Free Coupons

Free coupons are the best friend of the laughing wallet. They are, quite simply, free money. And in this technological age, there are many types of coupons that you can take advantage of. Just find the kinds that work best for your lifestyle, then start saving!

Paper coupons

• Sunday paper bonanza. The old standard for collecting coupons was to wait for the Sunday paper and then get out your scissors and clip from the stash of grocery coupons included with the sale circulars. Well, guess what? That stash is still in the Sunday paper, and it's still worth the effort to clip them!
• Check your mail. Free coupons frequently are delivered right to your door. Coupon circulars often are mixed in with all the junk mail that you toss as soon as you pull it out of the mailbox. Take a minute to sift through all that paper each day. It will only take a minute, and you'll find a goldmine of coupons in there. Also look for envelopes from companies like Valpak, stuffed with coupons for everything from services to restaurants. And lastly, don't just throw away the extra inserts that come from your credit card company and from department stores with your bill. Some of those inserts are actually valuable coupons.
• Store coupons. A great source for paper grocery coupons is the grocery store itself. Many grocery stores have coupon dispensers located on the aisles next to the products they cover - all you have to do is grab one. And some stores have kiosks at the front of the store with "in-store coupons." These coupons are only available on site and good at that particular store or chain. Take a few minutes before you start shopping to look through the in-store coupons and see if there's anything on your list. You might be walking right past some savings!
• Catalina coupons. If you don't have time to clip coupons, sift through your mail or stop and peruse a kiosk before you shop, then there's still a paper coupon with your name on it - the catalina coupon. Catalina coupons are free coupons that the cash register produces when you check out at the grocery store. You don't have to do anything but put the coupon in your wallet and save it for your next trip to the store.
• Look at the package. Lastly, many products include coupons right on the packaging. Sometimes it's for the purchase you're making right then, and sometimes it's for a future purchase. But the only effort required is peeling the coupon off the package.

Online coupons

• Printable coupons. Printable coupons are coupons that you find online and print out to use in a store. Tons of websites offer printable coupons for a variety of goods and services, including grocery items, retail purchases, etc.

  You can visit a national brand coupon site, such as coupons.com, which lists a wide range of products from a variety of manufacturers, just like the flier you get in the Sunday paper.

  Many manufacturers also have sites with coupons for their particular products, and many offer special savings to shoppers who sign up for the company's RSS feed or email newsletter. For example, Kellogg's offers coupons and special offers for consumers who sign up to receive exclusive benefits.

• Social media coupons. Many social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, provide their users with the opportunity to get free coupons by using their sites. On Facebook, for instance, if you find a page for a product or a company you like, and you click on the "like" button for that product/company, you can sometimes get a coupon just for "liking" the page. You'll also then be notified about special online coupons the retailer releases on Facebook.

  Similarly, if you "follow" a product or company you like on Twitter, you'll have access to coupons or deals released exclusively on Twitter.

• Coupon codes. Coupon codes are free coupons for online shopping. Most online retailers have a place during checkout where you can enter a promo or coupon code for a discount. Simply go to a site like RetailMeNot.com, enter the store where you're shopping, and see what promo codes are available. By just taking an extra minute to search, you could get substantial savings!
• Mobile coupons. Mobile coupons are free coupons that a retailer sends to your smartphone. The coupons can be scanned at checkout directly from your phone - no clipping required! You can request that a particular retailer send you mobile coupons (if they offer them) or sign up with a service such as www.mobilecoupons.com that sends you a selection of deals for you area.

Where do you find free coupons?

Got a favorite source for free coupons? Share your great find with your fellow readers!

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