Friday, January 13, 2012
Where To Get Coupons: Share!
When going through the inserts and lists of coupons I also try to print some for friends who can use them. I find there are lots of coupons for diapers and formula that I don't need and it takes very little time to print/clip them at the same time so I will give them away or trade. There are forums on some of my website resources where you can trade with couponers across the country if you are in desperate need of a particular item.
Where To Get Coupons: Everywhere!
Since I've started keeping my eyes open for coupons I've found you can locate them almost everywhere!
Some places to keep in mind:
- Stickers or coupons on product packaging (often called "peelies")
- Emails sent from the retailer or manufacturer. For example, if you sign up to receive the Safeway Club newsletter you'll get weekly coupons that are good for discounts, free products and Airmiles.
- Entertainment Book: not a typical source for coupons, but there are some great things in there for local dining and entertainment. Lots of good movie deals too!
- Trial products often come with coupons for discounts of full-size products. Today I bought a $2 trial size package of dog food (using a $3 off coupon) that also contains a $3 off coupon on another bag of dog food. I'm $4 ahead as we know our dogs will continue eating for the foreseeable future so my pocketbook is happy!
- Free offers on product packaging. Often deals for free movie tickets, free juice, etc. can be found on seemingly unrelated products. While they don't necessarily cut your grocery budget much, they can be a great value if they are for services or products you'll use.
- Loyalty programs like Airmiles, Aeroplan, HBC points, Shoppers Optimum, Sobey's Club etc. can also be a great way to save money. I find that focusing a few programs gives me the biggest bang for my buck but there is nothing stopping you from signing up for every one you can find (and storing the card in your new handy dandy coupon wallet!).
Couponing Resources: Canadian Blogs and Forums
I've found a few really great Canadian blogs that I used to learn about couponing and that I check daily to see what new coupons are available. Some have a decidedly more Eastern focus so I'm trying to find some that are geared towards Western Canadians. There is lots of duplication between these so I'll rank my favorites in order:
- www.frugaledmontonmama.com
- www.savealoonie.com
- www.mrsjanuary.com
- www.extremecouponcanada.ca
Some other resources include:
- www.redflagdeals.com
- www.extremecouponingmom.ca
- www.canadiancouponqueen.ca
- www.simplyfrugal.ca
Where To Get Coupons: Facebook
Many companies are now offering exclusive coupons to individuals in exchange for "liking" their Facebook pages. Depending on how much you want to clutter up your Facebook pages, you can "like" as few or as many companies as you want. My current strategy is only to "like" (and then quickly "unlike") companies when I read about one of their coupons on a blog - I don't really need all 350+ FB friends knowing my current toilet paper preferences and vitamin needs. I also "like" a few select companies that I buy a lot from because I'm always happy to see one of their coupons come up!
Where To Get Coupons: Online Coupon Orders
First order of business is to set up a separate email address where you don't mind receiving lots of daily emails. You'll need to monitor it but you may not want you coupon retailer "spam" type email mingling with your email from actual humans. Once you are on some of these mailing lists, you will also occasionally see special email coupons to keep an eye out for. I actually use my regular Hotmail account but need to check it several times a day and clean it out daily.
There are several websites where you can order coupons online that will be mailed to your home. Some websites have limits on how many per household they will send and some don't so I've signed up the hubs using a new email address to some in order to get duplicate coupons for items we buy a lot.
Some of the sites I've discovered so far include:
- brandsaver.ca (you can order the same coupons as are in the newspaper insert)
- gocoupons.ca
- websaver.ca
- livingwell.ca
- save.ca
I'm always on the look-out for new sites to peruse so let me know if you come across any others!
Where To Get Coupons: Newspapers
The three major flyer inserts Brandsaver, Red Plum and Smart Source can be found in newspapers every few weeks. Even though it hurt my heart and brain immensely, we subscribed to the Sunday delivery of the Edmonton Sun (barf) to get these inserts as some inserts won't be found in the papers sold in convenience stores and dispensing boxes. Apparently the Edmonton Journal also gets these same inserts on Saturdays but I wasn't able to find a way to subscribe to only Saturday delivery. At about $6 a month, it's a minor cost that is easily made up by using a couple coupons.
One of my favorite websites, Frugal Edmonton Mama, has a listing of all the release dates for these three inserts at http://www.frugaledmontonmama.com/2011/12/2012-canada-newspaper-insert-schedule.html so you could also try and hunt them down individually if you prefer. The content of the inserts is almost always leaked prior to the publishing so if it's a really good one, I try to obtain multiple copies.
There are also sometimes surprise coupon inserts in the papers that are a welcome bonus.
My Organization System: the Routine
In my thus-far limited experience, I think one of the most crucial parts of couponing is to be relatively diligent in collecting (and filing). Like anything else, it takes a while to develop the routine but I find it doesn't actually take much time on an ongoing basis unless you wanted to go full-on crazy-coupon-lady.
Since I don't think there are any stores in Canada that offer coupon doubling or stacking like they do in parts of the United States, matching a sale and a manufacturer's coupon is usually your best bet to get discounted, free or nearly free products. Sometimes you can be sneaky and use extra things like Canadian Tire Money, Shoppers Optimum points or Airmiles to get even more savings on top of sales and coupons.
In my neighborhood, we usually get flyers on Thursdays so that is my most labour intensive couponing day. I take about an hour to review what is on sale and match it up with what I need and what I have coupons for. Some of the websites also list some of the common match-ups but as I'm training myself and my coupons sometimes vary from what is listed I like doing the match-up myself.
I have an envelope for each store I will shop at and on the front I make a list of the products, their prices and the quantity I want I will buy. The relevant coupons go inside and then I'm not fumbling around once I get to the checkout at the store. If along my shopping journey I find new items that I have coupons for I immediately put the coupon into the envelope before the item hits my shopping cart. Anything to counter-act future cashier annoyance is a good thing in my book.
Most of the stores I am willing to visit have their sales starting Friday so Friday has become my grocery shopping day for Safeway, Walmart, Superstore, Canadian Tire, Zellers etc. Great sale items that match up with coupons are often snatched up quickly and may not be replenished during the week so I try to get there as early as possible. Thus far I'm visiting many stores on Fridays but now that my little stockpile of sundries is almost complete I will be able to be more selective on what I need and will likely limit purchases to groceries and replenishing stockpile as needed. I also plan to continue to grab free items (or nearly free items) that I can donate to local charities and shelters.
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