Where can I find the Coupons?

I received an interesting question about coupons the other day!

Q: I don't want to get a newspaper subscription, so where else can I get the coupons in the paper?

A: You have a couple options.

• First you could ask your friends and neighbors for their coupons from their Sunday newspapers. I did this for a while myself. I use to take my in-laws, but they caught on fast to what I was doing and started using them. My neighbors caught on as well. Needless to say ALL of us receive multiple papers on Sundays. I also found that a lot of people cut out one or two "high valued" coupons out of the inserts. The $2.50 off any package of electrosol dish washing tablets is ALWAYS missing LOL! I also hated the hassle of having to drive around and collect the coupons everyone had saved for me.
  
• Second, I had absolutely no idea that you could buy coupons online until a girl in one of my classes told me she bought hers from ebay. I asked how much she paid and she quickly responded "$3.00" an insert plus S&H! I about cracked up laughing because the paper down at the gas station is $2.00!!! After she told me about this I started doing some research about it. I kept thinking I am in the wrong business if I can SELL my coupons. I found that it is uncommon for an entire insert to go on sale and it is in no way a money maker. I only found that people will sell their individual coupons they are NOT using. A great example is someone who doesn't have pets, sells their pet coupons, or someone who doesn't have a baby sells the diaper coupons, but don't plan on buying all the coupons from SS 3/15. That's the other problem I saw with this was. How would I know what insert they came from and what was the date? When grocery smarts list told me to use the tree top juice coupon from RP 4/18, I would have to figure out where all the clipped coupons that e-bay sent me needed to go to match the inserts.
  
• The last place I know you can get them is in trading forums, but again, you are not going to be getting entire coupon inserts. Only those coupons that other people won't be using, but again don't plan on being able to trade for the "valuable" coupons every body will use. That totally eliminates you from being able to get those "free items". Just use trading forums to get more of a coupon.

So bottom line here is that you need to breakdown and just get a paper subscription to get those coupons. My subscription a month way out weighs the cost I save on groceries. My husband always says "it like a drop in the bucket compared to what we are saving and getting for our food storage."

I remember when I first started I wanted to avoid that subscription cost so badly (I know I am so cheap) that I knew where people recycled their Sunday papers in my area and I actually got into the recycling dumpster and was "digging" around trying to find inserts! I know, totally insane. You wouldn't believe the looks I received. I tried going in the night, so people wouldn't see me, but one time a man was walking his dog and he was actually frightened when he saw me at first. I made up some sorry excuse like I had accidentally thrown away a check with my paper LOL! At that point I knew I was pathetic. I would dig and dig and never find an entire insert!!! I would go home upset and discouraged. My husband was always so disgusted with me when I got home, he would say "YOU STINK! JUST BUY THE SUBSCRIPTION". LOL. I still remember that and smile.

After I broke down and got my subscription I learned their are some definite positives to being a subscriber. You can put your paper on hold when you go on vacation or if an insert is missing you call the paper and they bring it to you. I hated going to the gas station, buying a paper and getting home and discovering it had been pulled out by someone! Yes, I know its called stealing! Most of us would say that was common sense, but I have noticed people don't realize that people actually WANT their coupons!That was so frustrating! I also discovered that I would have to wake up early to make sure I would even get a paper from the stand. Most times they are gone before 9am. As a subscriber you just go out to your drive-way and pick up your papers! It's the best. And the absolute best part is that by being a subsriber you save A LOT of money by not going down and buying the papers at the stand. Being a subscriber you get a BETTER rate. If you aren't a subsriber and are looking to become one, just give me a call so I can get you a great rate!

I hope this LONG post answered that question.