Frugal Facts: A Review of Printable Online Grocery Sites, Volume 3

This article is a resource piece to show you where/how to find printable online coupons for saving money while shopping for groceries, as well as pros and cons for each particular site. This article does not speak to the pros and cons of using coupons for grocery shopping overall.

You'll find printable coupons from a number of sources: Grocery stores, Department Stores, General sites and manufacturer sites. This article will review those general sites that are not related to specific stores.

SmartSource, www.SmartSource.com. The home page includes printable coupons, 69 today. As with other good sites, you can add your zip code to get local deals. Sign up and you'll receive a newsletter and alerts when new coupons become available. SmartSource bills itself as the best Website for printable grocery coupons. Whether or not that's true is debatable. It features plenty of online coupons for name brand items, but it's limited in that there are no other features beyond of the printable coupons.

The CouponClippers.http://www.thecouponclippers.com/. According to the site's home page, CouponClippers describes itself as "the nation's largest online Grocery Coupon clipping service, offering more than a million national-brand coupons at any given time in our warehouse and shipping center." The site is run by a minister's wife, Rachael Woodard, who started the home business to add income for herself, husband and four children, two of whom she homeschools. "We are a full-service coupon clipping service, providing manufacturer's coupons and rebate forms for a small handling fee," she explains.

As you may gather from the above, this site is more personal than many other online coupon clipping sites. She includes photos of her business on the site, so you can see women cutting, sorting and compiling the coupons you'll be buying.

While you will pay for these coupons, you'll get a better selection than what you'll find on most sites. Basically, like most sites that charge, Woodard adds a handling fee to each coupon that translates to a maximum of about 10 percent of the coupon's value. In addition, she charges a flat 50 cents per order as an administration fee. What makes this business a bit difference is that she then throws in an extra coupon to make up for the fee.

FreeGroceryCoupons.com,http://www.freegrocerycouponsonline.net/ . If you've researched online, printable grocery coupons, this site may seem familiar to you. In my research over the last three articles dedicated to reviews of sites offering grocery coupons, I've found many similarities. Even though this site goes by the name FreeGroceryCoupons, if you use the link, it will immediately forward to a different site. It would appear there is one main source that several people have signed on to use, almost like an affiliate.

Regardless of who is selling it, it's a good mix of offers with name brands: All, Nabisco and Tropicana, to name a few. According to the site, when I logged in there were 160 coupons available for printing.

Don't let the opening page of this site deter you. It's a simple box asking which sorts of items you would be interested in. Given the number of computer viruses circling the Internet and your home computer, you might be reluctant to make the simple check marks and press submit. But this is secure. There's no trick. It's just a poor design that will put off more than it will attract.

This site has several categories of sales related to saving money while shopping. There's a shopping card you can sign up for, local coupons and coupon codes. As with other sites that offer coupon codes, I found no explanation of how the program runs. If you click on the link for coupon codes, you are taken to a list of companies including WalMart and Old Navy. Click on the name of the store, and you'll go to the store's online site. I'm presuming your code relates to getting a savings online from accessing it from this site. No official explanation is given.

Ultimately, the site provides a solid list of printable manufacturer coupons on products most people can use. That's the main selling point.

GroceryCouponNetwork.com, www.grocerycouponnetwork.com. According to the site's home page: "Our goal is to provide a reliable source for grocery store coupons, printable coupons, discounts, and special offers to save you money. You can get your coupons in three easy steps. Simply browse through the latest coupons, clip the ones you want, and use the coupon printer to take advantage."

The site is fairly self explanatory. The home page is like the one at FreeGroceryCoupons, with the same coupons listed on the page, with few, if any, differences. The differences it has on the home page (not in the coupons offered) is what makes this a step above FreeGroceryCoupons. GroceryCouponNetwork is much easier to navigate, and the site steers clear of the amibuous coupon codes links.

Rather, GroceryCouponNetwork adds information in place of another link. A huge library of recipes works well with the coupon offerings. A freebies section is a good bonus. The site is well organized and straightforward. You can spend you time picking out coupons instead of reading fine print. This program even has a Facebook page which you can become a fan of.

CouponSurfer.com, www.couponsurfer.com. According to the home page: "Our mission at CouponSurfer.com is to save you money when you shop by offering top brand-name deals and coupons as a free service for you. We offer hundreds of money-saving coupons for groceries, clothing, gifts, shopping, toys, travel, and lots more."

These coupons are free and available as 1)printable or 2)online coupons. Printable coupons functions much like they sound. You choose a product from the Web site, then print it and use it at your local grocery store or fast food place, depending on the coupon. The online coupon is used at an online store. It's a very self-explanatory system that's easy to navigate. Get in, do your business, save some money, then get out and enjoy your life. It's exactly how an online grocery coupon site should operate. No fuss, no muss.

The key to choosing an online printable grocery coupon site that fits your needs. It should be easy to navigate, offer a good mixture of name brand coupons for items you'll use, and it shouldn't contain a lot of fine print. There's no need for fine print. If you see it, you'll have to keep your guard up to avoid getting signed up for things you don't want.