What is a Coupon & Where Can I Find It?

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I hope you all had a great week!  Last week I chatted with you about how you can get started couponing with an easy introduction to Couponing 101. This week I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend Audrey.  She is the person who inspired me to start couponing and really convinced me that I could do it.  And I’m so excited for you to meet her!

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Hi all!  I’m so happy to be posting on Cook. Craft. Love. today and so thankful Meaghan invited me to talk to you all!  Last week Meaghan talked to you about how to get started.  I loved her advice about changing your mindset because it’s so true!  Now that you know how to think about couponing I’m going to tell you what a coupon is and where you can find it!

At some point you’ve probably interacted with some kind of coupon.  A coupon is something that you can use to save money on something you purchase.  That’s it!  And a lot of people just simply ignore them or toss them in the trash!  But these little pieces of paper have serious value!  A coupon isn’t just a tangible piece of paper either.  These savings come in many different forms and can be applied to products, entire purchases, events, or services.  In this day and age pretty much any company offers coupons.  It’s just a matter of doing some research and finding the ones that do!

Now that you know what a coupon is you might be wondering where you can find them.  Like I said coupons come in many different forms and they’re pretty easy to find.  The most common ones come from your newspaper.  Luckily papers can be found pretty much anywhere.  At gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.  But it’s usually cheaper to have them delivered to your house.

The main inserts you’ll find in newspapers include RedPlum, SmartSource, and P&G.

You’ll see manufacturer coupons in these inserts that generally look like this.

It’s also common to see restaurant coupons or ads in them as well.  Another type of coupon that’s growing in popularity is the internet printable.  You can find internet coupons on product websites, Facebook, Target.com, and there are even websites focused solely on coupons!  Some of these include coupons.com, redplum.com, smartsource.com, and healthyessentials.com.  You can only print 2 like coupons {unless otherwise stated} per computer and they usually look like this.

But do you really have time to search through all these different coupons to find the ones you need each week?  Neither do I!  There are lots of different websites out there that maintain a coupon database.  You just pull up the website and use their search engine to look for active coupons.  My favorite is krazycouponlady.com.  She has a database for insert and internet coupons that tells you where to find it and when it expires!

The paper and internet coupons are two types of coupons you probably already knew about.  And while these may be the main ways to obtain coupons there are lots more options.  Target offers mobile coupons that they’ll send to your phone like a text message once you sign up for their service.  CVS and Walgreens offer mobile savings that you can add to your rewards card and they both offer rewards programs that give you cash back on items you purchase in their store!  For example, a CVS ExtraBuck prints at the bottom of your receipt and looks like this.

Some other types of coupons you’ll see are peelies, blinkies, and tear pads.  A peelie is a coupon that is stuck to the front of a product.  Make sure you check the expiration date on these!  Sometimes they’ll expire before a store puts the product on the shelves.  They generally look like this.

A blinkie is found in a machine near the product on the shelf and will have a blinking red light on it.  You’ll pull the coupon out, hear a little whir, and another coupon will appear.  They generally look like this.

A tear pad is basically what is sounds like.  It’s a pad of coupons that is found on a product display or shelf and you can tear coupons off like a pad of paper.  They generally look like this.

I hope that this information has helped you on your journey to becoming a couponing pro.  Thanks so much for having me today!

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Thanks Audrey!  I love finding coupons like peelies, blinkies, and tearpads in the store because sometimes I get some fun recipe ideas from them!  I made this One Pot Chicken Alfredo after finding a peelie on a package of chicken of all things!  And the only reason these Cupcakes with Rainbow Frosting happened is because I found an online coupon for the gel food coloring.  That stuff is expensive!

If you’re new or joining us in the middle then make sure you read up on the other posts in Couponing for Beginners Series!

Did we answer all your questions about what coupons are and where to find them?  If not please leave a comment below!