Happy Friday: Request FREE Coupons for Your Favorite Brands
Sent from reader, Karen:
Hi Collin! Thank you for all you do! Like most of us, I try to stay within a pretty strict budget, and one of the hardest areas to budget for in my home are those never ending variable expenses. Like how for some strange reason everyone expects to be fed, and every single day no less!
With the continuous price hikes in groceries, pet food, household items, and cleaning supplies, it’s a part of the budget that can quickly spiral into dizzying amounts. We all know the old standbys of cooking more from scratch, making your own cleaning supplies, etc but sometimes the time to do so isn’t readily available or you want to cut it back further. So you turn to coupons!
“They don’t release coupons for the brand I like.” “The coupons don’t line up with the sales so it’s just cheaper to buy store brand.” “I can never find coupons for produce or meat.” “Why won’t this dang coupon print?”…and so on. I’m an avid coupon user (binders and all!) and I still found myself becoming frustrated that few were ones I actually wanted, or were for such small values ($0.25 off a $20 item, really?) that it barely seemed worth it.
So what coupons did I want? I wanted coupons for my dog’s food, higher value coupons for laundry detergent and toilet paper, coupons for my husband’s favorite iced tea, coupons for produce, coupons for fast dinners on crazy nights, etc etc. And then I simply asked.
I emailed every brand of Greek yogurt I liked and told them so. I emailed the pet food company and told them how my dog thrived on it. I emailed companies about dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, oranges, snacks, motor oil, and everything else I found myself using day to day and gave my honest feedback and requested to be placed on their mailing list. And oh boy, did they respond.
This photo represents what I received in just a 2-week span, and doesn’t show some actual products that I was also sent. Multiple free product coupons, higher value coupons than are generally available to print or in the paper, coupons for other items the company produces, and even a couple checks and one visa gift card.
So if you find yourself sitting down with a cup of coffee and a few minutes to kill… let that coffee brand know you like it! Or if you’re doing the dishes before bed and see you’re running low on dish soap… fire off a quick email before turning in, and let those savings start rolling in!
HAPPY FRIDAY!
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Thanks for the great tip. When I get some down time, I will definitely do that. I totally agree with trying to stick to a budget and seems like we have had a number of unexpected expenses lately. This will totally help!
This is awesome!! Thanks for the reminder that companies do want to hear from you and will respond.
Thanks Karen! I gave up coupon use when I went back to teaching. But if I can direct the coupons I use to the products I always use, it makes good sense and will be so much more doable!
I am grabbing my computer early tomorrow morning for an emailfest! Thank You!
That is awesome! Way to be proactive
Wow! A bunch of free ones! That’s so cool!
Never thought to do that! Awesome tip
That’s great! There are so many free item coupons in that pile, it’s totally worth it to take a few minutes to send some emails!
I’ve done this before and it does work! Many companies keep addresses on file I think for like 6 months, so don’t email the same company twice. If you look up ‘companies to email for coupons’ a lot of blogs share the companies that actually send coupons!
I did the same thing years ago. Keeping a notebook of every company that was contacted & the date. Then,
3-6 months ago, started emailing them again. Its amazing what coupons come your way just when you
need them!
I’ve done that too in the past and received coupons. I think the companies appreciate honest feedback. I even told a manufacturer when their product didn’t taste quite right (it was a yogurt that we ate) and they thanked me and sent me coupons for free yogurt to replace them. It’s nice to know they appreciate consumers opinion.
you must write a killer email…I’ve done this before and got either no response or coupons worth the same amount as the printable ones. Well done.
Same here. I did this 2 years ago. It takes a while to write the feedback (I tried to tailor it to whatever product I was writing about and I was very honest). I received a response from everyone. However, the response was ‘Thanks for your feedback” 95% of the time. Out of the 30 companies I emailed, I received coupons for about 3 of them. And the coupons weren’t spectacular either (no free or high value coupons like I see above). I even wrote to Dr. Pepper which my family single handily keeps in business due to our Dr. Pepper addiction and received a thanks. It looks like this writer managed to get a coupon from them. I was discouraged because it takes so much time and I didn’t feel my reward was worth the time spend so I never did it again. Just wanted to give another perspective because someone posted a similar post(on another blog perhaps) which is what motivated me to contact the companies. They claimed great rewards and I feel I was deceived.
When I was a kid, my friend and I hand wrote companies whos products we loved. We found the address on the back of the packaging. You wouldn’t believe the coupons and freebies we got back, just by letting them know how much we liked their products! This was 20 years ago. I had actually forgotten that we did that until I read this post… Great memories!😊
Love that!!! 😊
That’s SO funny, I did that as a child too! I especially remember all the sticker companies that sent me FREE stickers! As a teacher you just gave me a reminder/idea…great letter writing practice for kiddos! Think I may have my own 2 daughters try it out!
Any suggestions on ticket companies to email?
Wow! I tried this twice (different companies a year apart) and only ever got coupons from Smuckers and Unilever. Everyone else just said thanks and check their social media sites for offers and promotions. 😔
Same experience. I’m curious as to whom she emails and the content. I’m always thanked for my email and directed to their social media site for promotions, or they’ll say their products are at a price where they don’t offer coupons. She got some awesome coupons and I’ll give it another try!
Same experience here. I wrote to several companies couple of years ago and for the most part I didn’t hear back or they just told me to be on the look out for future coupons in the paper or on social media 🙁
That’s awesome! You can do this with stickers too! You know the big stickers you get at the doctor’s/dentist’s office? They have an address on back. If you write for a free sample they will send you some (sometimes it’s just a few, sometimes it a lot!).
-Jessica
http://www.wearitforless.com
OT but..sitting here with hubby and daughter discussing the correct way to eat a Hershey’s Kiss:) I say bite off the tip, throw in mouth and suck. So..what is the correct way to eat a Kiss?
Lol don’t know if there’s a correct way but I like to let mine melt in my mouth too. But I chew the almond ones
Oh yes, def chew the almond ones. After biting off the top first though, of course. hehe
That’s the way I eat them too, Beth!
We eat them the correct way. lol
I try to suck on it..melt it in my mouth..but got no willpower!! I like two at a time..one in each cheek. Oink!
Lol That’s so funny! In our defense, they are small..hehe
Wow this is amazing! Do you actually ask them for coupons or free products? or just tell them how much you love there products and hope they send you something? Do you include your home address in your email as well?
I’m wondering the same thing.
Incase anyone is wondering I have emailed a ton of coupons in the past!! ! And this is the guideline I go by when I email!
“Thank you for your excellent products.” Then I give examples of which product(s) I use and why they are superior. I even tell a little story if I have one. I try to be truthful and base it on things we actually use or have actually liked.
“Just writing to express our loyalty. Also, if you offer any coupons/ samples/ promotions by mail, we would surely appreciate and use each one.”
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely ,
John smith
Ps… (Kings Hawaiian almost always send free samples! )
This so reminds me of a couple of months ago when my 15 year old son was upset because he had cooked a pizza that was supposed to be rising crust but the crust did not rise and made a huge mess in the oven so he called the company customer care number to tell them what happened and explained he ate their pizza all the time and loved it but was upset because the pizza did not cook right and he had to clean the mess it made in my oven,lol. Couple weeks later he received a check for triple the amount I paid for that pizza! He was so excited and proud of himself. I was very impressed also.
My mother has always taught me the power of saying thank you. She, for the longest time, has written thank yous (snail mail) to companies whose products she loved – just because they probably hear lots of complaints and not enough positive feedback. She never expected anything back but every now and then a company sends a coupon, or free products, and she even once received an autographed book – all very cool. There’s power in kindness! 🙂
And she got a $10 Amazon gift card for taking the time to share her tip with us! Way to go, Karen!!
I signed-up for the Sam’s Club promotion where you got a membership for $45 plus a $20 gift card and several food items. I had a problem getting the food items loaded to my Sam’s card and called the 800 number. The CSR was very nice but she couldn’t help. A few days later, I got a $50 Sam’s gift certificate in my email with a note saying they were sorry they couldn’t solve the problem for me. That kind of thing does leave you very impressed with a company.
Vita fusion sent me a full refund check when I shared my experience about my gummy vitamins sticking together to a point they won’t come out of the bottle.
Pillsbury sent me several great coupons when I shared that a can of crescent rolls exploded
Having the lot numbers is important.
oh my gosh, good to know!! I have this exact issue with some of their vitamins right now! They are totally gummed together.
I have written companies about their products and gotten coupons in response. I think it helps to be very specific so you don’t sound like a form letter grubbing for coupons. I wrote method years ago about a bottle of laundry detergent that tipped over in my car and spilled even with the lid on. They sent me a coupon for a replacement. Companies do want honest feedback from consumers.
For Baby: I’ve received from Happyfamily(free item q+), Plum Organics(free item q+), Aquaphor(actual samples, q+), Beechnut(q), Eucerin(q), Ellas(q). Happy couponing 😉
Collin, I LOVE the “Happy Friday” posts are so fun! After a long day fighting a toddler, teenager, crazy Friday traffic and winter weather, it so refreshing to read the Happy Friday posts! They always make me smile, and for that, thank you! Thank everyone who share those little moments with us:)
Why is Friday traffic so bad after all? LOL
This is awesome! Thank you so much. 🙂
Wow that’s so cool! We recently found a worm in some Costco frozen fish and I’ve been thinking about if it would be worth it to write to the company. I didn’t take a pic but I wish I did! Thanks will be writing an email soon!
Ewwwww! Noooooo!
Definitely let the company know! I found a bug in a can of soup and wrote to the company. They sent me 4 free product coupons!
How cool is that! Thank you for sharing!!
Great tip and a wonderful post! Happy couponing all.
Last time I had some busted vites and I email the company but they they replied back
I e-mailed Beach-Nut a few months ago and they sent me coupons. No free items. I just tried a few companies like Charmin and will see if they mail anything back. But for the moms out there Similac and Enfamil have their rewards programs where you sing up with your due date and they send you an initial formula sample and monthly coupons ( usually I get about 2 to 3 from each one worth 5 dollars a coupon) it adds up. Similac also has it so that you receive a $16 dollar coupon when you use a certain amount of coupons.
I done this a few weeks ago, emailed all the coupons that we use and enjoy on a regular basis. Most of the coupons responded with an email letting me know they are sending samples and/or coupons. Crayola was very quick to respond , they sent an email thanking me for the kind words and sent 3 coloring books and 3 packs of crayons. Ive received several coupons, 1 came today being $1/1 campbells product!