Tonight, in between cleaning up dinner, trying to listen to my daughter sing a song she made up, vacuuming the rug, and getting ready to head to Open House at Kindergarten,
the doorbell rings. Totally an inconvenient time, but there at my door is a sweet college student, trying to sell me
the weekend paper.
Her big pitch is, "
You can save a lot of money with the coupons in the Sunday edition."
My husband just laughs and walks away, saying, "If only you knew...."
But, she has a really good deal on 3 month subscription to the paper, and (
shock)
WE DON'T GET THE PAPER!
Yes, you don't actually need to get the newspaper delivered to your door in order to coupon successfully!
Here are the ways that
(until my weekend paper begins arriving on my doorstep) I get coupons, without buying a newpaper!
1)
Internet: I have gone on countless shopping trips where ALL of the coupons I've redeemed have been printed off the Internet! There are so many websites that offer free coupons these days! If you have a computer, printer, some paper and ink, you can coupon really well with just the Internet Printables!
2)
Family: My dear Mom and Mom-in-Law both give me their coupons every weekend. They may clip a few, but they come to me almost completely intact! In turn, I hook them up with freebies now and again. Ask your family members who live close by to save their coupons for you!
3)
Collection Box: My friend Kate started a coupon box at our church- but you can do this anywhere! So many people don't use their coupons and they go into the garbage! Ask your neighbors, coworkers, church friends, MOPS group, gym buddies-- anyone-- if they wouldn't mind bringing their coupons in and sharing them! Create a drop off spot with a box for people to leave their coupons. Anyone is free to take what they need and leave what they don't! The coupon box at my church is often FULL of multiple week's inserts- so my couponing friends and I can take what we will use- for free!
4)
Trade: When I first started couponing, I found this great site called
AFullCup. You can trade coupons in this online, forum-based website. Just look for ones you need or leave a post detailing what you have. Then work out the trade with the people who email you. It may take a few days for your coupons to arrive, but it's a great way to find a lot of certain coupon. If you know of a hot deal coming up, you can easily get 15-20 of a single coupon with a quick and easy trade.
5)
Dumpster Dive: No, I'm not kidding! I have never done this before, but I do know that many people become friends with their neighborhood recycling centers and will ask to go through the recycleable paper to find the inserts!
6)
Work out a trade with a coffee shop, fast food place, restaurant, etc: You know how lots of neighborhood coffee shops get papers to offer their patrons while they sip their lattes? You could work out a deal with them- you get to take the inserts from the Sunday paper if you will come by every Monday morning and take their old papers to the recycling bin for them.
7)
Join a coupon train: I participated in a coupon train last year and I receive some great coupons. AFullCup offers lots of train you can "jump" on. You just set up your "wishlist" and each week you are assigned someone to send coupons to and someone is assigned to you. Check their wishlist (and they'll check yours) and send them some coupons. A few days later, you get the fun of opening an envelope full of coupons you can probably use!
8)
Write to manufacturers: This is a great way to get high value and RARE coupons. I will be starting a series soon where I'll provide the list of a few manufacturers and their email addresses. You can choose to write to them and hopefully receive some great coupons (possibly freebies) back! Stay tuned for this new series!!
9)
Keep your Eyes Peeled: When you're shopping, start looking for blinkies and tearpads with coupons in the grocery aisles! These are often great coupons and are sometimes coupons you won't find in the paper. I ALWAYS grab tearpad coupons because they are often rare and have a long expiration date!
10)
Look on Craigslist or Freecycle: You can often find people in your area who would gladly give you their coupons. If you don't see a post advertising this, start a thread requesting unused coupon inserts! You'll probably get lots of responses!
Do you have any other suggestions for getting coupons for free? Please share in the comment section!
10 ways to get coupons... without buying a paper!
-- but I just had to share this:
