Smart Spending: Want Great Coupons? Try Flattery!

How many times have you wished there were more great coupons available for your favorite grocery and drug store brands? Week after week, you thumb through the coupon inserts in your Sunday paper wondering if you will find the elusive coupons for the products you love. Unfortunately, week after week you only cut out a few coupons. Lament no more. There is an easy and FREE way to find coupons for the products your family loves - flattery. Whoever said that “flattery will get you nowhere”, clearly did not have e-mail!

Since September, I have been sending e-mails and making toll-free phone calls to manufacturers who make the products we like. The e-mail I send is nearly the same for each company. First, I let them know how much our family likes their product. Then I mention that I am a stay at home mom who needs to stick to a budget. Next, I politely ask if they have any coupons available. Finally, I thank them again for such a great product.

Here are the results of my little coupon request experiment:

E-mails and phone contacts made: 74

Companies that sent coupons: 51

Companies who refused: 20

Companies that have not responded yet: 3

Face value amount of coupons sent: $200.30

I average three contacts per week, mostly made via e-mail once the kids have gone to sleep at night. To date, I have received coupons worth $200 for products we use all the time. Even better, in three grocery chains in my area, and in many stores throughout the country, they double coupons. If a company sent me a coupon for 50 cents off one product, that coupon will be doubled to $1.00 at Harris Teeter, Lowe’s Foods and Kroger stores in my area. My family loves Green Giant frozen sugar snap peas. So I e-mailed Green Giant and they sent four coupons for 50 cents off any frozen or canned Green Giant products. I waited for the frozen sugar snap peas, which we love, to go on sale for $1.00 each. Using the 50 cent coupons, I was able to buy four boxes of FREE vegetables once the coupons were doubled.

That $200 worth of coupons was actually worth more than $300 once the stores doubled the coupons that could be doubled. Another surprising result of this experiment was that many companies sent coupons for FREE items including free yogurt (Dannon), cereal (Kashi), canned tuna (Starkist), jelly (Smuckers), paper plates (Zoo Pals), and tissues (Scotties). Dannon even sent stickers and magnets for the kids and a t-shirt for me! Wasn’t that nice?!

Your homework for this week (and every week if you want a reason to look forward to going to the mailbox):

*Look through your pantry, fridge and freezer.

*Choose three products your family likes and look on the package to find the website addresses of those companies. You can also do a Google search to find the website addresses.

*Once on a company website, click on Contact.

*E-mail (or call) the companies using the format below.

Sample letter:
“Hello, I am writing to let you know how much our family loves the boxed Green Giant Sugar Snap Peas! Even my 5 year old, who is very picky, eats them all up and asks for more. If you happen to have any coupons available for the sugar snap peas, I would really appreciate it. We are a one-income family, on a budget, and I use coupons whenever I can. Again, thank you for offering a healthy product that my picky 5 & 7 year olds love! Best Regards, Your Name.”

That wasn’t so hard, was it? For just a few minutes a week, you can offer valuable feedback to companies and fill your mailbox with coupons for products you know your family likes. Now wait patiently for your coupons, use them with good sales and enjoy your great deals. Remember, it’s your money – spend it wisely!