Where to Find Coupons!

Once you start looking, you will be amazed at how many coupons are readily available. Here are some of the places you will find coupons:

At the grocery store:

• On the shelves or on the actual items you will find tearpads, blinkies, peelies, hang tags, and booklets.

• On a display

• By the pharmacy (check the front desk and surrounding displays for pamphlets, booklets, and tearpads)

• At the Customer Service Desk (Check for tearpads, booklets, and pamphlets)
• The Catalina Machine (This machine prints out great coupons including FREE item coupons, store cash, and high value coupons)

At the drugstore:

• Look for displays, tearpads, blinkies, pamphlets and booklets throughout the store.

At gas stations convenience stores (711 and AM PM, for example:

• Check for tearpads and displays

At your doctor or dentist's office:

• Check for coupons on display or ask your doctor/dentist specifically. For example, my dentist gave me this pamphlet and has given me samples containing coupons.

Inside or on packages:

• Check the packaging! I've found coupons in razor packaging, cereal boxes, oatmeal boxes, toothpaste packages, cleaning wipe containers, starter kits, granola bars, diaper and wipe packages, and many more. Sometimes the presence of coupons is announced on the package. Other times, coupons are a welcome surprise.

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In the mail:

• You may already be getting them, but there are other great coupons to request. I'll highlight ways to get high value coupons and free items in the mail in a future post.

On the internet:

• You can request coupons to be sent to your home, such as the Organize in Style booklet pictured above.
• Print them! The most common and largest coupon site is Coupons.com, there are many more mentioned in this post.

Free Coupon Sites

One of the easiest ways to gain coupons is to print them on your computer.

Here are several websites that provide free internet printable coupons (IPs):

Coupons.com

Redplum.com

Smartsource.com

Couponnetwork.com

Mambosprouts.com

The following are just two of many manufacturer's websites that provide coupons. They may require signing up for an account:

BettyCrocker.com

Snackpicks.com (Kellogg's brand items)

Many Stores provide both store and manufacturer's coupons. Here are a few:

Target.com (scroll to the bottom of the page to find the coupons link)

Raleys.com

Savemart.com

You can often find high value coupons on Facebook fan pages.

Internet Printable (IP) Tips:

• Print Two: Most printable coupons allow two prints. If it is a Bricks coupon, which looks like the image below, you can usually print a second coupon by hitting the back button on your browser three times. You will be redirected back to the print set-up page where you can hit the print button a second time. At Coupons.com and similar sites you can simply return to the home page after printing to re-select coupons to print.
  
  

• Print Now: Print the coupons you think you will use while they are available. Many coupons are only available for a short period of time or for a limited number of prints.
• Create a Coupon E-mail Account: I highly suggest that you create an e-mail account that you don't mind getting spammed. Many of the high value coupons require an e-mail (your price of admission) to print. Protect your account and information with an unused e-mail address. It's free and easy to sign up for a gmail account.
• NEVER copy coupons: It is illegal and easily traceable (each coupon has an individual signature that can be traced back to your computer). Increase prints by using multiple computers, asking friends to print, or visiting the library.
• Sundays, the 1st, and Month End are Golden: Coupons.com tends to reset at the beginning of the month. That means that you should print any coupons that you will use before the end of the month. On the first of the month, you will want to return and print any coupons that are valuable to you. RedPlum, SmartSource, and Target usually restock on Sundays.

Coupon Lingo: A glossary of commonly used terms and acronyms in the coupon world

BOGO: Acronym for Buy One Get One free coupons or sales.

Blinkie: A type of coupon found in blinking machines in grocery and drug stores

Catalina (CAT): A coupon or promotion sponsored by Catalina Marketing that prints out at check out in most grocery stores, Target, and some drug stores.

Extreme Couponing: Using coupons and sales to purchase an extremely large number of products at rock bottom prices.

Hangtag: A type of coupon found on an item in store, often hanging from the product (such as on the neck of a bottle).

IP: Acronym for internet printable coupons.

IVC: Instant Value Coupon. These coupons are often called peelies since they are stuck to items to be peeled off at check out.

MIR: Mail in rebate

MQ: Manufacturer's coupon. These can usually be stacked with store coupons.

ONYO or OYNO: Acronym for On Your Next Order. OYNO is the logical spelling, but many couponers use the term ONYO as it has a better ring to it when pronounced. ONYOs refer to grocery coupons that print out from the Catalina machine that can be used to purchase most any item at that store.

Peelie: A coupon stuck to a product in the store that can be peeled off to use at checkout. Also called an instant value coupon (IVC)

PG: Proctor & Gamble. A company that sells a wide variety of products that puts out a monthly insert in the Sunday newspaper.

Purchase: A frequently used term on coupons indicating an item. For example, a coupon may read, "Limit one coupon per purchase." Each item is a purchase in a transaction so the buyer may match one coupon to each item purchased.

FB: Acronym for Facebook, a great place to find coupons.

RA: Short for Rite Aid.

RP: Red Plum. A coupon insert found in most Sunday Newspapers

Sales Cycle: The cycle of prices on a given item that fluctuates from retail price to rock bottom (buy now) prices. This cycle varies by product but usually produces rock bottom prices every 6 to 8 weeks.

SS: Smart Source. A coupon insert found in most Sunday newspapers

SQ: Store coupon. These can usually be stacked with manufacturer's coupons.

Stacking: The process of using multiple coupons, sales, and promotions

Stockpiling: The process of buying enough products at their rock bottom (buy now) prices to last your family until the item hits rock bottom again on the following Sales Cycle. A stockpile usually is enough to last 6 to 8 weeks. Contrast this term with hoarding, which I believe is selfishly cleaning out the store to have an unrealistic supply of certain items (years worth).

Tearpad (TP): A type of coupon found on shelves and displays in stores and gas stations as a pad from which the coupon can be torn.

Transaction: A total purchase of one or more items usually concluding in payment and followed by a receipt. Some coupons read, "Limit one coupon per transaction." The buyer may only use this type of coupon once per order, or transaction.

WYB: Short for When You Buy. Many promotions require the purchaser to buy a minimum number of items to get the promotional price. For example, Save Mart has boxes of General Mills cereal for $1.49 a box when you buy (WYB) four. If you only buy 3, you will have to pay a higher price.