Coupons 101 Lesson 1: Where to Find Coupons

Scenario: You have a coupon for $1.00 off Cereal X. Right now it costs $4.00 for Cereal X. Sure, you can go to the store and buy Cereal X for $3.00 using that coupon. That's great because hey, you saved money, right? That's usually the point. But, did you know that you can get cereal for even cheaper using that coupon? I typically spend $1 or less for a box of cereal.

How do I do this?

I wait for the cereal to go on SALE. I love love LOVE sales. Cereal usually goes on sale for 1.99 (sometimes lower) per box. Use the $1.00 off coupon and score it for .99! Awesome, right? This is how you manage to get items for really cheap.

FINDING COUPONS

There are several places where you can go to get coupons.
 
Option A: Print them from the internet. The main coupon sites are:
coupons.com, couponnetwork.com, smartsource.com, and www.save.com

You can also print coupons right from the Xoxo Frugal Momma blog.
 
Option B: Get a newspaper. Right now, I have a subscription where I get a Sunday paper delivered to my door for $4 per month. $1.00 per paper!  If you call the newspaper company in your area, you can ask them about their promotions. Another way that you can get the newspaper is by going to Dollar Tree! They sell the Sunday papers for just $1!

COUPON BOOKLETS

The booklets that come inside of the Sunday paper are typically called inserts. There are three different types: 1) SmartSource, 2) Redplum, and 3) P&G (Procter and Gamble). The number of inserts that you get each Sunday will vary. There will be days when you get three inserts and there may also be days when you get one. For reference: P&G usually comes out at the end of each month.

EMAIL COMPANIES

That's one of my favorite ways to get coupons. I will email the companies to let them know what I think of their products/services. Sometimes, I will ask them if they have any coupons that they would be willing to send to me. Many times, I receive coupons in the mail a few weeks later!