One of the best ways to save money and to keep up with the latest sales, freebies and deals is to use the variety of tools available to you as a Moms Need To Know reader:

:: The Moms Need To Know toolbar

This is the quickest way to stay up to date on deals.  When you install the Moms Need To Know toolbar, you will get instant access to the latest posts, as well as quick and direct links to the store deals and printable coupons!  Every time you open your browser, you have all the latest info at your fingertips!

It’s quick, easy and FREE to install the Moms Need To Know toolbar and it is available for Firefox as well as Internet Explorer!

:: Daily Email Digest and/or RSS Feed

Each Day at about 4:00pm EST, Moms Need to Know automatically sends an email to my subscribers with all of the posts from the last 24 hours.  You can sign up for daily emails HERE.  Please note that you will need to confirm your email address in order to start receiving daily emails.  Your email address is PRIVATE and I have never shared my subscriber list with anyone, nor will I in the future.  If you are familiar with Reader programs, you can sign up via Reader.

:: The Moms Need To Know Facebook Page

Every post that I put on this site also goes to the Moms Need To Know Facebook Page…you can have the deals show up right in your Facebook Feed!  The Facebook Page is also a great place to ask questions of other MTNK Fans as well as find out about more “time sensitive/limited quantity deals”. Often there is a deal that I KNOW will be gone within an hour, so I post it to the Moms Need To Know Facebook page instead of to the site.

:: The Coupon Database

Each week when I do my grocery store matchups and drug store matchups, I list what I think are the BEST deals for the week.  But that does NOT mean that there are no other coupons for the items that week.  Or, maybe you just NEED to buy something one week that isn’t on sale, but you would like to see it there is a coupon available.  Make sure that you check out the Coupon Database for the latest coupons available

I am always trying to add new features to make your experience with Moms Need To Know more valuable and time-efficient.  If there is a way that I can help you, please let me know!

:: Join me as we continue on the series “Getting Started With Using Coupons!”

If you are just getting started with coupons, my Grocery Matchups and Drug Stores matchups are possibly discouraging to you.  I am listing coupons from several weeks ago (or even months ago!) and you may be wondering how you can expect to get the deals when you don’t have the coupons!

The answer?  You won’t be able to do some of the deals if you are just starting to use coupons.  But after a few weeks, you will!  As I said before…it takes time to both learn how to use coupons effectively as well as build your supply of coupons.

:: Where can you find the coupons?

Sunday Newspaper Inserts: this is the most obvious place.  Each week I purchase between one and eight papers, depending how good the coupons are going to be.  Make sure that you check out my every-Saturday-morning “Coupon Insert Preview” post, where I highlight what I think are the best coupons coming out and let you know how many copies of the paper I will be buying!  Don’t forget to check the Parade Magazine or USA Today Weekend (depending on your newspaper) for additional coupons!

Online coupons: I know that some of you still have problems with stores not accepting Internet Printable coupons, but the number of those stores are steadily decreasing.  In addition to the many coupons that can be found at Coupons.com, SmartSource, Redplum and Coupon Network, don’t forget to check out the websites for your favorite brands.  Many of them post coupons on their site!

Magazines:  my favorite magazine for coupons continues to be All You.  Each month there is approximately $40 worth of coupons which more than makes up for the cost of the issue.  All You is sold exclusively at Walmart stores or you can get a subscription.  Other magazines that consistently have good coupons are Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Weight Watchers Magazine, Woman’s Day and Family Circle.

By Mail:  many times when you sign up for a free sample, the sample comes with a nice high-value coupon.  If you need diapers, make sure that you register with Huggies and Pampers as they are great with sending coupons!

In Packages:  many companies will put a coupon for a future purchase right inside the packaging.  Razor companies and Glade (home fragrance) are notorious for this.  For boxed foods (cereal, frozen foods, etc), don’t forget to check the inside of the box for coupons!

In-store brochures, magazines and leaflets:  I am always looking for product recipe flyers in the grocery store because many times they also contain some nice coupons (as does the store magazine, if they have one).  At the drug stores, look for store magazines and coupon books.  About half of the time, the coupons you find in the drug store coupon books are store coupons that you can stack with a manufacturers coupon for even greater savings!

Blinkies:  many grocery stores have “Blinkie machines” placed near a new product that contain coupons.  These are called Blinkies because the machine typically has a small red blinking light on it.

Tearpads:  these are pads of coupons that are usually placed near a product.  In addition to finding them at the grocery and drug stores, you can often find them at convenience stores and gas stations and the coupons can typically be used at any store.

Peelies and hangtags:  you will occasionally get lucky and find a coupon for the item you want to buy right on the product itself!

Once you start getting more coupons, you will find that the deals at the Drug Stores and Grocery Stores are much easier to get!

Did I miss any sources of coupons?

:: Join me as we continue on the series “Getting Started With Using Coupons!”

If you have been watching the show Extreme Couponing, you may have seen the people on that show saving 90% to 99% on their grocery bill and you are ready to start doing that yourself NOW. Perhaps you found this site in the hopes of doing just that.

There is just one problem…the show Extreme Couponing is not reality. Most people have noticed that their shopping carts are not filled with “weekly shopping items”…unless you DO feed your family 50 bottles of mustard, 100 bottles of pain reliever and $300 in makeup each week. So let’s get past that whole “I’m going to save 95% each week” misconception right now, shall we? You WILL have shopping trips where you save 95% to 100%, but that is NOT the normal week (especially if you have any hopes of feeding your family semi-healthy foods).  You need to learn how to save money on the things that you buy each week to feed your family….not get 75 things that you will never use for free!

What can you expect as a person new to using coupons?  A gradual reduction in your grocery bill.

Yes – I said GRADUAL.

It takes time to collect the coupons. The coupons that I list in my weekly Grocery Store Matchups and Drug Store Matchups are often coupons that were in the Coupon Inserts 2 weeks, 4 weeks or even 2 months ago!

It takes time to learn how to do this.  There are 3 major drug stores to learn.  There is the policy at your local grocery stores to learn.  Once you start learning, it gets easier…it’s almost a “snowball effect”.  But you have to learn to crawl before you can walk.

How can you get started using coupons? Here is your first step:

Pick ONE store and get to know how their deals work.  I know it is boring…you want to start saving the maximum NOW.  But you will never master the art of couponing if you look for the “quick fix”.  I always recommend starting with the Drug Stores.  Start getting your toothpaste, body wash, hair care products and razors for free (or super-cheap).  Just a few free health & beauty items per week will start freeing up money in your budget. Once you master the drug stores, you can move on to mastering the grocery stores!

It’s not sexy…..it’s not going to get you on TV, but it’s practical!

:: Join me as we continue on the series “Getting Started With Using Coupons!”