Coupon differences between newspapers

Amanda emailed me with this question:

I get the CS Gazette delivered, but I picked up a copy of the Denver Post today because of all the extra inserts.  My Denver paper only had 3 inserts.  Did I get a bum paper or is this what you got as well?  I got all 5 in the Gazette – but they didn’t have all the coupons that were mentioned in the preview

Well, I think Amanda did get a bum Denver Post, because I had one delivered and pick up a couple of extras and they had four inserts. The Gazette did indeed have five, but did you compare the size of the five Gazette inserts to the four Denver Post inserts? The Post’s four inserts had way more coupons that than the Gazette’s five!

This is pretty typical; if you’re new here, I always recommend subscribing to the Denver Post because bigger-city newspapers have more/better coupons. Occasionally the Gazette will have a few coupons that the Post doesn’t. I subscribe to both, because the local store ads don’t come in the Post since it’s an “out of town” paper. However, whenever I buy extra newspapers, I always buy the Post.

I definitely always check to make sure the newspapers I’m buying at a gas station or grocery store have the coupon inserts before I buy them – otherwise, they’re useless to me! I do not recommend buying them from a newspaper vending box – one, because you can’t check for the coupons first, and two, because the newspaper companies get a limited number of inserts and the vending boxes are the last papers on the totem pole, so to speak. The coupons go to subscribers first, and then to the ones that are delivered to gas stations and grocery stores, and then the vending boxes. (Or so I’ve been told!)

On another note, the cheapest way to subscribe to either the Post or the Gazette is through DiscountedNewspapers.com.  It used to be that when it came time to renew, the newspapers would make you pay basically full newsstand price in order to renew, but a couple of you have mentioned that at least the Gazette has been cutting some deals lately for renewals, so that would be easier!  (Typically, in order to get a good rate, you have to be a “new subscriber” so I usually let my subscription expire for a month or two and then re-order as a new subscriber so I get the good rate!)

I promise I’m almost done talking about newspapers and coupons. :)  But one final note – the coupon insert previews that I usually link to are going to most closely match the Denver Post’s coupons.  Coupon inserts vary regionally, but I’ve found that Sunday Coupon Preview usually pretty accurately lines up with the Post coupons.