How To Get Things For Free Using Coupons

First of all, saving $0.50 on something that I was going to buy anyway is not a waste of time. I’d rather have that $0.50 in my own pocket, instead of the store’s.

Following is a list of 4 ways that you can get things for free using coupons.

Buy the smallest size possible.

The smallest size is always going to be the cheapest, so, as long as your coupons do not have size restrictions, you can use them on the smallest item available. Most of the time, this means travel size items.

Let’s say you have a $2 coupon for Colgate toothpaste. I know that Walmart sells travel size Colgate toothpaste for just $1. If you use that $2 coupon on that travel size Colgate, you will get the toothpaste for free (and earn overage to be applied to the rest of your purchases, if you buy this item from Walmart – otherwise, the value of the coupon will likely be adjusted down to the price of the item).

Check the clearance section.

Many stores have a section for clearanced items. They may even have a few sections all over the store. Find out where these are in your stores and then check them out whenever you go shopping. You never know what you will find.

Items can go on clearance for a variety of reasons. The item is about to expire, the item is not selling very well or the store simply has an overstock and needs to clear out some inventory. Whatever you do, if you buy clearanced merchandise, be sure to check the expiration date and make sure that there is nothing physically wrong with the item before you make your purchase.

Purchase mail in rebate items.

Mail in rebate items don’t require you to use a coupon when you purchase them, but if you do, you will actually make money.

For example, let’s say you want to submit a mail in rebate for a specific brand of hairspray. The hairspray costs $4.99 at the store and you also have a $2 coupon for that same product. Well, you can use the $2 coupon, pay $2.99 for the item, and then submit the mail in rebate and get back the full $4.99. That means you were essentially paid to buy that product.

Use coupons on sale items.

Unless you really need to buy something, I always suggest holding on to your coupons until things go on sale. When you match a coupon to a sale item, you can usually get things for free or very, very cheap.

You will find the best sale items (also known as “loss leaders”) on the front page of your sales fliers. Do peek through the entire flyer though, because you never know what will be inside.

When you’re looking through your fliers, circle what you think is a great deal and then check to see if you have any coupons to use, to make that deal even sweeter.

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