There's a simple solution to lack of useful coupons, one that doesn't cost anything more than a few minutes of your time.
Pay attention to the various products you use on a regular basis - whether shampoo, pet food, canned tuna, beverages, whatever. Take the time to go to those companies' web sites and locate their "contact" link - usually at the bottom of the page. Most of these sites have a web form you can fill out right there; enter your name and address, sometimes your email address, and a quick note letting the company know that you use and enjoy their product.
For example, let's say you go through a lot of Brand X's canned mushrooms. Mushrooms are gross and I don't know why one would use them in small quantities let alone large, but we'll just roll with the example. Anyways. Do a quick Google search for Brand X mushrooms and go to the site. Find the "contact" link, include your name and mailing address, and say something like "I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that your canned mushrooms are the only kind I use in my mushroom casserole. I tried the store brand once and quickly realized that your fungus is of a much higher quality - I'm a customer for life. Thank you for such a great product!"
Click send and move on with your day.
Not every company out there will do so, but many will send you a nice package in the mail with a handful of coupons and sometimes other swag like recipe booklets, a pen, a hat, or some free samples. A two minute effort on your part may well pay off with several dollars in savings on your favorite products, and if you spend a few minutes a day dashing off a comment or two, those coupons will start rolling in.
On the flip side, sometimes you buy a new product to try and you're not very happy with it. Maybe your favorite juice brand changed their formula and you don't much care for it. If you're not happy with a product you've purchased....contact the company in the same manner as above and let them know! Be nice about it, but a few words about your dissatisfaction will, at the very least, let the company know that something may be wrong and, at best, may garner you coupons to try the product again, product samples, or a refund.
A real-life example is something that happened to us this week. I made some pasta using a jar of pasta sauce and it was all tasty, but Andy bit into....a thing. It was something that shouldn't have been in the sauce. It vaguely looked like a big hunk of mushroom (seriously), but this was a tomato-basil sauce. There should be no mushroom.
It wasn't a finger and it wasn't a shard of glass, so we weren't freaking out - but it was unnerving. I sent a polite email to the sauce company explaining what we found and that we were kinda grossed out by the whole thing. No resolution yet, but this is a situation where one might expect a coupon to replace the product. We'll see what happens.
There's a third option to try and score some extra coupons, though don't expect it to work often. If there's a product that you want to try for the first time, use the above contact methods to, well, ask for a coupon. Let the company know you haven't tried their product yet, that you'd like to, and ask if they would be able to send you any coupons for it. This tends to work better with smaller companies as opposed to the large, multi-national brands. The big boys already issue coupons in sales circulars and magazines for new and existing products; a small company may not have the budget to market so expensively. For the same reason big companies print coupons in the circulars (that reason being to try and reel in new customers and extra sales), small companies are often willing to send out a dollar-off coupon to try and entice you to buy their stuff.
Give it a shot. There's nothing to lose but a little bit of time.
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