difficult to win the auctions for coupons on eBay. The services I have used are:
The Coupon Clippers
Coupons & Things by Dede:

The Coupon Clippers is based in Florida and Coupons & Things by Dede is based in Texas (so if you’re in Texas, shipping is super fast, but you have to pay sales tax)

Get a $25 gift certificate for $2 at Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com offers gift certificates for a variety of restaurants. They are heavily discounted to provide you with an incentive to try out new places.

They are offering 80% off the already discounted certificates. Make sure you enter the code “TREAT” at checkout and hit “apply” You can get a $25 gift certificate for only $2!!

Christmas is just around the corner so you can give them as a gift or use them for a cheap night out for yourself!

If you are an Ebates.com member and you click through the Restaurant.com link on Ebates, you will earn 15% back.

If you haven’t joined Ebates yet, click on the link below and earn a $10 bonus for yourself!

http://www.ebates.com/refer-a-friend/0809promo.htm?referrerid=%2BKE12Ia0hiKNhNAjtiRDTQ%3D%3D

*Make sure you read the terms & conditions for each restaurant promotion

Free tacos at Taco Bell!

Tomorrow (10/28) between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., you can get one free crunchy taco at Taco Bell. No purchase is necessary. This is part of their “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” major league baseball promotion.

You can read the details here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/

More Savings Monday: Candy deals this week and Target holiday markdown schedule

CANDY DEALS FOR THE WEEK

If you have procrastinated in buying Halloween candy, it’s not too late! 🙂 There are still some decent deals this week:

CVS – today only

All Hershey’s/Mars/Nestle fun size (9.5-13.3 oz) candy -2/$3 (after today it will be 2/$5) – if they don’t have any in stock, make sure you get a raincheck. You will probably be able to pick it up later in the week after they receive their shipments!

Use the following coupons:

Nestle $1/1 printable coupon: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=rjssdxa677486&bt=vi&o=53811&c=VK&p=Bsnq9fmZ

$1/2 M&Ms or Mars bagged candy from 9/28 and 10/12 RP inserts

Target

All “Treat size” candy – 2/$4 (displayed in ad: Butterfinger, Snickers, Reese’s, Skittles which means you’re covered for Mars/Hersheys/Nestle)

Use the coupons listed above

Walmart

Fun size candy bags (Mars/Hersheys/Nestle) – 2/$4

Use the coupons listed above

Kroger

Fun size candy bags (Mars/Hersheys/Nestle) – 2/$4

Use the coupons listed above

TARGET HOLIDAY MARKDOWN SCHEDULE (handy for post Halloween and for other upcoming holidays!)

50% off the day after holiday, for three days

75% off the fourth day after holiday, for three days

90% off the seventh day after holiday, for 1-2 days

*Of course, your experience may vary! I have found that a lot of the stuff goes the first day after the holiday, but at Christmas time, there is still usually a lot of wrapping paper/gift bags/boxes left when it goes to 90% off (if you get there first thing in the morning), and so I always stock up on my wrapping for the next year at that time

KMART

Since I live in the land of no K-Mart, I haven’t really mentioned their “Super Double Deals” even though I am envious every time I read the postings with the insane hauls that people got for next to nothing on message boards I frequent. So, if you are NOT in the land of no K-Mart, you may want to check out this thread here:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/kmart/166148-super-double-deal-thread-please-post-deals-here-post1287165.html

Here’s a list of stores that are participating (not all are):

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/kmart/166148-super-double-deal-thread-please-post-deals-here-post1287165.html

Here’s a price list:

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/kmart/172282-kmart-managers-everyone-who-needs-master-price-list-combined-superkmart-we-can-use-price-list-10-26-11-01-08-doubles-also.html

SCENARIO SUNDAY plus hot coupons for the week

CVS SCENARIOS:

SCENARIO #1:

Buy 1 Advil Cold & Sinus – $12
Buy 1 Claritin D – $9
Buy 1 Bic Comfort 3 Advance shavers – 4 ct – $4.99
Buy 4 Soy Joy Bars – $4
Buy 1 CVS sanitizing spray pen – $1

Total before coupons – $30.99

Use $5/30 CVS CRT – don’t forget to scan your card when you get to the store!
Use $2 Advil Cold & Sinus printable: https://j.ovm1.net/wch1/universalreg/Registration.aspx?reg=true&product=acf&c=1471&s=01&p=ACS0704
Use $3 Claritin printable: www.claritin.com
Use Buy 2, get one free Soy Joy coupon (from 10/19 SS inserts)
Use $2/1 Bic shavers coupon (from 10/12/08 SS)

Spend $17.99, get $18

(there are lots of possibilities this week for the “cold meds” deal…this is just my scenario with some of the cold meds we use)

SCENARIO #2
3 pkgs Duracell batteries – $5.79/each
4 Quaker instant oatmeal – $10 ($2.50/each)
4 Quaker granola bars – $10 ($2.50/each)
1 NovaMax blood glucose monitor – $9.99
2 bags Nestle candy – 2/$3

Total before coupons: $50.36
Use $10/50 CVS CRT
$1/1 Duracell from 10/26 RP insert (there are also peelie coupons on some battery packages)
4 $1/1 Quaker Oatmeal printable coupon: http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=rjphcyi68934883&bt=wg&o=53682&c=QO&p=uxs5l1FB
2 $1/2 Quaker granola bars coupon (from Quaker Moms panel)

Spend $31.36, get 19.99

*the total may be even lower…there are batteries in the ad listed at $3 off with a card and the prices without a card are listed as starting at $5.79

I’m skipping Walgreens this week because there was nothing that stood out to me as really impressive, but if you are looking for Walgreens scenarios, you can find some in this thread here:
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/walgreens/168717-current-walgreens-oct-26-nov-1-full-ad-scans.html

HOT COUPONS FROM THIS WEEK’S INSERTS:

*Cottonelle toilet paper – .25/1 (expires 11/15/08) – these are $1.19 regular price at my Kroger stores and they go on sale for $1 at least once a month, so you have the potential for very cheap toilet paper (.25-.44 for a 4 pack….if your stores triple coupons)

*Dreamfields pasta – $1/1 – (expires 1/31/09) these go on sale 10/$10 at Kroger fairly often, so it will be free pasta!

*Breeze 2/Contour blood glucose meter – $30/1 (expires 7/31/09) – these go on sale for less than $30 at CVS frequently and usually include ECBs, which means you get “free” ECBs! (plus the expiration date is really late!)