Name Brand Coupons

Sources of Name Brand Coupons

Coupons are a tremendously popular marketing tool for the makers of many different products. You can find coupons for everything from shampoo and toothpaste to potato chips and barbecue sauce. The shopping insert of your Sunday paper is often the best place to look for name brand coupons, but you may find coupons in other places as well. For example, the popular woman's magazine All You contains several money-saving coupons in each issue. Even the free community fliers distributed in some cities often have coupons for various products.

For someone interested in clipping coupons, newspaper and magazine subscriptions are a wise investment. To get even more coupons, however, ask friends and family members to save their old newspapers and magazines for you to review when they are done. In addition, many libraries often have piles of unwanted publications that may contain valuable coupons.

Coupons are available online as well. You can find printable free name brand coupons by visiting the following helpful Web sites:

• Cool Savings
• My Savings
• Wow Coupons
• Printable Coupons
• Coupon Pages
• Deal Catcher
• Flamingo World
• Budget 101

If you have a particular product you like, such as a certain brand of cosmetics, you may also wish to try registering on the company's Web site. Many manufacturers will send out periodic e-mail newsletters with printable coupons that you can use to save money on your purchase.

Is it Really a Good Deal?

Before you devote too much of your time to searching for coupons, it's helpful to keep in mind a few tips for bargain shopping. For example:

• A coupon isn't a good deal if the product isn't something your family would normally buy.
• Shop at stores that allow double coupons for additional savings.
• If you can use a coupon on an item that is already on sale, you'll save even more money.
• If the coupon is valid for a purchase of any size item, buying the smallest size usually results in the greatest savings.
• Remember that store brand items are often cheaper than name brand products even with a coupon. Unless you have a particular reason for wanting to purchase a certain brand, buying generic items is a great way to save money.

Organizing Your Coupons

In order to truly learn how to save money with coupons, you must develop an organizational system to ensure that you are able to find the coupons you need when you are out shopping for your family. Clipping coupons is an exercise in futility if your coupons expire or get misplaced before you have a chance to use them.

There are many different coupon organizers available to help you sort your coupons. For the truly frugal shopper, however, a stack of envelopes or an index card divider box makes a great organizational alternative. Simply label each divider with a category of coupon, such as baby products, snacks, and household cleaning supplies. Sort through the box at least once per month to toss outdated items.

Avoiding Coupon Fraud

While most name brand coupons are legitimate, coupon fraud is an increasingly common problem. Here are some signs that a coupon you've found may not be valid:

• The coupon offers a discount that seems exceptionally large or is for a free item with no minimum purchase.
• The printing seems fuzzy or blurred.
• There are obvious typos or grammatical errors on the coupon.
• There is no bar code for the cashier to scan.

To learn more about the problems associated with coupon fraud, check out LoveToKnow Save's Coupon Fraud Investigations: Coupon Information Corporation Interview.