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SOTD readers already know that I have turned into a crazy-coupon-lady-in-training in my recent years, which all stems back to years of our family’s coupon usage growing up (THANKS MOM)! Once we knew we were expecting, I started to come across a lot of opportunities for coupons and free samples of baby items and thought this post might help others looking for the same experience.
NOTE: I can’t promise that you too will receive any or all of the samples and deals listed here, as many programs and offers change from time to time. I’m just relaying what my experiences were. Best of luck!
FREE SAMPLES BY MAIL:
- Enfamil: Visit their website and sign up for their Enfamil Family Beginnings program. A month and a half prior to my baby girl’s arrival, I received a box containing a canister of newborn formula, as well as, two $5 checks for future purchases and another coupon for a new arrival’s package to be received at my hospital. (Note: my hospital didn’t give out formula samples but they had a number you could call on the coupon. I did and they mailed me the package)
- Similac: Visit their website and sign up for the StrongMoms program. About a week after I got my Enfamil package, I received one from Simliac. It contained the items seen above: 2 canisters of formula, a four pack of supplementing formula in mini bottles, four $5 checks for future purchases, a coupon for a new arrival’s package to receive at the hospital, a coupon for a pregnancy photo book from Shutterfly, and a bunch of other coupons for supplies including one for Babies R Us. **NOTE: While I had a good breastfeeding experience with my daughter for over 18 months, I happily donated any samples received to family memories that put them to good use with their growing children. Please donate any samples you receive which you do not personally use!
- Avent: When I went in to create my baby registry at one of the baby stores, I received a flyer inside my goodie bag for a free Avent 4 oz bottle by mail. A few weeks later, it arrived! I also received a free bottle when I made a purchase at Motherhood Maternity in the mall which came right in my goodie bag at checkout.
FREE SAMPLES IN PERSON:
- Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby: Always create your baby registries in person so you can get the goodie bag! (You can always edit and add more online at home!) Inside you’ll find lots of coupons for products in their store along with small samples of products or things you can submit to via an online form. This was where I received a small sample of the Mama Mio Tummy Rub Stretch Mark Butter that I used throughout my pregnancy (I did NOT like the smell of cocoa butter) which I would’ve never discovered without the sample package.
COUPONS:
- Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby: Both stores will provide you coupons if you register with them. And since Buy Buy Baby is owned by the same company as Bed Bath and Beyond, they also take non expired BBB coupons! A few weeks before you’re due, they both sent me registry completion coupons and notices on events which ranged from 10-20% off the remaining things on my registry. Don’t buy any big items there without a coupon, but you can certainly hold out to purchase all those little priced items with the completion coupon.
- Printable coupons for baby items can be found on Coupons.com, Red Plum, and Smart Source. You can print each coupon once per COMPUTER. Check in the beginning and end of the month, as many times the coupons reset so you can print again!
- Huggies: Somewhere along the way I signed up with one of the Huggies programs and actually received coupons from them in the mail. I am a rewards program member so maybe it was from there? Anyway, check out their website and see where you can sign up to receive coupon offers.
- Gerber: I also had signed up for the Gerber Generation and received a packet in the mail the beginning of my birth month. It didn’t contain any formula samples like the other companies had sent but instead sent two checks for formula plus another coupon for a special package at my hospital.
HELPFUL BLOGS/BLOG POSTS:
- Southern Savers: Stocking Up on Diapers: We’ve all seen the extreme coupon shows where people have a whole warehouse of products in their homes from years of crazy couponing. Well I’m not THAT bad (YET) but I did take advantage of the information on this post and learned about diaper stockpiling. As a FTM (first time mom), I didn’t know what prices were considered good for a package of diapers or wipes. Turns out, it’s not about the per package cost, but the per diaper price! Check out this blog post and read up about the best prices you should pay per diaper and bookmark that calculator widget on the front of your phone! Tip: many BTDT (been there done that aka not first time moms) will also warn you that some brands will work better than others with your little one, such to fit or sensitivity. Keep an envelope with all the receipts for your baby stockpile together in case you need to exchange for a different size or return the item all together. The image above is just one side of her closet with my stockpile but there’s more on the right!
- Totally Target: Another great blog all about deals at, where else, Target! Of course the majority of the offers listed are not baby related but they do list a “baby” section on each of their weekly flyer updates. They also let you know if there are any new printable coupon offers out there in cyberspace, including baby items!
- I Heart CVS: I don’t really follow along with the day to day posts on this blog, but did find the bookmarked “weekly deals” (aka upcoming flyers) section really helpful for planning. If you have a CVS near you, sign up for their CVS Extra Care program and start learning how it works. In their flyer, they will list the deals that get you “extra care bucks” (or ecb in crazy coupon talk) which is essentially money towards your next purchase. These expire 4 weeks from the date printed so you can use that “weekly deals” section to really plan out how to best use your ecb with your coupon combos for months ahead. These are great offers as (at the time of this posting) CVS allows you to hit your target $ spent prior to coupons but still gives you money back. It also allows you to “make money” on some of your purchases if you work them well with the coupons in your stash.Example from one of my great shopping trips at CVS:
- Update: I’m adding this little update as a mom of a now 18 month old and soon to be mom of two. My Unsolicited Disposible Diaper Advice post includes more tips on stockpiling and ways to save money when it comes to diapers!
COUPON APPS:
- There are quite a few coupon apps out there but my favorite is Ibotta. With the Ibotta app, you unlock rebates (by doing things like watching a 20 second video or learning a fact), shop at your regular online or in store retailer and then submit your receipt to redeem the rebate. Once you hit a certain threshold, you can cash out for money to your paypal account or for giftcards! Not only do they have some great products in the app (which have included baby items like Huggies diapers, Simliac formula or Munchkin bottles in the past) but they also include “any brand” offers which doesn’t restrict you to a specific brand. Each week I submit rebates for many of these any brand items my family already consumes like bananas, bread, milk, eggs, cheese and the total is adding up! Join my Ibotta team so we can get to special bonuses faster!
TIPS:
- Don’t run out and use your coupons right away. If you get the Sunday paper, for instance, don’t feel obligated to go out and use your coupon right away if you think it’s a good one. Usually the best deals come within 1-3 weeks after the coupon comes out so hang onto it if something isn’t on sale, just to see. You’ll learn this more by following the crazy coupon blog posts.
- There are still opportunities to save money, even with only buying one paper a weekend and printing them at home. I only have a small accordion coupon folder that I keep in my wallet, not those large baseball card binders full of coupons and I usually print coupons only on the weekends to plan out my week. Remember a $1 paper is still a $1 spent, but can contain tons of $ worth of savings! Buy wisely!
Thank you for linking up at Sewlicious Home Decor! :)
Marti