6 Ways to Get Your Hands on Extra Coupons

To be an extreme couponer you need to get your hands on a lot of coupons. How do you get enough coupons to build a wall of pasta  across your living room, amass so much free toothpaste that you have to give it out to Trick or Treaters or create a floor to ceiling closet filled with toilet paper? It’s easier than you think. Here are six things you can do today to start getting your hand on extra coupons.

 

1. Ask  for Leftovers

On Sunday night or early Monday morning, most gas stations/ convenience stores will let you remove the coupon inserts from any unsold Sunday papers before they’re picked up and returned to the distributor. You may need to ask multiple stores and hear “no” a few times before you find a store that will allow you to take the inserts.  Once you find a store that does in allows you to take them be sure to reward them with a goodie bag the following week. Chances are you have a few items stockpiled that you can spare. The next time you stop in to pick up the papers bring them a goodie bag as a thank you.  Once you do this chances are they will have the coupons pulled for you with your name on them and be eagerly awaiting to see what goodies you bring them each week.

 

2. Check the Weeklies

A lot of regional papers, many of which are free, include coupon inserts.  I’ve found a smaller suburban paper that puts the Smartsource inserts in the Friday paper. These papers are free but it does not mean you can take them all.

You can also sign up to get the coupons and ads for free from the Boston Globe HERE.

 

3. Ask Friends and Family

You probably have some friends  and family that “don’t have time to coupon” or don’t think its worth their time. But yet they all want to grab from your stockpile.  Let everyone know that if they want free toothpaste they need to keep your coupon supply coming in. Make it clear to them that they need to save their Sunday inserts  for you, otherwise it’s hand off the merchandise!

 

4. Start your own Recycling Center 

Leave a empty box at your work, church, school , daycare, office or anywhere that has people coming and going. Write “Coupon Donations” on the box and chances are you’ll have lots of free coupons delivered right to you. There are tons of people that still have a “coupon phobia” and won’t use coupons but they also don’t want to see the coupons fill up a landfill.

 

5. Order Up!

Yes, you can order coupons online.  I am always surprised when I mention this to people and they ask puzzledly “you can pay for coupons? “. Technically no, you can’t pay for coupons but you can pay for someone’s time to locate, clip package and ship coupons to you. Ebay used to be the biggest source for getting your hands on all the best coupons but that all changed a few years ago and now your best bet is to order from various clipping service sites.  I have a list of my favorite places in my article  The Best Places to Order Coupons in Bulk 

 

6. Dumpster Dive (my least favorite option)

You can find tons of coupon inserts at recycling centers where discarded newspapers arrive everyday. These centers have designated bins just for paper so you don’t have to worry about diving in with smelly diapers and rotten food. Be sure to check with your local newspaper recycling centers before jumping in to be sure it is allowed and you aren’t trespassing.

 

I hope this list helps you  get your hands on more coupons that you ever dreamt of. If you find yourself with too many inserts just let me know I would be more than happy to take some off your hands!