Buying Groceries on a Budget: Where to Find Coupons

There are often coupons available for fresh fruit & vegetables, cheese, milk, flour, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, shaving cream, and more. Start by clipping coupons that you think your family might use or items that you regularly use around the house.

Here are a variety of ways to find and clip coupons.

1) Printable Coupon Websites
You can find printable coupons online from Coupons.com, SmartSource.com, and Redplum.com. These are the three main printable coupon websites. Each coupon can be printed twice per computer.

To save money on ink, change your printer settings to print in black and white only. To save money on paper, print 2-3 coupons per page.

2) Sunday Newspaper Inserts & Weekly Mail
For those of you in Utah, there is a deal to get a Sunday newspaper subscription for only $20 for a year! That’s just $0.38 per paper! Head over here to sign up and get all of the details.

The Proctor & Gamble insert comes in the Sunday newspaper at the beginning of each month. The SmartSource insert comes in the Sunday paper weekly. For me, the Redplum insert comes in the mail each week. The only exceptions when you won’t receive newspaper inserts is if it’s a holiday week.

Don’t just throw out the inserts. Make sure to look through them. If you don’t receive the Sunday paper, ask family and friends if there is anyone who doesn’t use their coupon inserts and see if they’ll give them to you. I asked my mother-in-law if she would give me her Redplum, which she regularly does. And I have friends who give me the SmartSource and P&G coupons from their newspapers.

3) Magazines
Women’s publications such as Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Parenting, Family Circle, etc., frequently carry manufacturer coupons.

4) Inside Stores
Watch for coupons at the entrance of stores as you walk in, on shelves, and on products. Watch for tear pads or blinking dispensers on aisles. At stores like Walgreens and Smith’s, coupons will print at the register.

5) Store and Manufacturer Websites
Visit store websites such as Target.com and Walgreens.com to find printable coupons. Manufacturer websites, such as Johnson & Johnson, Frigo Cheese, Las Palmas, etc. often have coupons you can print from their site.

If there is a product you really like to use, try writing to the company to let them know you love the product, and politely ask if they could send you some coupons.

6) Facebook
I receive a lot of high-value coupons from companies on Facebook. In order to receive the coupons they are giving out, you need to “Like” their Facebook page. It’s worth it to get the high-value coupon. Later on, you could always “Unlike” their page.

7) Free Product Offers
I used to think that signing up for free samples was a waste of time. But they really add up to save you money. Not only can you get full-sized products and free product coupons, but the sample sizes help decrease how often you have to buy products such as shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, and more. They often include high-value coupons, which could get you a full-sized product for a great deal.

One time, I received five sets of Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner samples over the course of a month. I calculated that the sample size bottles added up to about two-thirds of a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. It all adds up and saves you money.

And, of course, it’s fun to check my mailbox daily to see what free items arrived that day.

8) Grocery Cash Back, Coupon & Money-Saving Apps
This is an easy way to save money by using apps such as Ibotta, Checkout51, Target Cartwheel and Savings Catcher on your smartphone. Check out and download these 10 apps that will save you money on groceries.

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