Welcome to the ABCs of Savings! Each day we’ll be discussing another money saving topic, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. Be sure to subscribe via RSS or email so you don’t miss any steps along the way. You can read the full alphabet of posts here (updated as they are posted).
N: Newspapers
Newspapers are one of my favorite ways to grow my coupon collection. Each week’s Sunday newspaper holds hundreds of dollars worth of coupons! (Well, almost every week… Sometimes there aren’t coupons on holiday weekends.) Here are a few things to consider when you’re thinking about getting coupons from the Sunday newspaper.
Local vs. Big City
If you live in a larger city, then this one doesn’t apply to you. Bigger cities get different coupon inserts than small town papers get. The coupon inserts in the larger cities’ papers contain far more coupons and often coupons with higher values. I did my own little totally-un-scientific research studya couple of years ago and found $164-worth of difference between 0ur local newspaper and the big city paper that we can buy locally. I highly recommend checking out the difference if you live in a smaller town.
My dilemma now is that not all of the big city papers are including all of the coupon inserts for outlying areas. In order to get both SmartSource and RedPlum coupon inserts, I have to buy papers from two different big cities. I’m still debating whether or not this is worthwhile. I’ll have to let you know what I decide.
How Many to Buy
I usually buy 2 sets of newspapers. That gives me two of each insert. I like to do this mainly for buy 1 – get 1 free sales. Most stores let you use two coupons for BOGO sales because you’re buying two items. If there are really great coupons on a given Sunday, I’ve been known to buy one or two extras.
Know What’s Coming
So how do I know that the coupons are going to be really great on a given Sunday? I always check the Sunday Coupon Preview before I buy my papers. In fact, I post the Sunday Coupon Preview here each Saturday. That way you can see what’s coming and decide how many to buy.
The added benefit of knowing which inserts are coming each week is that you won’t accidentally short yourself coupons. There’s nothing worse than getting home with two coupon inserts and realizing that you should’ve had three. If you check back each Saturday, you’ll know exactly what to check for BEFORE you leave the store.
Discounted Subscriptions
Some cities are fortunate enough to have discounted newspaper subscriptions. DiscountedNewspapers.com has deep discounts on some of the nation’s biggest newspapers. I found the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for half the price that it sells for at the grocery store. It would be worthwhile to check to see if your city (or the nearest big city) is included on the discount list.
We’ll be talking about printable coupons later this week, so be sure to stop back for that post!
Our town is so tiny that we only have one newspaper and no coupons. I’m so jealous :P.
Oh no! You can’t get any coupons!? I suppose you could order them.