One really good reason not to sit around clipping coupons from your local papers is that it’s time-consuming. My time is valuable, and I figure the cost of any “free labor” I’m performing against my savings when I consider my best strategies. But when it comes to coupons, clipping is no longer the only way to get them: you can go online, find precisely the coupons you want, and print them.
Advantages of printable coupons
Most printable coupon sites are designed to let you browse for coupons, much like you would in a newspaper. But you can also search just for those shops or products you want coupons for. This saves time and cuts down on the chances you’ll be tempted by some great deal into buying something you really don’t even want or need. Browsing these sites is also generally easier and quicker than browsing through printed material, since you can just scroll through lots of coupons at once.
Many of these sites also have the ability to let you click several coupons to print, and they will fit them onto as few sheets of paper as possible. In some cases, you have to download a small free application to do this.
Clipping coupons from periodicals costs you: the cost of the periodical plus your time. Printable coupons cost you: paper, a little bit of ink (use the most economic setting on your printer) and some wear and tear on your printer. In my opinion, my savings are better with printable coupons. The cash outlay could be higher, if you were getting most of your coupons from free circulars or newspapers you’d subscribe to even without coupons (I get all my news online these days). But printable coupons can be negligible in actual cash costs, and they save considerable time on your part. (Another savings trick: use the backs of pages you’ve printed on before. As long as the coupon is visible, the store can’t refuse to accept it because part of an article you printed about turtles is on the backside.)
And printable coupons are usually good for online or in-store purchases.
Printable Coupon sites
You’ll want to find more than one coupon site to check, since they all have different coupons on offer. Don’t make a part-time job out of it, but tracking 3-5 sites doesn’t take much time, and will maximize your savings.
- Coupon Cabin makes it really easy to find the printable coupons you want. You can browse several categories, like grocery coupons, or top deals, or local deals (input your zip code). You can also look up specific stores to see what coupons they have on offer.
- Mommy Saves Big has just the sort of layout I was talking about earlier. It’s geared to let you search for just those coupons you really want, or browse to get ideas. When you browse, your gaze naturally drifts over the list, ignoring stores you don’t shop at, and focusing on those you do buy from. At no time does it ever try to get you to log in or start an account (some of the others do).
- RedPlum, the online version of the circulars, has a very nice setup – you can print several coupons to a page without getting a free account or downloading anything. I find they have a few really good coupons, and the rest are meh. Your mileage may vary. Still, worth checking out.
- CouponDivas has many of the same vendors as Coupon Cabin, but here you don’t have to download anything to print several coupons to a page.
Those are the printable coupon sites I personally use and find most helpful. You can always search online for “printable coupons” and you may find sites which you like better. I’ll keep updating this list periodically as I find other good sites.
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Updated: November 29, 2011
Copyright: November 29, 2011
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