The Ultimate Frugal Resource Guide
Frugal living is making a comeback. Shopping at thrift stores, scouring Facebook buy/sell pages, and looking for ways to get items for free or cheap have become the norm. Extreme couponing has spawned multiple books, shows, and hundreds of blogs to help others jump on the bandwagon. By saving money on groceries, clothing, and entertainment, individuals and families can save up money for vacations, investing, and even just find ways to do more with less.
Couponing How-To
Couponing has become a big trend, especially for stay-at-home moms and those who want to slash their grocery bills. Learning to coupon requires more than clipping a selection of coupons from the Sunday paper though. It involves a concentrated effort to find and take advantage of the latest coupons and deals.
Learn to Coupon – Southern Savers takes wannabe couponers through the steps of couponing in this guide that covers the system, finding coupons, and getting organized.
10 Days to Become a Krazy Coupon Lady – One of the top online couponers helps those new to couponing learn how it is all done.
How to Coupon – FAQ’s – The Coupon Divas answer some of the most common questions about couponing.
The Beginner’s Guide to Coupons – This guide covers basic couponing and offers tips for shopping some of the most popular stores for couponing.
Extreme Couponing 101 – Learn all about couponing, from understanding the lingo to organizing coupons and shopping popular couponing stores.
Coupon Organizing
Keeping up with all of your coupons can sometimes be as challenging as finding the coupons. In order to get the best deals, you need to know what you have and how to use your coupons to get the best deals. If you’re constantly sorting through an organized pile of coupons, you’ll lose money and time.
How to Organize Your Tips – Find advice about organizing your coupons, including how to store them and how to categorize them.
Clever Coupon Organization Ideas – Discover a few unique and DIY ways to organize all of the coupons that you clip or print online.
How We Organize Our Coupons and Execute Our Coupon Strategy – Learn how to not only organize your coupons, but to use that organization system when it comes to actually shopping with the coupons.
4 Easy Ways to Organize Your Coupons – These methods don’t require elaborate setups and a couple do not even require you to clip coupons at all.
How to Start Your Coupon Binder – This guide for creating a coupon binder also comes with a printable template to help get your started.
Printable Coupon Sites
Printable coupon sites make it easier to find coupons for the products you buy every day. Some sites offer product-specific coupons, while others allow you to search for retailer-specific coupons. When printing coupons, be sure to pay attention to the fine print and make sure you can use the coupons you print.
10 Ways to Cut the Cost of Printing Coupons – Before printing coupons, take some time to learn how to save even more money.
SmartSource – Many newspapers include SmartSource coupons in their Sunday coupon inserts, but you can also find many of the coupons online.
Coupons.com – Every day Coupons.com offers hundreds of coupons to print and estimates how much you can save.
Redplum.com – Find daily coupon deals by product and sign up for the grocery coupon newsletter to get the latest deals in an e-mail.
Coupon Network – Search for coupons by product type or brand name and earn YourBucks for additional gift cards and savings.
Southern Savers – Highlights some of the best product-specific and store-specific coupons and deals available to print every day.
Coupon Blogs
Part of couponing involves knowing how to combine coupons and where to shop to get the best deals. Rather than scouring multiple grocery store ads and coupon sites every week, bloggers do the work for you. If you follow a few of these top coupon blogs on a daily basis, you can learn how to get many products for pennies on the dollar and sometimes even for free.
The Krazy Koupon Lady – Find a daily coupon blog, plus tips and other resources to help get on the extreme couponing bandwagon.
Fabulessly Frugal – Posts regular deals both by store and through daily coupon lists highlighting some of the best deals for the day.
Hip2Save – Focused on the modern couponer, you will find posts for free products and extreme coupon deals.
Coupon Geek – Highlights deals available through manufacturer’s printable coupons, as well as online sales on sites such as Amazon.
MoneySavingMom – Shares online freebies and general coupon deals focused on moms.
Saving Money Online
While clipping coupons and looking for the hottest deals in local stores may be a great way to save money, you can also find savings without leaving home. Look for ways to not only save money on your favorite products, but also how to earn more money to spend when you do decide to venture outside and into an actual store, restaurant, or even travel to a popular vacation destination.
4 Incredibly Easy Ways to Save Money Online – Offers very simple tips, such as leaving items in your online shopping cart to get extra coupons and deals.
The Secrets to Online Shopping – Become a smart online shopper by following this advice.
7 Tips for Saving Time, Money When Shopping Online – Find out how to wade through the spam and advertisements to get straight to the best deals.
Online Shopping Tips to Save You Money – 10 tips help you spend less when shopping for items online.
Shop to Earn Sites
Some sites reward you for browsing the internet and shopping online. While you may not get rich using these websites, you can earn quality coupons and gift cards to help cut down on your grocery bill or give you money to enjoy a night out.
CoolSavings – Don’t limit yourself to coupons and instead find ways to earn free stuff, get daily deals, or save while shopping online.
Recyclebank – Learn all about green living and recycling and earn points to redeem for coupons and other rewards at the same time.
Ebates – Shop online using special deals and earn cash and rewards as you do.
Finding Deals Online
Just like finding coupons and in-store deals takes time and research, finding online deals takes research and time of its own. While coupons come with expiration dates that may be anywhere from a week to a month in the future, most online deals only last a day or two and with thousands of people competing for the same deals, items can go fast.
How to Find the Best Online Deals on Electronics – Buying electronics can be a time-consuming process, but this article will help you find the top products at the best prices.
How to Get the Best Online Deals – Don’t shop online blindly. Instead, learn how to get the best deals.
Deal News – Highlights the latest online deals by category.
Gotta Deal – Shares the latest deals online and includes a forum where members share their hottest finds.
Slick Deals – Provides info on the best deals on electronics and computers from the top brands.
Free Sample Sites
Many sites offering free samples use them as a ruse to get your information for advertising purposes. However, a few sites offer legitimate free samples, giving you an opportunity to try new products without spending a lot of money at the store. Most products come with coupons so you can save money if you find one you like.
Start Sampling – Offers free samples and trials on many popular products, as well as coupons to help make saving money easier.
HouseParty – Sign up to host local house parties to test out some of the latest hot products for free.
InStoresNow.Walmart.Com – Find out what free samples are currently be offered at your local Walmart.
PG Everyday Solutions – Proctor & Gamble offers regular samples of some of its most popular products, as well as coupons to get discounts on their products.
Freeflys.com – Shares links to sign up for free samples and free coupons every day, focusing only on the deals that will really result in free products.
Flash Sale Sites
Flash sale sites take popular brands and products and put them on sale for a limited time. These sites often offer very deep discounts and very limited inventory. They can also pop up at a moment’s notice. Thankfully, those signed up for the sites are usually the first to know about the deals, increasing the chances of scoring an amazing deal.
Zulily – New flash sales appear every day on popular brands for kids, women, and the home.
Rue LaLa – Daily flash sales offer deep discounts on some of the hottest designer brands focused on women.
Plum District – Share daily deals, flash sales, and freebies for moms and kids.
Gilt – Daily sales focus on high-quality, designer items for men, women, kids, the home, and travel.
HauteLook – Every day at 8 a.m. Pacific, find deals on designer brands.
Promo Code Sites
Many online retailers often have promo codes floating around that allow customers to take a percentage off of their totals or receive free shipping. However, these promo codes may not always be advertised on a retailer’s website. Before buying something online, check out these promo code sites to see if you can find a code to save you a little extra money.
RetailMeNot – Find promo codes and coupons for online retailers.
Deal Catcher – Helps you catch the latest deals and coupons from many of the top online retailers.
Fat Wallet – Savvy shoppers share the latest coupons, online deals and cash back offers.
Savings.com – Highlights the latest online coupons and deals to use at thousands of online retailers and even in some stores.
Coupon Mountain – Shares a list of the most popular online promo codes on a daily basis.
ShopAtHome.com – Look for the latest online deals and occasionally get the chance to earn points or cash back rewards at the same time.
Coupon Craze – Provides a selection of coupons for online retailers and travel sites.
Daily Deals and Vouchers
For deals for local restaurants, entertainment options, and services, check out daily deals websites. These websites partner with local retailers to offer discounts to customers. You may get a dozen cupcakes for half-price, get a free pizza at a local pizza joint, or receive a deep discount on a spa day at the salon you always wanted to visit.
Groupon – Find a selection of daily deal vouchers customized by city and special prices on special products shipped by Groupon.
Living Social – Another daily deals site offers location-specific deals on food, entertainment, shopping, and travel.
Restaurant.com – Try new restaurants or visit old favorites for less by purchasing vouchers through Restaurant.com.
