Where to find coupons....

There are so many places to get coupons these days, and it can be hard to figure it all out or remember where to check for coupons.

As cash-crunched consumers hunt for bargains, companies are hoping coupons will build loyalty after the recession is over. After nearly two decades in decline, the coupon is back. Thanks to the recession, in 2009 consumers used coupons at a faster clip than they did the year before, the first increase in coupon redemption in 17 years, says a new study by Inmar Inc.  Businesses issued 367 billion coupons last year and consumers redeemed 3.3 billion, a 27 percent increase from 2008's 2.6 billion, and the highest usage since Inmar began tracking trends in 1988.

Here is a list of places to get coupons:

Sunday Newspaper
The coupons inserts in the Sunday paper are great, because if you subscribe to the paper, your coupons are delivered right to yuor door!  However if your not a subscriber and forget to go out and purchase the Sunday paper, you may miss that week's inserts.

Did you know that the Sunday early edition usually has the inserts as well.  The Early Sunday edition is released on Saturday for about 1/2 the cost of the Sunday full edition in our area.  Be careful to check inside the Early edition to make sure all the inserts are included that you are expecting to receive.  Wondering which inserts will be in the weekly paper - check HERE

Whole Coupon InsertsIf you don't want to bother getting the whole newspaper, just for the coupons, you can order whole uncut coupon inserts HERE.  You can order as many of each insert as you would like, for about 40 cents each!  Plus you can order past inserts, which is helpful if you've either missed a week of coupons or there was a really high value coupon that scored you a freebie!  When ordering whole coupon inserts, you will pay priority mail shipping, so unless you are ordering a large amount of inserts or sharing the shipping costs with several people this may  not be a cost effective option for you.

Clippin Service

There are businesses out there thatyou can order clipped coupons from. You pay a small fee for the coupons and then you also paying a shipping fee. Ordering from a clipping service allows you to get exactly the coupons and the quantity of each that you want.  Go HERE to see an example of the service a clipping service will offer


Coupons.comCoupons.com offers online printable coupons.  You choose the coupons you want to print, and print away!  Make sure that your store accepts online printable coupons, as some do not.  In a typical month coupons.com will offer around 200 or more different printable coupons for you to choose from.  Many of them you can print twice.  Coupons come and go quickly sometimes at coupons.com, and the really popular ones will hit their print limit wuick, so if you see a coupon you want make sure to print it right away.

RedPlum
Besides being a weekly coupon insert in the Sunday paper, you can go online at Redplum.com for access to more printable coupons and savings

SmartSource
Smart Source is another reputable source for online coupons.  The coupons Smart Source offers online are different then the ones that are in the Sunday inserts.  Make sure your printer is plugged in and ready to print because as soon as you click to print a smartsource coupon, it goes directly to printing

Manufacturer WebsitesMany times just going to the website of a particular product or manufacturer can get you coupon savings.  Make sure to check out your favorite products websites to see if they are offering any specials or promotions

FacebookFacebook has become a great place to find coupons and freebies.  Simply liking a companys facebook page can sometimes get you a coupon or a freebie.  See my list HERE of current Facebook coupons

Twitter
Following a product or company on Twitter can get you coupons and freebies at times as well!

Peelies
Peelies are coupon savings that are "stuck" right to the product in the store.  Peel it off and use it on that purchase

Catalinas
Coupons that print out at the register when you are checking out to use on a future purchase.  Watch these closely as many times catalinas are manufacturers coupons, which means you can use it at any store that accepts manufacturer coupons!

Store CouponsTarget.com, CVS.com, the magic coupon machine in CVS, Walgreens coupon booklet are all store coupons.  Many other stores offer their own coupon booklets or coupons so make sure to check the store policy.  Many times you can stack a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon to increase your savings!

Free SamplesI post a lot of free sample offers on the blog.  Not only is it fun to get these goodies in the mail, but often times free samples come with a high value coupon!  See my post HERE about requesting free samples

Kraft First TasteAlthough this is not a consistent place to get coupons from, when coupons are offered they are GOOD!  Kraft First taste is a place to occassionally try out Kraft's newest products and give feedback to Kraft about the products you've tried.  Because they want your feedback, they will sometimes offer a coupon that is good for a free product!  Go HERE for more information or to sign up!

Vocal PointVocal point connects consumers with companies in order to receive feedback on new products.  Although not a consitent place for coupons, this is another good one that I would suggest signing up for.  Occassionnally Vocal point will offer free samples (some of which have been full size samples!)  and there has also beenthe occassional free product coupon as well!  Go HERE for more information and to sign up.

Writing to Manufacturers
Although this is a little time-consuming the time was definately worth the effort for me when I did this.  Writing to manufacturers with either praise about a product you love, complaint about a product, or simply asking for coupons can score you some great coupons that aren't usually available to the general public!  I am working on a post about this subject - so stay tuned, as there is more to come...