How to Start a Coupon Train

When you start a coupon train, you and a group of friends exchange coupons via snail mail. You mail out the coupons you don't use for to someone in the train, and in exchange receive the coupons you need. This way, you and your friends can get those money-saving coupons that aren't in your local papers.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Call or email a people you know throughout the United States and ask them if they are interested in joining a coupon train.
2. Compile a list of those who expressed an interest. Ideally, these people will live in different parts of the United States to maximize the variety of coupons your train will offer.
3. Send each member of the "train route" the names and addresses of the other members, listed in a numbered column. Include your name and address at the top of the list.
4. Collect 30 to 50 coupons you won't use, and start your train by mailing them in an envelope to the second name on the "train route."
5. Instruct that person to remove the coupons she wants from the envelope you sent and to replace them with other coupons at least equal to the number she removed.
6. Tell this person to mail the envelope to the person whose name is listed after hers in the numbered column. The person to whom she mails the envelope should follow the same procedure.
7. Ensure that you tell each person in the coupon train to keep the envelope for no longer than 2 to 3 days so that the coupons are passed around before they expire.

Tips & Warnings

• In creating the list of coupon train participants, try to include members with different needs. For example, it's not helpful to form a train composed mainly of mothers with young children, because each member will want the diaper coupons.
• Make sure each coupon train participant removes any coupons that have expired.
• Don't discard coupons you think are undesirable. These might be exactly the coupons someone else in your train is looking for.
• Avoid packing an envelope with more than 30 to 50 coupons, or you will have to affix more than 1 stamp to the envelope.