Finding Coupons

[ecsdavis]

I am not sure where I should put this, but I chose here.

I am having a problem finding coupons for my store(s) that I will actually use. Right now the only thing I am interested in STARTING to use coupons on, is food. Groceries. I have been to several coupon sites and the ones that I CAN actually get access to coupons 90% of them are other than groceries. Plus, on top of that I have very limited access, just to Food Lion and Piggly Wiggly. I MIGHT one day could sweet talk a neighbor into taking me to Walmart or HarrisTeeter (I don't have a car and its about 30 minutes away...I live in a smaller border town).

So yeah, my main question is, how do I find coupons that I will actually use for the store that I can actually use them in??

[momsangels]

HI and welcome to HCW.

You should become a trader in training .. go here...

Rules for this forum (& why can't I post in this forum?)

Then you can look for coupons other members are trading that they dont need.

[abond0017]

The above is good advice. Also, Sunday newspapers have a very good variety of coupons in them.

If you want to try to stick to getting better printable coupons only...then I would suggest for you to vigilantly watch the printable coupon thread in the coupon forum, the newly added printables to the coupon database (search for them by changing the search criteria to printable), and also keeping a watch on your store's sales ad thread so that you can see the deals other people are getting and posting...often they will include the coupons they used to get the deal and post where they found it if it was a printable (and if not you can try searching the database for it).

Also, the printable coupons tab at the top has good resources.

Many times the good printable coupons that are out there are found and posted here, but the print limits are reached quickly with some so if you are not diligently checking for them you may miss them.

And lastly, if you are really trying to save as much money as you can using coupons, you should put some thought into purchasing things that you may not "need" now, but will be able to use in the future. Of course things you won't ever use won't do you any good, but if you just think "oh I have one of those already" and it is something you use regularly...it is better to buy it super cheap now with a coupon even if you don't need it now than to wait and buy it later at a higher price. That is essentially the basic strategy of stockpiling as well if you are interested in trying your hand at that.

Good luck, and make sure you check out the couponing 101 thread and the others like it to learn all you can about how to coupon effectively.

:)

[motherofmolly]

www.printablecouponspot.com for printables

ask neighbors, friends, family for their sunday coupons. ask the local gas station for their monday left overs. dumpster dive for inserts. trade, purchase on ebay or from a clipping service or buy papers to get more coupons. look on cooler doors at gas stations for tearpads, look on shelves and displays in store for coupons.

[JulieDB]

I'm with you! I'm finding plenty of coupons. Just not for things that I need. We use very little in the way of sauces and salad dressings, but I have tons of coupons for those. Also finding a lot for health and beauty or medicines. I don't need any of that stuff at the moment. And then I check the expiration date on the coupon and realize I would never need it before it expires.

[abond0017]

I'm with you! I'm finding plenty of coupons. Just not for things that I need. We use very little in the way of sauces and salad dressings, but I have tons of coupons for those. Also finding a lot for health and beauty or medicines. I don't need any of that stuff at the moment. And then I check the expiration date on the coupon and realize I would never need it before it expires.

Hello, so sorry you too are finding it difficult to coupon as well. But it does also take some time to get a good coupon supply built up with a lot of variety in it. And as I said in the above post...saving money effectively with coupons is not about using them to get a little discount on something when you run out or "need" it...it is about using the coupons to purchase things when they are also on sale (regardless if you need them at that particular moment) and at their absolute cheapest.

Many non-perishable items will not expire for 6 months or more so you can stock up a few months worth. Also, some people have extra freezers and use them to store perishable frozen items when they find a really good deal to stock up on.

Oh and one more thing. I wouldn't discount the health and beauty coupons quite as readily. You can find very good deals with them. And again even if you have shampoo in your shower right now...if you can get some for super cheap with coupons...why not go ahead and buy it to save yourself money in the long run. If you'll use it, you'll use it...doesn't matter that you wont use it today.

Example: If I were to just go to Target and buy a bottle of body wash when I "need" it would cost me about $4...but I could buy 4 bottles for that same price when it is on a good sale and combined with good coupons...that in the end saves me $12. Then multiply that savings by the deals I get on toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc by buying in bulk at its cheapest, and that is a lot of savings.

Good luck :)

[ecsdavis]

Thanks for all the responses everybody!
I'm trying. I just not sure how well this is going to go. LOL

www.printablecouponspot.com for printables

ask neighbors, friends, family for their sunday coupons. ask the local gas station for their monday left overs. dumpster dive for inserts. trade, purchase on ebay or from a clipping service or buy papers to get more coupons. look on cooler doors at gas stations for tearpads, look on shelves and displays in store for coupons.

I talk to about 3 of my neighbors (i live in a trailer park...not a very...great one, if you know what I mean) soo I'm not really comfortable going "door to door" asking neighbors. Lot of secret bad stuff happens n my neighborhood :(

Other than my neighbors I don't really have any friends. :(
I am on ssi/disability and I rarely have money and I have no car. The only place I go is to Dialysis. I asked a couple people here so far, but will work on it some more.

And the only family I have here is my mom, and she lives with me. Soooo most of those are out. And if there is a recycling type place that puts all the papers in dumpsters, they probably don't have them here in my town. That would be in the town next to me. I don't have any extra money to BUY any (like on ebay). Which brings me to my "buying things I dont need". I live on SSI/Disability. 700/mo. 100/mo in food stamps. I have VERY little space for "wiggle room" so to speak. So really only time I can do that is if the product ends up being free or just pennies. But most of the time that happens with "travel size" and I am 80% sure the grocery store doesnt sell travel size. Just normal size. I guess I could try Family Dollar and see if they have em. But we have a very small FD and they have very limited supply.

So...yeah. Like I said, not sure how well this is going to go. But I'm going to try. lol I text msg'd my cab driver last night (he has a newspaper every morning when he picks me up) asking if he had Sunday Paper Coupon Inserts lol he msg'd me back and said "Already spoken for, actually have a couple people fighting over it" LOLOL So guess I'm not the only one trying to get into it around here. Anyway, when he picked me up this morning he brought me a paper :) Said "that was the last paper I could find in -this town-". Thought that was nice of him. He is going to tell his "paper lady" to start bringing me one and I'll give him 1.50 every week. I know it is probably cheaper at the store/machine but at least this way I know I'll get it instead of having to wait and figure out a way to get to the store that specific day to get it, since I have to rely on others for transportation to go anywhere.

I'm going to keep roaming HCW for new info and new coupons and hopefully will start getting somewhere.

[abond0017]

Thanks for all the responses everybody!
I'm trying. I just not sure how well this is going to go. LOL



I talk to about 3 of my neighbors (i live in a trailer park...not a very...great one, if you know what I mean) soo I'm not really comfortable going "door to door" asking neighbors. Lot of secret bad stuff happens n my neighborhood :(

Other than my neighbors I don't really have any friends. :(
I am on ssi/disability and I rarely have money and I have no car. The only place I go is to Dialysis. I asked a couple people here so far, but will work on it some more.

And the only family I have here is my mom, and she lives with me. Soooo most of those are out. And if there is a recycling type place that puts all the papers in dumpsters, they probably don't have them here in my town. That would be in the town next to me. I don't have any extra money to BUY any (like on ebay). Which brings me to my "buying things I dont need". I live on SSI/Disability. 700/mo. 100/mo in food stamps. I have VERY little space for "wiggle room" so to speak. So really only time I can do that is if the product ends up being free or just pennies. But most of the time that happens with "travel size" and I am 80% sure the grocery store doesnt sell travel size. Just normal size. I guess I could try Family Dollar and see if they have em. But we have a very small FD and they have very limited supply.

So...yeah. Like I said, not sure how well this is going to go. But I'm going to try. lol I text msg'd my cab driver last night (he has a newspaper every morning when he picks me up) asking if he had Sunday Paper Coupon Inserts lol he msg'd me back and said "Already spoken for, actually have a couple people fighting over it" LOLOL So guess I'm not the only one trying to get into it around here. Anyway, when he picked me up this morning he brought me a paper :) Said "that was the last paper I could find in -this town-". Thought that was nice of him. He is going to tell his "paper lady" to start bringing me one and I'll give him 1.50 every week. I know it is probably cheaper at the store/machine but at least this way I know I'll get it instead of having to wait and figure out a way to get to the store that specific day to get it, since I have to rely on others for transportation to go anywhere.

I'm going to keep roaming HCW for new info and new coupons and hopefully will start getting somewhere.

It is very nice of your cabby to do that for you
As for having a very very limited budget, that does make it a bit harder. I think you could still give it a good go though. Maybe if you are able to save some money on the things you need...say you use only 90 of your 100 dollars...then take that extra 10 and buy some stockpile things maybe.

Also, do you have a CVS near. You can get a decent amount of stuff there free or for pennies and you can start out getting the deals there with little money as well. If you do have one near that you may be able to get to...check out the CVS forum and learn the method of getting good deals there (it is a bit different and more in depth that just straight using coupons to get deals but VERY worth it if you can). I just started CS shopping again because I recently used up the 2 years worth of toiletries I got there for free or pennies.

I really hope you can figure out how to make couponing work for you...it sounds like you very much need the help...and its addicting and fun!.

[ecsdavis]

Thanks. I sure hope I can get it all figured out.
That is I think my main problem is not having "easy" access to all the stores.
I know I can one way or another get a ride to Food Lion or Piggly Wiggly (in my town) but any other store worth shopping at is 30 minutes away...w/out a car and not really any "real" friends that would go that far for me...it's kinda hard. :(

But, still gonna keep trying! :D