Getting started

If you're just entering the wild world of couponing, you need to (duh) get some coupons. These are some of the best places to start:

The Sunday paper--Excluding holiday weeks, your local Sunday paper should include manufacturer coupon inserts from Smartsource, Red Plum, and/or P&G, with occasional supplements from companies like General Mills and Kelloggs. The Sunday paper will also contain sale circulars for local stores; most of these can be viewed online, but it's nice to have the actual flyers in hand.

In stores--Whenever you go shopping at a grocery or drug store, keep your eyes peeled for manufacturer coupons. You can often find peelies (stuck to packages), hangtags (hanging from bottled/jarred products), tearpads (on shelves or displays), blinkies (in little red Smartsource machines attached to shelves), and in some areas, winetags (hanging from wine bottles--we don't get many of them here in Southern NH). You may occasionally find booklets or sheets of store coupons, but this is hit-or-miss and depends on the store. A store coupon can usually be combined with a manufacturer coupon for extra savings.

At home--Get in the habit of checking inside packages when you open them at home. Sometimes you'll find a coupon for the same product or a related product (such as a coupon for Special K granola bars inside Special K cereal).

Online--There are many websites with internet printable (IP) coupons, such as http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.smartsource.com/. If you're looking for a coupon for a specific product, try the manufacturer's website--many companies offer printable coupons or coupons by mail. You could also try emailing your favorite companies to ask for coupons.

Trading/buying--You can trade coupons with friends or with online strangers on websites like http://www.couponforum.com/ and http://www.hotcouponworld.com/. It may sound silly, but you might find someone with no children who would be happy to send you all of her diaper coupons in exchange for coupons she can use. If you trade for a large number of coupons, the price of one stamp is worth the savings. Many people sell multiples of "hot" coupons on eBay as well; just make sure you are getting your money's worth when buying coupons.

The websites listed above are excellent resources for couponers, so I will list them in a sidebar for easy reference. Happy coupon hunting!