Do you coupon?

[Trivium Academy]

On average, we are saving $50 per grocery trip just by using coupons and taking advantage of Buy One Get One Free sales at Publix and Bi-Lo. I know grocery stores are sometimes geographically different and I don't what stores are nationwide, I think Publix is...

 

Anyways BiLo offers FuelPerks and the buy one get one deals each week, so if we shop there we also save on gas, on average it's $.75 to $1.00 off a gallon depending on how much we spend on groceries. I've saved over $500 this year in groceries and don't know how much on gas but I get a discount every time I fuel up. The gas station we use is Sunoco which uses BiLo's fuelperks but also has their own savings card. If you buy anything inside the store, coffee/drinks, snacks etc. you get so much off your next fuel purchase.

 

This is such a budget saver for us, I know some of you use CVS rewards. I never did "GET" that, it seemed like too much work.

 

All we do is get the Sunday paper and clip all the coupons we might want to use and then compare Publix and Bi-Lo's BOGO deals to see which store we'll go to. Publix has additional coupons at their customer service desk AND they are the only ones that take competitor's coupons. We bought 2 weeks of food for a family of four for $125 last week.

 

I thought it'd be interesting to learn how others do this...

[Tutor]

No, not regularly. We may use them for the occasional purchase, but 1) we don't get a paper that provides coupons (well, we just don't get a paper), and 2) we eat mostly whole foods and coupons are generally for packaged foods that we don't eat much of.

 

I have found that shopping loss leader sales, farmers markets, and in-season foods saves us more money than coupons would.

 

ETA: Good to see you again, Jessica. :)

[i.love.lucy]

:bigear:

 

I don't have those stores here. I pretty much have WalMart, which I hate because their produce and meat are not good at all. And a local chain that has good prices and quality, but doesn't have BOGO, doesn't take other store's coupons, doesn't double. I have given up clipping coupons because they are always for name brand things that I don't use, and the store brand is usually cheaper anyways.

 

Someone posted that they do get the store fliers that come out mid-week in the mail and use those to find what's on sale and base their grocery list off that. I'm going to try that for a while. I usually make my list and then go shop, but then I don't always find what's on sale because I'm only looking for what's on my list.

 

Open to more ideas. My family won't eat beans, so that's not a good "cheap" option for me. We will do meatless several times a week and I've gotten pretty good at stretching the meat. Actually it's the produce I feel like I spend the most on. And snacks. I feel like my kids are constantly telling me they are hungry.:glare:

 

ETA: I see Tutor you say buying at Farmers Markets saves on produce. I think it's the opposite because my local farmers market is all organic and is WAY more expensive than the grocery store! How do you do it?

[Trivium Academy]

2) we eat mostly whole foods and coupons are generally for packaged foods that we don't eat much of

 

True. We have time constraints that most of you don't. We get home around 5:45 pm each night and only have until 8:00 pm to eat, clean up, bathe, and spend time together.

 

I use to really cook but our dinner menu consists mostly of crockpot meals, prepacked meals and quick fixes. A lot of the meals *I* enjoy cooking like Crab Cakes aren't a 'coupon' type meal.

 

Completely agree with you!

[Renthead Mommy]

No. I've tried grocery game three times, in two different states. Both times I couldn't even save enough to cover my membership to gg.

 

There just aren't coupons for anything I would buy. Everything is processed out of box convenience type foods and we just don't eat that. Or it's cleaners and I make our own.

 

I suppose I could use them for things like ketchup and mayo, but only buy that maybe 3 times a year, and well, I never really think if for those. I wish they had coupons for things like razors, tampons and shampoo, but they never have them for the brands I buy.

[Trivium Academy]

store brand is usually cheaper anyways.

 

That really depends on the sales/coupons and price per unit. If I have a coupon for $.55 off an item that is also BOGO, then I can get one of that item at half price plus the $.55 off. Store brands are usually only a $.10 to $.75 cheaper than brand name items.

 

If I don't have a coupon, I do buy store brand, I don't see a difference between them.

[Trivium Academy]

Try going to the product manufacturer's website and sign up for coupons/discounts. I did that with Procter & Gamble and have $30 of coupons for cleaning products etc. that we use. I also went to Tide and a few other websites of products we prefer to use to get some type of discount.

[pooh bear]

I love Publix, and their BOGO sales.

 

I have been saving about $100 each week on groceries because of sales and coupons, and spending between $60 and $70.

 

This past week I had 2 BOGO coupons for Feta cheese. There were on sale BOGO at Publix, so I was able to get 4 for free.

 

We do buy some junk food, but what we save on buying those, we put toward more healthier stuff.

 

I was able to get 6 deodorants for a total of 84 cent a couple of weeks ago. With only two males in the house, I should not have to buy any more deodorant for a while.

 

It can take a few weeks to get into the swing of it, and also resisting the temptation to buy something just because it is on sale.

 

If you have Publix near you check out, I Heart Publix

 

On Mondays she posts the upcoming flyer, so you can see what is going to be on sale and start getting your coupons in order. The lady who runs the site is near Atlanta, and sometimes different things are on sale than they are here in Florida.

[Tutor]

 

ETA: I see Tutor you say buying at Farmers Markets saves on produce. I think it's the opposite because my local farmers market is all organic and is WAY more expensive than the grocery store! How do you do it?

 

Some of it may just be regional pricing. When we lived in the northeast, prices were higher in general, but farmers market pricing was even higher. Where we are in the south, the local, organic farmers market produce is generally equal to or cheaper than the internationally shipped, non-organic produce at the grocery store. That said, no matter where we have lived, I have found that if I shop near market closing time, I can get better deals on produce at the market. Most farmers don't want to haul anything back to the farm, so they are willing to make deals. They also will lower their prices if I bulk-buy or request seconds/ dropped produce.

[*Jen*]

Another good site for Publix coupon matchups is southernsavers.com

 

I used to go in weekly for their BOGO deals with coupons, but since I got PG with #4 I have been slacking off.

[shea]

You can find good coupon deals at Target online. You can print the ones you will use and take them to your local Target store. I didn't realize this until a week ago when I watched someone using them at the checkout.

Sue

[Audrey]

No. I won't buy processed/packaged foods and it seems that's the bulk of what coupons are. For things like cleaning products, I don't bother with coupons. I just wait until my brand is on sale. I always wish the produce packagers would get together and start putting out coupons. The closest I could get is that our local grocery store has in-store specials on meat and produce that are often buy-one(or two)-get-one free.

 

I don't think the money saved would be worth the health to switch to shopping for stuff that have coupons. It rarely takes me more than 20-30 minutes to get any food on the table because I plan ahead and prep ahead. On really rushed days, the crockpot and the pressure cooker are my friends.

[Trivium Academy]

OOh I do miss the days I could prep and plan fabulous meals...I need to make a lasagna for next week now that I think of it. My prep/plan these days is defrosting the meat we'll eat or marinating something 1 day prior. Crockpot meals are done during my lunch break (open, dump, turn on). LOL!

Edited August 21, 2010 by Trivium Academy

[sparrow]

I'm just starting to get into the swing of using coupons in a way that works for me. We also don't do tons of processed food, but coupons for household/personal care items save us a TON. I also use coupons for things like yogurt and cheese.

 

I was shopping at Walmart, because their everyday prices were usually better. I've found that if I have the store circular, a Sunday paper, use Coupon Mom and find items that are >50% off, and spend about a half hour planning menus around the sales, I can save at least $50 on my grocery bill, if not more. I just keep a folder for coupons in a drawer. When the Sunday paper comes out, I write the date on each coupon "section" and file it behind the previous week's coupons. I check Coupon Mom for the "whole foods" (meat & produce) on sale for >50% off and plan menus from there. I also stock up on things like toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, soap, and shampoo when they're BOGO or 10 for $10 and have coupons too.

 

So far, it's really working...and I'm actually finding it fun :D. I prefer my shopping experience at Kroger WAY more than Walmart :tongue_smilie:.

[lynn]

No. I won't buy processed/packaged foods and it seems that's the bulk of what coupons are. For things like cleaning products, I don't bother with coupons. I just wait until my brand is on sale. I always wish the produce packagers would get together and start putting out coupons. The closest I could get is that our local grocery store has in-store specials on meat and produce that are often buy-one(or two)-get-one free.

 

I don't think the money saved would be worth the health to switch to shopping for stuff that have coupons. It rarely takes me more than 20-30 minutes to get any food on the table because I plan ahead and prep ahead. On really rushed days, the crockpot and the pressure cooker are my friends.

 

:iagree: We had a lady come in and talk about couponing and brought a table full of items she said paid $5 for and most of it was processed and/or things we just don't use.

[romeacademy]

I also use CouponMom and Target's online coupons. Where I'm at, I've found that SuperTarget tends to have the best everyday prices. I don't really do boxed/processed foods much either, but usually manage to save $20-25 each trip.

[Closeacademy]

Last year, I was a couponing queen. At one piont I had about $100 in accumulated extra care bucks at CVS and was rolling the bucks every week and earning more with coupons. I would save about $20 a week at Walmart and got some great deals at Kroger.

 

But, over time the deals weren't as good and I was getting less and less stuff for free. Now I only have about $20 in ECB and I try to use coupons at Kroger and Walmart.

 

I do OK with it but not like it was last year or the year before.:001_smile:

[Unicorn.]

Good to see you, and Congrats! (I just saw your blog update).

 

I don't coupon w/ the ones you have to cut out of the Sun. paper, because I just don't have the time. I do take advantage of our local store coupons/sales. Our big grocery store has "Meal Deals", and a lot of time they are pretty decent. For instance this week I bought a 4 lb bag of frozen boneless, skinless, chicken breasts ( a reg purchase for me anyway), that was a dollar off reg price, and for free I got a bag of mixed salad greens, a bx of (6) frozen fruit bars, a pckg of whole wheat rolls, and a bag of Rice-a-Roni (which probably won't get used, but the rest will!)

 

I also shop store sales, and stock up when I can. hth