Scam - free sources of coupons and samples

There are so many coupon and freebie scams out there, how do you know where to find legitimate sources of coupons and samples?

You can try going to coupon and internet forums and groups for ideas (more coming about this in November) to find user-reviewed websites although you should still use some caution there.  You can also go to trusted websites such as walmart.com's in store's now page, sample and information super-site vocalpoint.com and free sample giant startsampling.com  or check out your favorite product's website for savings ideas and free samples.  (Some product websites will require you to join a mailing list).

For online printable coupons, my favorite sites are www.coupons.com, www.smartsource.com, http://www.cellfire.com/ and http://www.redplum.com/.  You can also request coupons from the manufacturer, find them in store coupon displays or locate coupons in store advertisements, local newspaper inserts or mailbox coupon inserts.

What is couponing?

Couponing is a relatively new phenomenon for many people.  A simple definition that I personally use is the effective use of coupons to save money, particularly on items you buy often such as groceries. 

So how would coupon use not be effective in saving hard earned money?  Well, it's simple really if you think carefully about it.  Here is an example.  Let's say you plan to buy milk for your household.  Your local food market offers name-brand milk for $3.99 and store brand milk (which you don't know is made by the same manufacturer) for $3.29.  If you have a 50 cent coupon that says "do not double or triple" at the top for the name brand milk, that would bring its price down to $3.49, still 20 cents higher than the store brand milk.  Now twenty cents may not seem like a lot of money when you consider just one item, but over the course of time 20 cents here and 20 cents there can add up.

Let's say you saved just 20 cents per day through smart grocery shopping.  If you multiply that by 365 days in one year, that totals $73.  With the cost of gas constantly going up I can definitely use that much extra cash.  With some creative couponing, strategic sale shopping, and buying generic store brands when you can't save more on name brands with coupons and sales you can even save much, much more than 20 cents per day.