Coupon Sources

Gene asked where I get my coupons, and the answer was long enough to merit its own post.

Of course, the first place to go is the Sunday paper. Most Sundays, there will be one or two inserts, and on the first Sunday of each month, there is also the P&G Brandsaver (from Procter & Gamble). There are never any coupons on holiday Sundays. The cheapest way to get additional copies of coupons is to ask around. Your friends may be willing to swap their extras with you (this is a great idea!) or you may find co-workers and friends who don't clip at all!

If you find several couponing friends, you can start a "coupon train," where you pass around an envelope with everyone's extras. When you get the envelope, you look for any coupons you want, remove any that have expired, add your extras to the pile, and pass it on to the next person.

After that, I do like several Web sites, but this has become a more tricky thing lately as coupon fraud has caused many retailers to stop taking Internet coupons entirely or scruitinize them much more carefully. I certainly understand Gene's hesitation to hand out personal info to register for these sites. I might recommend getting a free e-mail address from Yahoo or some other service and using it exclusively for this purpose. That way, even if you get spammed, it doesn't interfere with your other e-mail. Also, you should know that most of them will require you to download a small program to be able to print the barcodes on the coupons. You should have to do it just once, but if it makes you uncomfortable, it's probably best to skip Internet coupons.

Just a couple of the numerous sites I like: Smart Source, RedPlum, wow-coupons and The Courier Post.

And, if you really want extras but can't find them from friends or online, there are several Web sites where you can pay someone to send you some (my personal favorite being The Coupon Clippers). All of these sites are very clear: you are paying for the person's time and effort to clip the coupons and send them to you. Selling the coupons themselves is illegal. A fine line, I know, but an important distinction.

This is the best way to get several copies (more than say three or four) of a coupon, though I understand why some people object to "buying coupons." In general, the fees range from a few cents per coupon to $1 or more depending on how good a coupon it is. Most cost 5 or 10 cents, though. There are also people who sell coupons on eBay, though I find that these are often more pricey than the ones on the coupon-only sites. I won't lie. I have used these sites and they have helped me save a lot of money. But I always look for a way to get additional coupons for free from friends and co-workers before ordering. It's the frugal thing to do.