Beginners Guide To Couponing – CouponMamaUK

These are coupons you find online that you can print out. Most of these are safe coupons, this means that they will have unique numbers on them to avoid people from photo copying them. You can normally print two of these by just pressing back once your first coupon has printed out.The two main pages to print from are Caring Everyday & Supersavvyme.

womble:

I go wombling every Sunday after Asda shuts at 4pm! You can get FREE money just by picking up receipts off the floor! Asda aim to be 10% cheaper than the other leading supermarkets and if there not then they will give you the difference in the form of a coupon you print out from their website.

All you need to do is tap in the long number at the bottom of the receipt then click compare.  If your shop was cheaper elsewhere then you get a coupon! Please note: you must have at least 8 different items on the receipt for it to work.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s offer the same sort of thing so always worth keeping your eyes peeled. People give me funny looks when I pick up receipts off the floor in the car parks but the fact is you wouldn’t walk past a five-pound note on the floor so don’t walk past these possible money makers!

Free sample coupons:

Sometimes when you order free samples they can come with a coupon! Even if you won’t use the sample still get the freebie in case it comes with a coupon. For example I never used my hard water strip from Calgon but I did use the £1 off coupon!

Newspaper coupons:

My favourite coupon this year has got to be the Morrisons fruit and veg and meat coupons, these were featured in the sun and we managed to stock right up using these amazing coupons! Always check your newspapers!

Manufacturer Coupons:

 These are coupons that you get from writing to manufactures. Simply tell them how much you love or hate their products, but always be honest Don’t complain unless you have a genuine complaint. A friend of mine also sent companies birthday cards or Christmas cards and got coupons in return!

Catalinas:

When you get handed your receipt always check to see if theirs a coupon printed on it, these are called catalina coupons and are normally for money off your next shop.

Store Coupons:

 Always check your supermarkets in-store magazine for coupons. This month we have had quite a few in Tesco’s one!

Peelies:

You will find peelies on some products in the supermarkets. These are coupons that come with a product that you simply peel off and use on your next shop. You can even get try me free products where you can get a full refund just for buying the products!

E-Coupons:

I really hope these become more popular as this would save so much in printer ink! E-Coupons are basically a coupon you can redeem on a device then show the bar code at the check out.

Event coupons:

 A few of my friends go to the good food event every year. I’m told there are lots of stalls there with companies just handing out coupons!! I live in the middle of no where so it wouldn’t be cost-effective for me to travel that far, but thankfully I have a fab friend who is going to send me some coupons when she goes this year!

Fake coupons:

Beware of fake coupons, As coupons are becoming more and more popular so are counterfeit coupons! It’s a great idea swapping coupons with people but always be careful the coupons you get are real. Check the numbers aren’t all the same and everything is lined up correctly and Compare with coupons you have printed yourself.

Cashback:

You can find everything you need to know about cashback in my ultimate guide. Topcashback is the highest paying cashback app and you can get more than just cashback on your groceries! Join here

Healthy start coupons:

If you earn under a certain amount you may qualify for healthy start coupons. These can be used for baby formula, cow’s milk, fresh fruit & veg. Find out here if you qualify.

Junk mail:

I used to hate junk mail but now I always have a good rummage through it before I throw it away, you never know what you might find!

Overage

All couponers love the word overage! This means that the item you have a coupon for is cheaper than the amount on the coupon, so the rest of the money goes towards your next shop!

For example I had 10 coupons for free Yoo Moo, the coupons scanned at £1.70 but the Yoo Moo was 2 for £2.50 in Asda so for every 2 that I brought I got 90p off the rest of my shopping. In this shop I had 10 yoo moos so the £4.50 overage went towards a toy that was reduced down to £6.This meant that I only paid £1.50 for this little lot when I should have paid £26.97 before in-store deals and coupons!

Getting Coupons Without A Printer 

Email companies directly. Compliment them or if you have had a problem with a product then complain,  don’t be afraid to tell them if you are disappointed with their products they will nearly always reward you with high value coupons!

I once emailed Muller yogurt after I brought there Muller corners and found the chocolate balls were all stuck together in one clump. Most people would just shrug this off and ignore it but after a quick email explaining how disappointed I was they sent me out a £5 coupon!

Most companies have a “contact us” section at the bottom of their website. If there’s a new brand on the market this is a perfect opportunity to e-mail and ask for a coupon to try their new product, or if a well-known brand brings out a new range of products then this is also a great time to ask for a coupon as they will want to promote it anyway they can.

If you have a smart phone or I phone you can use cash-back apps these are a fab way to save money. If you need help with how they work check out my Ultimate Guide To Cashback Apps  Sometimes if you contact a company that are doing printable coupons and explain you really want to try their product but you don’t have a printer they will pop one in the post for you.

Look out in magazines, newspapers and even on some products for example I recently saw baby rice on clearance for 50p and on the back was 50p coupon. You could also use your local library to print them or even an internet cafe if you have one near you.

Combining Coupons With In Store Deals

Coupons can be used on items that are on offer or clearance, always check the reduced sections of the shop and also look for half price and buy one get one free offers. If you find a buy one get one free offer and have two coupons you can use 1 coupon for each of the products.

For example there are coupons for Johnsons baby bath on supersavvyme at the moment for £1 and Asda are selling 2 for £3 so use one coupon for each bottle makes it £1 for two bottles ! If you have loyalty cards you can cut your cost even more and even earn rewards, But make sure you scan your card before your coupons so you get your points from the full cost not the cost after coupons and savings ect..

What if a store won’t take my coupon?

It happens to all of us, you plan your whole shop fill your trolley get to the checkout to be told no! They look at you like you are a criminal when all you are doing is trying to save money! This happened to me in Asda a few times but all I did was get out my coupon policy told them to phone Asda head office and then my coupons were accepted.

If you are still told no after this then write an e-mail or phone Asda head office, explain what happened and 9 times out of ten they will send you a gift card as a gesture of good will. Most supermarkets do have a coupon policy and the ones who don’t have the right to say no to you.

But still write to head office and explain that your coupons are always accepted in other stores but not in theirs, and the likelihood is that they will get in touch with your local store and inform them to take your coupons next time you shop simply because they don’t want to lose your custom (this also happened to me).

Asda coupon policy

Tesco coupon policy

Sainsbury’s coupon policy

How to Keep Coupons Organized

You can buy coupon holders for a few quid off Amazon but I personally just use a cheap photo album I got in a charity shop for 50p. You should always have your coupons in some sort of order like alphabetically or in order of when they expire, whatever works best for you. It just makes it easier to find the ones you need when you are going to pay.

Bargain Printers, Inks & Paper

People often say to me “how is couponing worth while when you have to spend out so much money on a printer and ink?” The answer is simple it is definitely worth it. For example in one night I printed out £40 worth of coupons and my ink only cost me £12.

My printer I got for £10 off a local Facebook selling page and the paper is only £1 in poundland. I still had loads of ink left after as well! Make sure you always set your printer to black and white or gray-scale so you save more money on your ink.

If you have a coupon friend you could even split the money for the printer and the ink so you can both use it. When printing coupons its one/two per computer not per printer so you can plug your printer into any computer and print away!

Other Tips & Tricks

• Keep your coupons with you at all times – you never know when a deal might pop up.
• learn each stores coupon policy and take it with you when you go.
• match coupons with cashback.
• print in gray-scale or black and white.
• pre plan your shop visit My Supermarket   register/log in and choose the supermarket that sells the items you want to buy the cheapest. for example today I wanted to buy new covent garden soup using there £1 coupon so I typed this into the search bar and compared the supermarkets and found that Asda sell it for only £1 making it FREE!
• Check your expiration dates regularly and if you have coupons that don’t expire until after Christmas then you can always save them up to cut the cost of your big food shop.