Click and save with online coupons

Vanessa Richardson
Updated

I've been looking for the back-to-school deals, and I've found plenty on Web sites offering online coupons. As retailers worry that kids and their parents won't be buying as many pencils, binders and electronics, more of them are offering special deals online at coupon-focused sites. Here's a sampler of some sites I found good deals on:

  • Savings.com: Lots of big-name retailers here, like Macy's, Target, Old Navy and Apple. Check out their special "Back to School" section, although instead of giving you a coupon code, you're usually sent to a special Web site with the retailer's specials and discounted goods. Two good ones: The Apple store is offering up to $200 off a new Mac computer for college-bound students, and REI is taking 20 percent off certain backpacks.

  • CouponWinner.com: It also has name-brand retailers like Home Depot, Target and Toys R Us. Deals right now: AT&T is taking $50 off and free shipping for new cell phones. I like the way they categorize their deals -- you can search by new coupons, most-used coupons, and coupons expiring in the next seven days.

  • RetailMeNot.com: I liked how they found printable coupons for local stores in your zip code. Looking for deals on pizza for dinner tonight, I found that Pizza Hut was offering three medium pizzas with one topping at $5 apiece. But RetailMeNot needs to do a better job keeping their coupons up to date -- I saw many coupons that had expired days, weeks and even months ago.

  • FreeCoupons.com: Check out this site's Editor's Blog, which does a good job reporting the latest deals. RIght now, it's touting deals at Target and giving a link to the retailer's printable coupons.

  • Speaking of blogs, some good ones that find good coupon deals around the Internet for parents and their kids are Mommy's Wish List (read its recent posting about tax-free shopping weekends in various states, which can save back-to-schoolers a good deal of money) and Coupon Cravings.

  • Twitter is also a good deal-scouting tool: Savings.com recently made a list of 30 deal hunters to follow for their regular tweets on coupon savings.


I'm new to online coupon-cutting but I'm finding some good everyday deals worth the price of printer ink needed to print them out. Not all online-coupon Web sites have great deals or good reps, so it's wise to rely on those that have live people to contact if you're having trouble using their coupons, and those that don't charge membership fees. For more tips, read this MarketWatch.com article by Jonathan Burton.,

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