When I was back in the US, I was at the grocery store one day when I saw this lady walking up and down the aisles filling her cart off here list, but also sticking pieces of paper on products on the selves from time to time. When I went buy, I noticed that she was taping coupons to the appropriate products.

I had to know what was going on, so I interrupted her to ask. She had a very simple answer"

It just seems a waste to throw away the coupons just because I don't use the product. Someone is going to purchase the product, so they might as well get use of the coupon. I'm already in the store doing my shopping and it takes a second or two to scotch tape the coupon onto the package. It just seems like the right thing to do.

I totally agree. Not only is it an easy way to help someone else save money, I'm sure that those people that reach for the item they were going to buy to find a discount coupon attached will feel like a bit of luck shined on them that day. I bet that simple action brings about a bunch of smiles each day she does it.

Since seeing that, I have started the same habit. It doesn't work so well in Japan where coupons are much rarer than in the US, but I was having a great time leaving coupons for people that could use them while still in the US. In fact, I moved beyond grocery coupons and started to print out multiple coupons when going to a restaurant that had online coupons. Then I simply handed them out or left them where anyone could grab one if they wanted.

I realize that not all of them will be used, but many more do than would if they had ended up in my waste basket. And it is surprising how a simple gesture like this can make somebody's day. If you use coupons and find yourself throwing some away from time to time, I encourage you to join me in following the example of the coupon lady.

Flash has put together an informative article on getting discounts on prescription drugs by leveraging the specials that pharmacies offer. For those that have prescriptions that need to be filled, Pharmacy Rewards is well worth the read. I especially found the paragraph about "new" subscriptions enlightening:

Some offers are valid only on “new” prescriptions. A “new” prescription is any doctor’s written prescription, however, even if you are already on the medication. If a pharmacy coupon or offer is available, consider asking your doctor for a new written prescription rather than a refill. Manufacturer offers for free trials, samples, or other “first prescription” coupons and vouchers can usually be applied to any “new” filled prescription.

There are a lot of quality tidbits like this...

Flash has put together a nice article that shows how you can get coupons for grocery store products that you wouldn't normally think you could find coupons for such as beef or other meats with examples of some of the coupons she has on hand. The key is finding wine tag coupons which often have deals for products other than the product you're actually purchasing. Eye opening stuff if you aren't deeply into coupons.

Flash has put together a great list of acronyms and abbreviations that are often used by those who are couponing. If you have no idea what someone is talking about in relation to coupons, this is the page to go to in order to find out.

If you know of others that are used, please let us know so we can make it an even more comprehensive list.

Some more coupon and newsletter contacts courtesy of Flash - this time for Schwan Food which includes the following brands:

Asian Sensations, Edward’s Pies, Freshcetta, Larry’s Potatoes, Mrs. Smith's, Red Barron, Tony's

As mentioned before, these can be used to get coupons and special deals if you use these brands.

We have another set of contact links which you can use to get coupons - this time for Unilever. That includes the following brands:

All, Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Degree, Dove, Finesse, Good Humor, Best Foods, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Klondike, Knorr, Lawry's, Lever 2000, Lipton, Ponds, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Yips, Ragu, Shedd’s Country Crock, Skippys, Slim Fast, Snuggles, Suave, Thermasilk, Vaseline, Wishbone, Wisk

Flash wrote an entry in her blog a little while back on how she was able to get over $300 in groceries for $27, but didn't go into detail on how she was able to manage it. She sent me an article on the details that is now live at Grocery Coupon Guide:

$330 In Grocercies For $27

Flash and I are also starting up a little experiment. Since there aren't any coupons in Japan, they are something that my wife has never used. We're going to see how much a person who has never used coupons before can save and the steps that need to be taken to achieve those savings - basically a how to for anyone that knows absolutely nothing about coupons and saving money with them. it should be an interesting process.

Another list of contacts for brand named products that you may use from Flash, this time for Pinnacle Foods which include the following brands:

Armour Star, Aunt Jemima, Celeste, Duncan Hines, Lenders, Log Cabin, Mrs. Butterworths, Mrs. Pauls, Open Pit, Swanson, Vandecamps, Vlasic

Remember, these contacts are good for getting on the mailing list of these brands which will often get you coupons and other information that you might not normally have access too. Enjoy!

Thanks to Flash we have another set of coupon contact websites - this time for Reckitt Benckiser. This includes the contact for the following brands:

AirWick, Calgon, Easy-Off, Electrasol, Jet-Dry, Lysol, Lysol Ready Brush, Old English, Rod-X, Spray ‘n’ Wash, Veet, Woolite, Cattlemen’s Barbeque Sauce, Frank’s RedHot, French’s Foods

Flash (with the help of her husband) has put together an extremely informative article on stockpiling groceries that is well worth the read. It explains why it's difficult to achieve the huge savings you often hear about in the beginning when you start to stockpile with coupons and sales, but becomes easier as you build your stockpile (because once you have a stockpile, you can purchase only when the deals are the very best which is not necessarily the case as you're building your stockpile). For those interested in getting the greatest possible savings in their grocery shopping, this is a good place to begin.

Another list of contacts provided by Flash (for coupons, newsletters and special offers)is now live - this one for Rich Seapak Foods which includes the following brands:

SeaPak, Farm Rich, Casa DiBertacchi, Rich’s Eclairs, Byron’s Barbecue

Another set of contact websites for those looking to get on newsletters and receive coupons from their favorite brands - this time for SC Johnson courtesy of Flash:

Drano, Edge, Fantastik, FloorCare, Glade, Grab-It, Pledge, Off, Oust, Raid, Saran, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate, Windex, and Ziploc

Flash has put together another contact list for contacting companies about their brands and getting onto their newsletters. This time the list is for Sara Lee:

Ball Park Franks, Bryan, Earth Grains, Hillshire Farms, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, Senseo Coffee, Bali, Barely There, Champion, Playtex Bras, Wonderbra, Kiwi

Another set of contact websites - this time for Playtex products courtesy of Flash. The list of brands includes:

Wet Ones, Playtex Gloves, Banana Boat, Playtex Feminine Care, Playtex Infant Care

Flash has added a list of contacts for Pfizer over-the-counter products to the Grocery Coupon Guide site. The brand names include the following:

Actifed, Benadryl, Bengay, Caladryl, Corn Huskers, Cortizone, Desitin, Doxidan, Dramamine, e.p.t. Pregnancy Test, Efferdent, Effergrip, Emetrol, Fresh’n Brite, Gelusil, Hemorid, Kaopectate, Lavacol, Listerine, Listermint, Lubriderm, Luden’s, Micatin, Myadec, NasalCrom, Neosporin, Pacquin, PediaCare, Plax, Polysporin, Progaine, Proxacol, Purell, Rogaine, Rolaids, Sinutab, SudaCare, Sudafed, Tucks, Unicap, Unisom, Visine, Wart-Off, Zantac

If you grocery store doesn't accept Internet printable coupons, there still may be a way to get the savings. In some cases the printable coupon can be mailed to you through snail mail. The best part of this is that the snail mail coupon is printed on special paper that can be verified as authentic by the grocery store. You can lean more about this and how to check to see if you can get the coupons mailed to at the Grocery Coupon Guide's latest article, Internet Coupon By Mail

Another list of contact websites and emails for coupons this time for Pepsico courtesy of Flash. The brands include:

AMP, Aquafina, Lipton, Mirinda Orange, Mountain Dew, Mug Root Beer, Pepsi, Quaker Milk Chillers, Sierra Mist, SoBe, Gatorade, Propel Fitness Water, Tropicana, Quaker Oats, FritoLay (Baken-Ets, Baked! Cheetos, Chester’s, Cracker Jack, El Isleno, Doritios, Fritos, Funyuns, Gamesa, Go Snacks, Grandma’s, Lay’s, Lay’s Stax, Light, Munchies, Maui Chips, Munchos, Oh Boy! Oberto, O’Kelley’s, Rold Gold, Ruffles, Rustler’s, Sabritones, Santitas, Smartfood, SunChips, Tostitos)

Flash has put together another major manufacturer contact list for coupons this time for Novartis which includes the following brands:

Gerber, Novartis Nutrition, Boost, Boost & Benefiber, Denavir, Ex-Lax, Gas X, Lamisil AT, Maalox, Habitrol, Otrivin, Theraflu, Triaminic, Voltaren, 4-Way, Bufferin, Comtrex, Excedrin, Keri, Mineral Ice, No-Doz, Vagistat

We're missing some contacts on this page, so if you happen to know any of the missing website URLs, please email me so I can make the list more complete.

Here are a few more contact lists for manufacturers if you are seeking coupons. Of course, a big thanks goes out to Flash for getting the contacts together.

Nesltle

Purina

Nestle Waters

We have a new article up about the dos and don'ts about requesting coupons directly from manufacturers with some great common sense strategies that you might not have considered.

For example, "do not request the manufacturer to send coupons because your local stores will not accept internet printables" and "do not request the manufacturer to send coupons because you cannot print their coupons through an internet printable provider, such as SmartSource or Boodle"

Since coupons direct from the manufacturer are usually much more valuable than coupons you can find in your Sunday paper, following the rules will go a long way in helping you get the most from this source.

A couple of more coupon contact lists added to the Grocery Coupon Guide site:

Mars

Brands: Mars, 3 Musketeers, Combos, Cookies And, Dove Chocolate, Ethel M Chocolates, Kudos, M&Ms, Milky Way, Skittles, Snickers, Starburst, Twix, Uncle Ben’s, Flavia, Cesar, Pedigree, Sheba, Whiskas

I didn't know they made pet food...

McKee Foods

Brands: Little Debbie, Sunbelt Snacks, Heartland, Blinkz


Of course, big thanks goes out to Flash for all this information. We still have quite a few to go, but the list should be quite comprehensive once we've finished which should mean you can contact your favorite brands directly for coupons and promos.

Thanks to the hard work of Flash, we have six more contact lists for getting coupons from major manufacturers live:

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

Brands: ACT Fluoride, Acuvue, Aveeno, Balmex, Band-Aid, Benecol, Carefree Liners, Clean and Clear, Cortaid, Imodium, Johnsons Baby, Johnsons Buddies, K-Y, Lactaid, Monistat, Motrin IB, Mylanta, Mylicon, Neutrogena, OB Tampons, Pepcid AC, Purpose Skin Care, Reach Access, Reach Fresh and Clean, Rembrandt, Roc Skin Care, Shower to Shower, Splenda, Stayfree, St. Joseph’s Aspirin, Tylenol, Viactiv

SMUCKERS

Brands: After the Fall Juices, Crisco, Cross and Blackwell, Dickinson’s, Hungry Jack, Jif, Laura Scudders, Martha White, PET Evaporated Milk, Pillsbury Baking, Knudsen Juices, Santa Cruz Organic, Smucker’s

HORMEL

Brands: Always Tender, Carapelli, Chichi’s Salsa, Diamond Crystal, DiLusso Deli, Farmer John, Lloyd’s BBQ, Jennie-O Turkey, Spam, Stagg Chili, World of Foods

HEINZ

Brands: Bagel Bites, TGIF, Wylers, SmartOnes, Catelli, Classico, Farley’s, Greenseas, Jack Daniel’s Sauce, Lea and Perrins, Ore-Ida

KIMBERLY-CLARK

Brands: Block-It, Cottonelle, Depend, GoodNites, Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex, Poise, Pull-Ups, Scott, Neat Sheet, Viva

COCA-COLA

Brands: Barq's, Coke, Diet Coke, Dannon, Dasani, Evian, Fanta, Full Throttle, Hi-C, Minute Maid, Nestea, Odwalla, Powerade, Simply Orange, Sprite, Swerve, TaB Energy