ONLINE HELP FOR LOCAL SHOPPING

Here’s a quiet little secret: Offline and online shopping are not mutually exclusive. The smart shopper will use the online world to help augment his or her real world shopping.

The Internet can help you get paper coupons to use in your local stores in several ways:

1. Sign up at store websites for their newsletters and announcements. Often the store emails include advance notice of sales, sales for Internet customers only and/or discount coupons. You usually will have to print out the coupon and bring it with you to the store. Some stores also will ask for your email address when you checkout, as the coupon is only good for one use by the email recipient.
Examples: Borders Books – www.borders.com
Hobby Lobby - www.hobbylobby.com
Walgreens – www.walgreens.com

2. Check the local store's website. There you will find information about sales and have access to coupons. You might need to sign up on the website and also may have to download a small software program that will allow you to print out their coupons. Some sites have games that let you win coupons.
Examples: Jewel-Osco – www.jewelosco.com – click on "Specials and Savings"
Old Navy – www.oldnavy.com; game site to win coupons: www.oldnavyweekly.com

3. Sign up at special websites that do the coupon searching and clipping for you – for a fee.
Example: The Coupon Clippers – www.thecouponclippers.com

4. Can't find what you did with that coupon magazine or envelope full of coupons that came in the mail? Just go to the websites and print out the coupons.
Examples: Smart Source – www.smartsource.com
Valpak – www.valpak.com
Coupon Clipper – www.couponclipper.com
Money Mailer – www.moneymailer.com

5. Check online for coupon websites that supply free coupons for you to print and carry into your local store. You can find these sites by searching Google for "printable coupons". By putting in a specific store name, you will get results specifically for that store.
Example: Smart Source – www.smartsource.com
Coupons.com – www.coupons.com

There are also many online resources that offer paper coupons for when you travel away from home. Always check local tourist office sites for your destination, as well as state tourist sites. There are also sites that specialize in travel coupons.
Examples: Midwest Travel Buddy - www.interstatetravelbuddy.com
Room Saver - www.roomsaver.com (Click on "View a Guide Online"
at the bottom of the page)