I wrote not too long ago about how I never pay for the newspaper or coupons. When a quick stop at the recycling bin always reaps a stack of inserts like is shown above, it’s hard to justify, wouldn’t you say?
Plus, if I end up not having time to clip them all, I don’t have any guilt in just chucking them back into the recycling bin because I didn’t pay a penny for them!
(And yes, I really do throw out coupons sometimes. My mantra is, “Do what you can do, with what you’ve got, where you are.” Sometimes, that means I just have to let coupon-clipping go for a week or two or four, because much more important things need my attention — like my precious children!)
Where do you find these recycling bins?
Another option is to keep all of your expired coupons to send to army bases – They can use coupons in the commissary that are up to 6 months expired.
I don’t know if my comment will get lost in the shuffle, but I just wanted to comment for any other readers in the Orlando area. The Orlando Sentinel costs $1 at drug stores on Sundays and has all the coupon inserts in it. I used to work it into my drug store deals to get the paper free, but just this week I found that the spanish version of the Sentinel, called El Sentinel, is FREE, and includes all of the same coupon inserts. Even better, when I went to Bravo Supermarket (a spanish food chain), they had a stack of El Sentinel newspapers in the rack, but next to them was a stack of coupon inserts that were left behind by people who took the paper but weren’t interested in the inserts! I got the inserts from 6 newspapers, totally free. 🙂
@Lavonne, Just out of curiousity, were the coupons in Spanish? I live in South Dakota, we don’t have a lot of diversity.
@Emily,
No, the newspaper was in Spanish, but the inserts were exactly the same as the inserts in the Orlando Sentinel, and all in English. I noticed a little bit of a difference in the layout of the coupons. I did buy one Orlando Sentinel, and when I was clipping the Pantene coupon, I noticed that the advertisement was on top of the page with the coupons at the bottom, whereas with the El Sentinel, the advertisement was at the bottom with the coupons at the top of the page. Same advertisement, same coupons. And when I flipped through the rest of the insert, all of the coupons were there and the same values, just laid out differently on some of the pages.
Awesome! Im so going to check that out! Thanks for the tip!
I was shocked yesterday whenI found coupons in an older Sunday paper at the library yesterday. I felt like I scored jackpot!
FYI, you can always use RR’s at Walgreen’s and ECB’s at CVS to purchase Sunday papers.
BTW I linked this post to my blog:
http://frugalforyou.blogspot.com/2010/06/thrifty-tip-tuesday-get-free-coupon.html
Thanks for all your hard work!
I can not believe all the people that go to the recycling bins to get coupons. Is it not gross?? I just don’t know what to think about that!
You want to find one that’s clean. Otherwise, yes, it might be not something you’d want to frequent. 🙂
My Wal-Mart has coupon inserts for the asking Sunday mornings! I get them before heading to church. This Sunday, I took 3 of each: RR, SS & PG. So that’s a total of 9 FREE inserts! Otherwise if I have to buy, I use my ECBs and get them at CVS.
I have yet to find any accessible recycling bins in Warwick, RI. I’m pretty sure Waste Management just takes the whole kit and caboodle off to their facility in Johnston.
Usually, I try to plan ahead with the sales, so that I can cut down on my orders to clipping services. The handling fees are usually covered with the first few coupons I use, and are well worth it considering all the time it’d take me to clip and sort the coupons, IMHO. Also, there’s a clipping service based in RI, so I get coupons from them delivered the day after they’re shipped…great for last-minute stocking-up
Okay, Crystal…I just don’t understand, can you tell us what you mean? Do you walk around your block and go through other people’s recycle bins that are out on trash day, or is there something different in your town that I’m not getting…
We actually don’t have curbside recycling here. I go to a big bin that’s on public property and only has newspapers in it.
@Crystal, Mystery solved. Thanks. I’ll have to find out if there’s something equivalent to that near me, but we’re mainly curbside here.
There are always exceptions and I would just like to validate purchasing coupons for those who get worthless inserts. I can and do get between 20-30 copies of my local inserts through the methods mentioned above. But, my LOCAL inserts often have very few coupons and not the good ones the rest of the country seems to get. No $4 Nivea here, no rolaids, never Aqua fresh, never garnier fructis, no Target coupons (although we have multiple targets) the list goes on. My red plum this week had 20 pages but only 2-3 of coupons the rest ads. Yes, I could trade but who would trade for what I have?
Has anybody tried to get extra inserts from Craigslist or Freecycle?
Only meet people you don’t know in a public place.
Well I just signed up to actually *pay* for a regular Sunday paper today – I have no way to get the coupons otherwise, and I guess it’s worth the $1.50/week. I’m still fairly new to the couponing thing – the few times I’ve actually had the proper coupons to get something for free or more-than-free, the store was completely sold out of that item. Is that common, or does that just mean someone is heavily couponing in my area and buying 70 of something?
I always try to do the deals the day they come out. Sundays for CVS< Target, Wags. Weds for Publix. But if they run out, ask for a rain check. Then you won't need to worry about it until a couple weeks later when they'll be restocked and no hoarder is pouncing on all the goods.
My first year of CVS couponing was just as you described and I even thought of writing CVS a bad email. Yet, not one of the cashiers told me about rainchecks. I think I scared them, though.
Our libraries have coupon exchanges and you can also go there on Monday’s to look at Sunday’s inserts and take what you want. Or take in what you don’t want from what you have at home.
I decided to go check out a couple of the recycle bins at the nearby schools tonight. These are along the lines of the ones Mrs. G was referring to, more like big dumpsters. One did not have much in it so you would pretty much have to try to get in to be able to reach anything, not my cup of tea. The other two were pretty full so I could reach some of the stuff, but there were a lot of newspapers in there, and most of them were not Sunday papers so it was a lot of work to sift through. Maybe if done on a regular basis I could get quick at it, but I spent probably 15 minutes and ended up with two larger inserts (SmartSource & redplum), two small inserts (only about 4 pages) and a ValuMail. Not sure if it was worth the effort, but I might give it another shot at some point.
I was so thrilled this weekend to discover a Wendy’s that had 4 copies of the local paper, including the coupons! It was late in the evening & I was able to take all 4 copies! Will continue to search other ways of collecting! Thanks so much for all that you share with us!
In my town, only subscribers are guaranteed coupon inserts. Sometimes the papers at CVS or Walgreens have inserts but it can be hit-or-miss. And the boxes where you put the quarters in to get a paper – usually no coupons or sale inserts at all. 🙁
And, the Sunday paper is $2 – for me, it’s cheaper buying extras of just the coupons I want from a clipper.
@Sara, That is SO lame!! Not that you purchase the coupons, but that only the subscribers are guaranteed the inserts. Especially since the non subscriber will pay more per paper than the subscriber will. I remember two weeks ago being upset because I thought someone had taken the inserts out of the paper I bought, then I realized there were no inserts because it was Memorial Day Weekend. I felt pretty silly. 🙂
A customer at the bank I work at delivers newspapers, and she brings me the extra inserts from her undelivered Sunday papers every Monday! Sometimes I end up with 25 extra copies of each insert!!! It’s great!!
Kinda what I am thinking….I go to walgreens excited to get a box of tampons..maybe 2 or 3, only to find the shelves cleared out. Doing 75 transactions at walgreens in one week wouldn’t be worth the money I could make. It’s not fair for everyone else.
@Sarah, I made the rounds to 4 Walgreen’s, did 75 transactions in under an hour and made $148.00. I find it to be well worth my time and financially, a great help.
@Sarah, Agreed.
Sandy, Our lives are difficult too.
OH, don’t throw out the coupons you don’t use … send them to the military people overseas! They can even use expired coupons!
I’m lucky to have several sources of free coupons, so I don’t buy them either.
We have curb-side recycling every other week. Our newspapers have to be on top in a brown paper bag. If the inserts are sticking out of my neighbors’ bags, I take them. I don’t dig too hard. I have to admit that I feel a little weird digging through.
We have a free weekly paper that includes the Smart Source flyer.
And our local library has a coupon exchange table. I take whatever coupons I’m don’t use there. Plus, I take what I can use.
One employee at the cosmetics counter at our local Walgreens keeps all the extra inserts from the papers for customers in the store. She hits up distributors for coupons, too. If Walgreens has a great sale, I always check with her what coupons she has. She often has more than the flyers and knows the best deals.
I don’t think poking your hand inside the recycling bin and grabbing a couple of inserts say 4-6 every other week, will take away money from an organization or end up in jail.
I’ve heard that kind of paper from the inserts can’t get recycled in the first place anyway.
@gwen, You might not think so, but the recycling company or fundraising organization just might disagree with you 😉 That’s why you need to be careful to obtain permission. I have heard of people being reported for taking recyclables and then being tracked down by their license plate # and fined.
Oh, and yes, the entire newspaper is recyclable, including the glossy inserts.
My brother and I both have a paper route. I get to read half of the newspaper (it’s printed on Wednesday!) I also get to look at all the sale papers and coupons before Sunday arrives so I am ready. We also have 6 leftover papers, so I get all the extra inserts!
I’m not sure why our system is different, but here (in RI) we all have a recycling can ( like a trash bin) that we bring out to the road on Wednesdays (one for paper and one for plastic) and they come by in trucks and pick them up, so we don’t have to drop them off at bins.
@Nicole, We have the same thing here – no big green recycling bins – the trash company comes and picks up the recycling. Which is why I’d have to drive so far to get to the recycling center, and even then I’m not sure if I’d be allowed to search through anything with it being on company property.
I absolutely pay for coupon clipping services! I have made significant profits at WAGS and CVS because of utilizing 20-50 coupons during sales and then purchase other items I need to really cut back on the costs, helping me to save even more than ever. I did the Ecotrin sale last week at WAGS. I purchased 74 bottles total and made $148.00. The coupon clipping fee was less than $3 for 75 q’s. I was very fortunate in finding 32 6-packs of Charmin Ultra Soft/Ultra Strong for $1.39, all of which was paid for with the $2 RR I received from the Ecotrins I bought. Today I picked up 5 bottles of Tide, 7 cans of chicken broth, 4 Twix bars and 2 20-ounce bottles of soda and paid less than $2 in tax and the rest was RR’s. I still have plenty RR’s left for next weeks sale. Honestly, I am grateful for learning all I have, especially about coupon clipping services!
@Sandy, Just wondering HOW MANY Wags you had to go to in order to find SEVENTY FIVE BOTTLES of Ecotrin??? I found ONE.
@Christine Lauren Walker,
I have 4 WAGS within a 4 mile radius of my home. I purchased 39 at the first one I went to, although I could have purchased more but, I didn’t want to clean them out of product. I bought 12 at each of the next two WAGS and 11 at the last store. Each store had well over 60 bottles in stock. You should look at the risers for additional stock. I usually take my purchases from there first. It save the employees from having to restock the designated place for any item.
@Sandy,
Did you make a profit from them because you received register rewards? If so… does your WAGS print off a RR for multiple free after rewards items? Mine only does one per transaction.
@Chelsae,
I need to do separate transactions to receive RR for each product purchased.
@Sandy,
Wow, you are ambitious! I sure could use some of those! My Wags were sold out, and I am 32 with a rare genetic heart disease. I hope you will donate what you can’t use…we are certainly out there who need it.
Peace,
Betsy
@Sandy,
What on earth do you do with that many bottles of Ecotrin? And how do you spend that many register rewards within the next two weeks?
@Rebecca, I give the bottles I don’t need to those who do, many who are quite elderly and can not get out to Walgreen’s because of physical limitations. I give some to our pastor who takes them to those who are in need and are homebound. I keep some for my mom and myself for we both need to take one each day.
I can easily find things to spend the RR’s on. My now 90-year-old mother took a fall 4 years ago, has Alzheimer’s disease and was deemed no longer able to live alone. I choose to quit my job and become her 24-hour live-in caregiver rather than place her in a nursing home. My income is very limited. I work the RR program as a means of ascertaining the things I need. This week, I purchased 5 bottles of laundry soap at $5.99 each and I also bought chicken broth because I needed filler items, it is an item I use regularly, and it’s on sale for 50 cents. I spent $32 in RR (16 individual RR’s) and needed 11 fillers. 7 cans of broth, 4 candy bars and 2 sodas were the fillers and I had q’s to get the soda free. I spent $5.21 including tax for all.
I’m not the kind of person who would clear a shelf or abuse a system. I am doing what I need to do to provide for myself and my mother as well as attempting to walk in the ways of the Lord, helping others who are in need. I am grateful for all He provides. For those who feel I am excessive, did you ever think that maybe it is Divine Intervention that there are so many bottles available?
@Carol, This comment was really written by Sandy. I am using my friend Carol’s computer and forgot to change it from her name to mine. Sorry for the confusion. Have a great day.
@Sandy, Morning Sandy! I know you’re not used to the laptop. Good thing you get your computer back today 🙂
By the way, I think you’re amazing!
@Carol, My apologies, as I did not intend to offend. I was genuinely amazed and curious. I am relatively new to this coupon thing, and still have lots to learn. I had no idea they would even let you do that many transactions, and whenever I get more than $10 or so in RR, I am worried that I will not find enough items to purchase before they expire. That was amazement and incredulity in my tone, nothing negative! Keep up the good work of being a good steward of what God has provided you!
@Carol, and sorry Carol, that reply should have gone to Sandy, but I don’t know how to make that happen.
I have a crazy newspaper subscription deal…I get 5 copies of the Sunday paper and also 1 copy daily…and I only pay $50 for 6 months. It’s a great paper that carries all the inserts. I take the coupon inserts out then deliver Sunday papers to my neighbors to read :). I also hit the post offices on Tuesdays. Red Plum is in our weekly mail with the grocery ads. I just wait until after hours and can go through the recycle bins when nobody is there!
I am wondering the same thing.. Do you just look inside the big green dumpsters for papers and pull them out and grab inserts you find?
The key is to make sure taking recyclables is legal. The way it usually works is that once the recyclables are in the bin, they are the property of the recycling company. Taking recyclables without permission is stealing from the recycling company – and in some communities, you can get a big fine for doing it. So be careful and always make sure to get permission! 🙂
I was so excited about this week’s inserts in the paper. I had my husband buy one for me. Got it home and someone had actually stole the COUPONS out of it! I’m outraged to say the least!
@Angela, you should call the # for circulation and tell them what happened. I have called before and let them know that I only buy the paper for the coupons. They are always happy to either deliver another one or issue a credit. With a machine it may be more difficult, but I have stood there before to verify they were there before I let the door click closed.
@Angela, When we lived in Houston, I had that happen once. After that, I would always look through the paper to make sure all the inserts were there before I bought it. There were SEVERAL times I found newspapers missing inserts and was glad I checked before I bought them. I have never had that problem here in atlanta. I can’t imagine who would do that. That’s jut terrible!
My recycling center doesn’t allow anyone to dig through the dumpsters. 🙁
Love it Crystal! I have a Coupon Fairy over at The Frugal Find who blesses my readers with Sunday Coupon Insert giveaways, she is my resident Dumpster Diva! I think it’s such a good idea, why let all that MONEY get recycled? We all now it’s much more than coupons – it’s quite literally cash being recycled.
I just listed a giveaway for this week’s Sunday coupon inserts – 5 winners!
http://thefrugalfind.com/super-quick-giveaway-5-winners-%e2%80%93-66-sunday-coupon-inserts/
I remember that post and it is still fresh in my mind. The problem is..I have NO idea where I would find a place like that! lol
My husband is manager at a retail store–I just found out a few weeks ago that he has to take the company’s card and buy 13 Sun. papers every week to get copies of the competitor’s ads! So, I said, “What happens to all the coupons?” Come to find out, they were trashed, so now he brings them ALL home! Yeah!
@Christy, That’s too funny! All this time, you could have had those coupons!
The post about the older gentleman has me thinking… How would a person go about setting up there own recycling bin somewhere? Then I, you, whoever could take what they wanted and donate the rest to some group, or make some money on their own.
I’m actually trying to look for a bin with some coupons right now…I stopped by one close to the house today and all the papers were really old…I guess I’ll just have to keep looking.
Ok, I have to ask. The recycling center that I am picturing is a big green dumpster. Do you crawl in there and dig around to find the inserts? I can’t imagine how else to do this. That right there stops me from considering it.
I need a step-by-step tutorial on how exactly this is done. Maybe I’m not picturing the right kind of recycling center? LOL.
That’s great and maybe I should find out where I can get some too. May I make a suggestion though. PLEASE do not throw away coupons. I guarantee there is some one in your community that gathers coupons and sends them to military bases overseas. The thing is, most military families don’t make much money and alot of them are at poverty level and could really benefit from our coupons. Plus, overseas, coupons are good for 3 months past the experation date. There is a lady here in my town that does this. I send her all my coupons that I wont use, are or about to expire and she sends them to the military bases. Just an idea. I hope everyone will look into it.
Have a good day!
@Shannon W., I would be willing to mail expired coupons to the military, but I. Just. Don’t. Have. Time to clip them. I store mine by insert instead of clipping because I hate clipping useless (to me) coupons and it takes too much time. Do any of the expired programs for the military take them unclipped? I’ve asked this question more than once, and no one has been able to tell me.
@Chris,
I will have to leave that question unanswered as well. I just don’t know. I understand not having the time. I have 4 kids myself. I may have to look into this and come back with what I find, if anything.
@Shannon W.,
I am not finding a specific answer on this, but what I keep reading is it “will be easier for the bases receiving them to get them handed out.” and it is cheaper for you to mail them due to less paper being sent. So I don’t think they have to be clipped, it just makes it easier and faster due to the fact that they get so many in. I don’t know if maybe you can post on Craigslist or Freecycle that you are looking for someone who participates in the program. That way you can either meet with that person (no postage on your part) or send them to that person and they can handle the rest. That’s what I did. I found a lady on Freecycle. I just send mine to her when I get a bunch.
@Chris,
I mail my coupons to an actual military mom stationed overseas. So I’m assuming that she’d get them just the same if I sent her the entire insert. I don’t know how it would work if you sent it to an organization first…
@Chris, Check to see i there is an American legion near where you live.I belong to the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion and I cut coupons for them.We donate every 2 months.People drop off lots of their UNCUT coupons to us.
We have personal recycle bins in our area.It would be against the law to go their trash and I am not that desperate to ask every one if I can go their bins.
@Chris, http://springsbargains.com/coupons-for-troops/
@Chris, Operation Coupon Karma accepts unclipped coupons and full inserts. http://www.operationcouponkarma.blogspot.com/
The only non fundraising paper recycling we have in my town is the one at the city’s recycling center where it is illegal to take anything that is already there. Once it has been dropped off there, it becomes their property and I think even the ones at the schools here state the same thing. Might want to always check and make sure before taking anything out of any of them!
This is one of those things that sounds good in theory – but I would honestly rather pay $5 to $7 for the coupons I actually wanted and would put to good use than to spend the time driving somewhere to find a recycling bin and then the time spent digging through said recycling bins and/or trash cans.
I agree that it definitely would not be a good ROI for some people. However, since I go right by the recycling bin on my way to the store, it’s very worth the 5-10 minutes it takes to stop and pick up 7-15 inserts. 🙂
@Crystal, That makes sense. The nearest one to me is at least half an hour away. I would probably spend the same amount on coupons that I’d spend on gas.
I pay $1.84 a week for the Friday, Saturday & Sunday paper. My mom works at a nursing home and gets 13 inserts from Texas for me every Sunday! We haven’t yet stopped by the recycling place, I just don’t know what I would do with that many coupons.
We live in a large apartment complex and for several days after the inserts are delivered (they come in the mail here, to everyone) the trash cans near the mailboxes are FULL of ads with inserts! So if your inserts come in the mail, consider checking the trash cans at the post office or near mailboxes (if you get your mail from a central location) the next day, after everyone’s tossed their stack of ads! 🙂
All of the recycle bins local to me are called “Paper Gators” and they are fundraisers for churches, schools, etc.
I wouldn’t feel right taking paper from there.
I do ask friends to save them for me, though.
Yes, I only use (and recommend using!) non-fundraising ones — unless you have express permission to do otherwise.
Why do you toss coupons? Even if you can’t/won’t use them, you can always send them over to military families to use (they are able to use expired coupons on post). Alternatively, I put coupons that I won’t use in an envelope and intentionally leave the envelope in a busy shopping area i.e. Target or Walmart and hope someone will find it and make some use of it.
It’s the time factor. I can’t do it all, unfortunately, so I have to pick and choose what works for me in this season of my life. However, I do often pass on extra coupons to friends or let them look through my extras before they go to the recycling bin.
About those looking for recycle bins – check your phonebook for a local Environmental Center. They should be able to tell you where they are located. Also, if your city is responsible for the recycling program, call your City Hall.
Anyone know of recycling bins near Roswell, GA??? I haven’t been able to locate any.
@Kelli, Most schools have newspaper recycling bins in their parking lots or somewhere on their grounds. I take my newspapers to recycle there and leave with any inserts that I see. I live in your area, and there are tons of places you can find the newspaper bins. Some churches have them also.
@Leslie, Just be careful with the bins on church and school proerties.. those can be illegal to go through because they are on someone’s property and belong to them.
Bins by the side of the road are on public property and the district attorney’s office told me it was legal to go through those.
@Amy, Thanks for the heads up! I always clip from the inserts I remove and return them with the next batch of papers that I recycle. The amount of paper that I end up not returning to the bin is quite small. Now I will not do this anymore — but it seems like such a waste!
I started to check out the recycle bins lately & I’m hooked. Twice I’ve found $5 off $50 purchase coupons for Target. Who throws those away?? I’ll do my grocery shopping at Target if they’ll give me $5 for doing it!
like julie, there’s nothing like that around here either, that i know of. 🙁
Oh and I started grabbing Tropicana caps now that they have their juicy rewards program and a few weeks ago I found 2 wrappers from Huggies diapers on top and got the points from them!!!
I recycle every Monday… today I ended up with 18 P&Gs along with a TON of other inserts. I also have over 600 coke points
With my 18 P&G inserts, I already went to Walmart and CVS and got 18 free Pampers wipes and then went to Target and got free Olay Total Effects body wash and Free Gillette Fusion razors (clearanced to $2.49)
@Amy, I feel a little silly for asking, but what exactly are coke points?
@Alisa, on coke products there are codes that you enter on http://www.mycokerewards.com and with the points you get, you can claim rewards like coupons for free coke products or AMC movie tickets and more (I have gotten gift cards for walgreens, chilis and subway before too)
Codes on caps are worth 3 points, 12 pack codes are worth 10 points, 24 pack codes are worth 20 points and flats codes are worth 25.
You can only enter 120 points a week but I have an account for my house and one for my moms.
@Amy,
Where do you go to recycle? That sounds like an awesome idea
@Kim, I live in Orlando and I just drive around to different neighborhoods around me.
I went out again today and got 97 more coke points and 4 more P&Gs along with some other inserts (I was mainly looking for more P&Gs for the Pampers wipes coupons)
Where are newspaper recycling bins generally located? I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look.
I use to do dig through the recycle bin near the entrance off and on, but always felt somewhat uncomfortable, and even moreso when it was people I really knew. I finally quit for 2 reasons, one for the uncomfortableness of it and two, I get free Sunday paper when I fill up at the gas station. We fill both vehicles and get 2 free papers and daughter will fill hers up on Sunday and we get 1 more there. Most always I have 3 Sunday paper inserts free. Does anyone else feel uncomfortable about digging through the recycle bin while onlookers stare as they walk by?
@Michelle, In my area there aren’t any accessible public bins. Everyone has their own recycling cart, which is a huge rolling trash can with flip-top lid. There is NO WAY I would dig through people’s cans since
1. people would definitely stare
2. it is a mix of all recycleable materials- butter tubs, beer cans, yuck!
I’m starting to wish I had access to one of those recycle bins. Nothing around where I live.
I hear you Julie. We don’t even have a recycling program where I live!
You are lucky! Most of my neighbors don’t subscribe to the Sunday paper. But I do get my parents’ inserts and my grandparents’, and yes I repay them in lots of freebies of their favorite things.
Since I’m a stay-at-home mom, my husband stops by the recycling bins near his work and brings home the inserts. It’s a real blessing not to have to pay for a paper just to get one set of inserts. Thanks for the great ideas!
I get mine through recycling as well! I do buy 3 papers a week just in case I can’t find the coupons. But since I’ve started looking for coupons at the recycling center, I’ve also started to look for box tops, my coke points and other reward programs. It’s been great!
I don’t pay for coupons either, since my aunt owns a gas station and gives me all of the leftover inserts! (Though, as a token, I bring her a bag of freebies.) Here is my post about it – maybe others could contact local businesses about their leftovers?
http://cheapomcfrugalpants.blogspot.com/2010/04/thrifty-thursday-coupon-mother-load.html
@Toni, i live in a small town with a huge paper recycling bin, so, i went and talked to someone i knew at the gas station and got connected with the paper lady…now i score at least 10 inserts per week…..i am thinkin she stocks the whole town, and gives me all the leftovers!!!! huge score….good idea about givin the bag of freebies!
I have finally found a newspaper recyling bin that is actually accessible and not locked away….. It was like a couponers Christmas when I did! However, I went a step further and contacted the person who owned the recycling bin. To my surprise, it wasn’t a big recycling company, it was an older gentlemen who is dependent on the recycled newspapers for income. The thought of taking away from his income was not something I could swallow, so I now collect as much newspaper as I can throughout the week and “deposit” a ton more newspaper than I take out. After speaking with him he was happy to let me have the coupons, as long as I put in at least as much as I take out. This might be something all dumpster-divers should consider… and it works as a win-win for all involved!
@Whitney @ Coupon Wonder Mom, That’s a great idea. It’s so nice to see someone is thoughtful of others’ needs!! The only recycling dumpsters I’ve found around here belong to schools and I certainly don’t want to take from their income.
Oh, I SO WISH we had one closer. At our local Dollar Tree, they had recycle box and I would browse through there, but they just got rid of it. Now I do not have any within a 30 minutes radius…..:(, but I will cheer for you with your trash to treasure finds. 🙂