Coupons And Freebies

Picture credit: Holly at Extreme couponing check out her Vlog here 

Hello Readers

Amanda from  Parenting a child with Autism (check out her blog it's fab) asked me yesterday where I get my coupons from. I felt that I couldn't answer this in a simple comment and that it warranted a post dedicated to how I get my coupons and freebies so here it is.....

Let me start by saying I am not an extreme couponer, I don't have the time, but I do sit down a couple of times a week and see what is about. My first suggestion would be to open a free email address specifically for your coupons and freebies. You don't have to but I find it makes couponing that little bit easier. If you wanted to you could open a few extra email addresses so that you get more coupons and freebies. I just have the one and eldest son has one also.

The next thing I would suggest is if you haven't done so already sign up for loyalty cards and register on store websites. The loyalty cards I currently have are.....

Tesco
Morrison's
Nectar
Game
Bon Marche
Co Op
Boots
Hairdresser's (My local one)
Perfume shop (Superdrug)

Any store that I shop in no matter how often, if they have a loyalty card scheme then i'm on it lol. Not only do you collect points or stamps that can be redeemed for money off coupons or items, but once you are registered with them they will occasionally send you out coupons to use in their stores. They will also let you know about sales and deals that they have going on at that time.

The other thing I do is I have a list of coupon/freebie sites I check a couple of times a week. If I see a coupon or a freebie I can make use of I go ahead and print it off or fill in the form (for freebies). A lot of times the site itself will tell you where the item is selling the cheapest so that you get the best deal or even get the item for free. If it doesn't it is really easy to find this out for yourself using an app like My Supermarket. I also print all my coupons in black and white to save money on ink costs (check out my post Saving Money On Printer Ink ). If you sign up to the sites newsletter coupons and freebies will be emailed to you automatically. I also follow a couple of coupon/freebie sites on Facebook. Here is a list of the sites I use.....

Extreme Couponing
Money Saving Expert
Latest Free Stuff
Coupon Mama UK
Super Savvy Me
Ashleigh Money Saver
Coupon Mama UK Facebook page
Extreme Couponing Facebook Page


My next tip is to register with Check Out Smart
It is a cashback site that has lots of products you can get part or full cashback on. It's really easy all you do is register an account with them, see which cashback offers tickle your fancy, buy them from the specified retailer, send a photo of your receipt, and they will credit your account with the cashback. The only drawback is you need a separate receipt for each item you want to claim cashback on and you can only make 3 claims a day. The way I see it is if I am getting something for free then I am happy to take a bit of extra time paying for items individually and scanning in the receipts over the course of a few days. You have to have £5 in your check out smart account before you cash it out but my advice would be to wait until you hit the £20 or more mark as that way you will avoid paying any fees for the transfer of funds. Check them out they have a lot of good freebies on there at the moment.

Another way of getting coupons is to choose a few of your favorite products or retailers and write to the company telling them how much, and why you enjoy their products. Very often as a thank you for your feedback they will send you a letter thanking you and include some coupons for their products. I have yet to try this one out for myself but I have heard of lots of people getting good results by doing this.

So Amanda I hope I have answered your question and armed you with lots of tips for getting coupons and freebies. Let me know how you get on.

Until Next Time
Much Love
Maria xxx