s/o tight budget - couponing

[blondeviolin]

I know that some have radically reduced the cost for groceries by couponing. The few times I've looked into it, it looked like a lot of hunting around for newspapers, or a lot of time spent finding coupons for what was needed online. I barely have time to pee between my four kids, school for my oldest, school for myself, and trying to have a semblance of a picked-up house...

 

How do you do couponing?

[emzhengjiu]

My budget is very tight, but I rarely use coupons. I don't subscribe to any newspapers, too expensive. I do get some regular emails with specials from CVS and Walgreen's. Knowing those specials helps. We try to buy whole foods as much as possible. Thre are not many coupons for vegetables and fruits. Shopping Aldi's has reduced my grocery bill more than any coupons I've found. And as much as I dislike shopping there, Wal-Mart matches sale prices. Overall, I found couponing too time consuming for the amount of savings.

[melissad2]

I used to coupon and saved a good bit but the coupons have gotten so bad and harder to get and store policies have changed for the worse. I don't find it worth my while most of the time. I find shopping the sales and filling in at Aldi is my best bet.

[RoughCollie]

I cut out coupons for items I use. There aren't many of them. I am careful when using coupons. Sometimes no savings are generated. For example, if I have a coupon for X, that product will now cost only $1.10. But there is another quality brand of the same product that costs $1 (sizes are the same) but is not on sale. I don't use the coupon.

 

Once in awhile, an item I use will go on sale and I will have a coupon for it. This, IMO, is the key to saving a lot of money using coupons, along with having a propensity to use pre-packaged foods instead of cooking from scratch, and having stores that double or triple coupons. I cook from scratch because it is less expensive (given that we don't eat high on the hog) and because it is more nutritionally sound.

 

Usually, I plan meals around what is on sale, or I've already got food I bought on sale in stock.

 

I spend less money and save time when I cook simple, nutritious meals, shop when I am not hungry, don't buy junk food, have a pretty good idea of what things cost so I recognize a bargain, buy in bulk when things I use go on sale, have 30 nutritionally balanced dinner menus planned, and have a basic grocery/inventory list of everything I typically use in a month.

 

I timed it once, and discovered that I spent 21 hours a week in the kitchen: cooking, cleaning, meal planning, and grocery shopping (including transportation time and putting things away). That is a part-time job, all by itself.

Edited March 9, 2012 by RoughCollie

[emzhengjiu]

I think to save a substantial amount of money you have to literally spend hours per week gathering and researching. And ideally you can shop at several stores to get the best deals. I happen to live in an area where several major stores are lined up on the same street (so I'm not wasting much on gas). I find I can save a lot by shopping more than one store. However, it's tiring. And there are some weeks I can't be bothered and so I just pick one store and I buy what I need.

 

I don't think it's so worth it frankly.

 

At this point I have about 20 tubes of toothpaste I either got for free or under 50 cents. How many freaking tubes of toothpaste does a person need? :lol:

 

Well, you're set for a long time! Have you thought about donating the toothpaste to a homeless shelter or food bank? There's always a need for shampoo, toothpaste etc.

[elegantlion]

Depends on your area too. Our grocery will only take advertiser's coupons, no online coupons. Walmart does, but it's usually cheaper for us to buy a different brand. We have a Dollar General, but no Walgreens or CVS. Generally when I flip through coupons it's for items we never buy, or you have to buy more than 1, more like 3, to use the coupon. With a family of three and a tight budget, I can't afford 3 of one item, even with the coupon.

[MindyD]

I used to coupon and saved a good a lot of money for the most part. The key is to use coupons when things are at their lowest sales price. I used thegrocerygame.com to tell me when to use coupons and which store so it didn't take a huge amount of time. However, a baby, job change for dh, new equivalent to a part-time job for me, move across the state, selling a house, moving again, and homeschooling have used up my extra time and brain space. :) If I can shop by myself, I'll go to the commisary on base, but I know most people don't have that option.

[Milknhoney]

I tried the couponing thing for a while. Someone in my local area had a website that I subscribed to and received weekly emails where all the work of matching up coupons with the sales was already done.

 

I did not save any money. I would get great deals, like bags of goldfish crackers for $.25, but I didn't save any money. And I gained 2 lbs buying all that junk I ordinarily wouldn't buy. Because most coupons are for junk food.

 

Finally I decided to only buy healthy food and not worry about coupons. My food budget has remained the same throughout. I think the key to saving money on food is to be a conservative buyer and get only what you really need.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have a friend that does extreme couponing. The way she makes money on it is overages. She will have a $2 off coupon and will wait until that item is on sale for $1.50, then she actually makes money on that item. If it is a really good deal, then she might buy a whole case of them. She gives the extras to charity. That is how she makes it worth it. But, she spends *tons* of time clipping/printing coupons, checking her coupon stash against sale prices, etc. She is a stay-at-home-wife with a grown daughter.

 

I clip coupons, but I only save $5-10/week. I only buy things that I would normally buy anyway. Eta: most of the good coupons that I use are for health & beauty or cleaning items. For example, last week I had a $3 coupon for Venus razors and they are normally $5 for the pack that I buy.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Mrs Mungo

[SweetMissMagnolia]

yeah same here-I think the most I've ever saved with coupons is maybe $10-I don't shop regularly at the stores that double coupons (too expensive in general) I used to get the Sunday paper but not recently......I find that the best deals I get NOW are when Winn Dixie has buy 1 get 1 free deals....

[TheHomeScientist]

With stores and manufacturers cracking down on "extreme couponing", I wonder if it's even worth bothering any more.

 

We buy most of our groceries at Costco, and every time we make a run we take along our friends Paul and Mary, who are not Costco members, as our guests. That way, they don't need to pay for a membership and we get a small kickback on our Costco AmEx card on their purchases.

 

My wife and Mary tell me that it's much cheaper to buy at Costco even without coupons than it is to buy with coupons at supermarkets and drugstores. And Costco does have coupons. Interestingly, you don't need to have the coupons for everything in your cart. You can just hand the cashier any random single Costco coupon, and the register automatically credits you the coupon amount for anything in your cart that's on sale with a coupon.

 

Paul and Mary buy mostly name-brand stuff. We buy a lot of Costco's store-brand Kirkland stuff, which is usually significantly less expensive and of very high quality. The only disappointment we've had over the years with any Kirkland brand stuff was some dishwashing liquid, which was terrible. For that, we now buy the name-brand stuff.

[Kari C in SC]

I go in between doing lots of coupons and not. Here is what I think is the most important thing I do (imo) - I shop at Publix and only buy their BOGO (buy one get one frees). Even if I don't have coupons for items, it is still always cheaper than Walmart. When I am being lazy, I don't hunt for the coupons. I just make my sales list on Southern Savers and buy only the sale items. I have gotten to the point where I "cherry pick" meaning I never really need to go out and buy anything except produce and milk. If I stock up on things I will need on sale - I won't have to buy them again till they are on sale. My mom said she could never do all the coupons I do, but now she does exactly this kind of shopping at Publix and she is finding she is saving a lot. Of course, if you match the coupons - you are going to save more. I say better to save a little without doing coupons than just go to Walmart and buy all your groceries and save nothing at all.

[blondeviolin]

With stores and manufacturers cracking down on "extreme couponing", I wonder if it's even worth bothering any more.

 

We buy most of our groceries at Costco, and every time we make a run we take along our friends Paul and Mary, who are not Costco members, as our guests. That way, they don't need to pay for a membership and we get a small kickback on our Costco AmEx card on their purchases.

 

My wife and Mary tell me that it's much cheaper to buy at Costco even without coupons than it is to buy with coupons at supermarkets and drugstores. And Costco does have coupons. Interestingly, you don't need to have the coupons for everything in your cart. You can just hand the cashier any random single Costco coupon, and the register automatically credits you the coupon amount for anything in your cart that's on sale with a coupon.

 

Paul and Mary buy mostly name-brand stuff. We buy a lot of Costco's store-brand Kirkland stuff, which is usually significantly less expensive and of very high quality. The only disappointment we've had over the years with any Kirkland brand stuff was some dishwashing liquid, which was terrible. For that, we now buy the name-brand stuff.

 

Oh, how I MISS Costco! We have a Sam's Club, but, IMHO, there is no comparison. :glare: Still, we shop at Sam's a fair amount.

[livingmydream]

I use to coupon and spend like $50 a shopping trip for bags and bags of groceries. those were the days when my store would accept man. coupons and store coupons and competitor coupons at once. I used to get so much for free, now I have more children and less time and the coupons aren't that great. I do like to work the CVS bucks to get our toiletries and stuff though. That is worth buying a paper for

[DawnM]

I used to do more extreme coupon ing but I found that my shelves filled up with things we didn't use and they just sat there.

 

I did get things for free or nearly free, but then it wouldn't get eaten many times. I have stuff down there now (basement pantry) I haven't touched. :glare:

 

The biggest thing was to not be brand specific, but we are picky about some things (like shampoo and toilet paper!)

 

I found another way to save that seems far better overall. It is a FREE Pdf

 

http://www.budget101.com/ebooklet/ebooklet_fam4.pdf

 

I do all that she says to do, but I do some and it really can be inexpensive.

 

Dawn

[Lady Marmalade]

I have recently been given a thorough education in extreme couponing by a few friends who do it.

 

One of their tricks in gathering coupons is to check the communities around you and their local papers. They found that one city in particular puts their coupons in the Saturday paper instead of the Sunday paper. The Sat. paper is a fifty cent paper, instead of $1.50 for the Sunday one. So they buy ten of the Saturday papers to get ten each of the coupon inserts.

 

They also use their coupons at grocery stores that double coupons on certain days, and they will stack the manufacturers coupons with store coupons and sale prices. Those stores will usually only double the first five coupons, so they make sure to give the biggest ones to the clerk first. Oh, and those coupons that specifically say "do not double"? If there is a number 5 before the bar code on the coupon, that coupon will double anyway.

 

I got all kinds of crazy tips like this. I felt like I could coupon successfully, and then went through a bunch of inserts that I'd been saving. I just don't use the stuff that coupons are for! I don't know. After seeing their success with it, and hearing how little they pay for a lot of groceries, it's inspiring, but I just don't think it's for me.

[*********]

I think to save a substantial amount of money you have to literally spend hours per week gathering and researching. And ideally you can shop at several stores to get the best deals. I happen to live in an area where several major stores are lined up on the same street (so I'm not wasting much on gas). I find I can save a lot by shopping more than one store. However, it's tiring. And there are some weeks I can't be bothered and so I just pick one store and I buy what I need.

 

I don't think it's so worth it frankly.

 

At this point I have about 20 tubes of toothpaste I either got for free or under 50 cents. How many freaking tubes of toothpaste does a person need? :lol:

 

Oh my. Wendy, you and I could be good IRL friends.

 

This is exactly what I do, and how I feel.

 

Right down to the basket of free/nearly free toothpastes in my bathroom.

 

Right now, I'm 'doing' couponing. It does save us some money. It helps me actually stay within my grocery budget. :001_huh: But it does take time. I'd say I spend about 4-5 hours a week on it right now.

 

We have a good website written by a gal from my area. She takes all the current coupons that have come in our local paper, and matches them up with sales ads from our region. Saves the rest of us a LOT of time, and she makes a nice living off her blog (along with couponing classes she teaches in the area). So that helps a lot. She tells you what insert and what date it was in the paper (for the coupon), and matches that up to what's on sale where. She has lists each week by store. I almost cried when I found her site. :tongue_smilie: It takes quite a chunk of the work out of it for me. Perhaps google around for a blog/site like that for your area. Search for something like "Oklahoma (or your city/metro area) coupon matchups". I just did it real quick with "Oklahoma", and there are several sites.

 

I used to think that I wouldn't be able to decrease the amount of processed foods that our family eats if I started couponing. I wanted to do both. But honestly, I *have* been able to do both. I mean, think of all the things that you buy that AREN'T processed foods that there are coupons for; toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, paper towel, diapers, wipes, deodorant, etc. Then there are things like flour, sugar, yogurt, bread, bagels, english muffins, cheese of all kinds, oatmeal, baking powder/soda, yeast, vitamins, all sorts of medicines, tea, coffee; I could go on, but you get the idea. Yes, I miss out on some "great deals" because I don't regularly buy things like Hot Pockets, pizza rolls, spaghettios, etc. But the savings on the other things that I *do* buy are worth couponing.

 

I also don't subscribe to get the paper delivered. I've heard that lots of dollar stores in my area sell the paper for $1 (the regular price is $1.50). But my dh goes to Starbucks a lot on Sundays, and after about 3pm they sell the paper for $1, too. So he picks me up one there. Using just one coupon from the paper pays for it, and of course there are usually several (or more) coupons per paper that I will use. On the coupon matchup site I mentioned, she'll also do a 'coupon preview' on Saturdays, that lists all the coupons that will be coming out in tomorrow's paper. That way, one can look at the list, and see if there are any 'good' coupons that you would use more than one of. This will help you determine if you want just one copy of the paper, or several.

 

HTH. Everyone finds a different couponing system that works for them.

[SunD]

You can save lots of money using coupons if

 

- you have time to clip/sort/match sales OR subscribe to a place that does it for you

- you live in an area where stores actually double coupons, don't limit # of coupons per transaction, accept internet coupons, and otherwise have very favorable policies

- you live very close to many stores and can drop in whenever there's a sale, without wasting gas

- you actually eat the sort of food that is promoted on the coupons in your area

[*********]

With stores and manufacturers cracking down on "extreme couponing", I wonder if it's even worth bothering any more.

 

We buy most of our groceries at Costco, and every time we make a run we take along our friends Paul and Mary, who are not Costco members, as our guests. That way, they don't need to pay for a membership and we get a small kickback on our Costco AmEx card on their purchases.

 

My wife and Mary tell me that it's much cheaper to buy at Costco even without coupons than it is to buy with coupons at supermarkets and drugstores. And Costco does have coupons. Interestingly, you don't need to have the coupons for everything in your cart. You can just hand the cashier any random single Costco coupon, and the register automatically credits you the coupon amount for anything in your cart that's on sale with a coupon.

 

Paul and Mary buy mostly name-brand stuff. We buy a lot of Costco's store-brand Kirkland stuff, which is usually significantly less expensive and of very high quality. The only disappointment we've had over the years with any Kirkland brand stuff was some dishwashing liquid, which was terrible. For that, we now buy the name-brand stuff.

 

This has not been my experience at all (regarding the bolded).

 

My fil buys all of us 'kids' a Costco membership every year. I really, REALLY want to find the store cheaper, but I just don't. I've been in there multiple times, but the prices are just flat out higher than what I can get with sales and coupons.

 

I do find some good deals on NON grocery items, like furniture and stuff.

[Mrs Mungo]

My fil buys all of us 'kids' a Costco membership every year. I really, REALLY want to find the store cheaper, but I just don't. I've been in there multiple times, but the prices are just flat out higher than what I can get with sales and coupons.

 

 

Just to play devil's advocate? Not everyone does sales or coupons; in that case, it might be cheaper?

[*********]

Just to play devil's advocate? Not everyone does sales or coupons; in that case, it might be cheaper?

 

Quite true. I have talked to my dh about how I *do* see how Costco can be very useful for the other 'kids' that fil buys memberships for. They have families where both mom and dad work, so I suspect there's not a lot of couponing going on. Also, they save time shopping, because they get large quantities at Costco for a decent price.

 

I do surely see the advantage of Costco for some families. I was just saying it's not for ours. And I was kinda disappointed about that, 'cause I was hoping it'd be another way for me to save money. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh! But they DO make a delicious birthday cake! LOL.

[Stayseeliz]

My budget is very tight, but I rarely use coupons. I don't subscribe to any newspapers, too expensive. I do get some regular emails with specials from CVS and Walgreen's. Knowing those specials helps. We try to buy whole foods as much as possible. Thre are not many coupons for vegetables and fruits. Shopping Aldi's has reduced my grocery bill more than any coupons I've found. And as much as I dislike shopping there, Wal-Mart matches sale prices. Overall, I found couponing too time consuming for the amount of savings.

 

I agree with this! I used to be a hard core couponer but I was spending tons and tons of time each week clipping, organizing and hunting down coupons. Now I usually just shop at Costco and Aldi. I will check the other two stores in town for sales as well but we've tried to move away from packaged food after we call gained weight while hard core couponing. I just try to pay attention to sales on whole foods and watch the bulk prices at Costco.

[TammyinTN]

I hit Costco a lot(like once a week). I find it cheaper to buy in bulk the things we use often and hit the commissary for other stuff. Also, I can get our baby stuff online through Amazon(amazon mom) cheaper than anywhere else and it comes to the door. I just don't have time to coupon and generally I don't come out ahead.

[beaners]

Just to play devil's advocate? Not everyone does sales or coupons; in that case, it might be cheaper?

 

I was going to say the same thing Bethany did about getting better prices elsewhere. A few things like pet food are a better deal, and we can get better prices on large tubs of cottage cheese, for example. Large sizes can be more convenient for us than multiple smaller packages. I do find the stores useful, just not worth the cost of a membership for our family and our situation.

 

I understand not everyone has time for coupons. I understand that not everyone has time to hit sales at multiple stores. I'm a bit surprised when people want to save money but don't have time for sales at all though. It doesn't take me five minutes to glance through the three different store inserts we receive.

 

Is there meat or produce under $2/lb? (Prices are going to vary by location.) Okay, are those items a good price or on the high end for that particular item? Are there things we buy regularly listed? Okay, are those prices actually a sale or are they normal or higher than usual? It does take some time to internalize common prices, but we don't buy so many different products that I need a book to remember. Coupons require at least some time on task, but sales have practically no time commitment for me.

[Baseball mom]

I did couponing for a while back several years ago then quit. Now I am back at it. I don't do extreme but do enough for us to be able to stock up on items we use. I compare sale ads with coupons and buy what I can when it is cheap. I spend maybe a couple hours a week clipping & organizing coupons then comparing sale ads. It saves us quite a bit.

[A.Balaban]

I coupon. We have stopped couponing because of a lack of money and I only buy bare essentials. When I was "really" doing it I was going out to 3-5 stores a week, and spending 4-6 hours a week on coupons. I am working on a new system.

 

The good news is that I have such a stockpile that we fed our family of 4 for over an entire month when my DH lost our debit card and we had no access to money. Yeah, it took a month for us to get one in the mail. :001_huh: Of course, we ran out of meat and fresh produce, but we still have plenty to eat.

 

I used to coupon a lot at Rite Aid when they offered the $5/25 coupon, but now since they discontinued that and then the later $3/15 coupon I just do not coupon that often. CVS still has some good deals, but you really need to hunt for them. I am also at my HBA "quota" so I can't buy anymore until we use some stuff. I just donated supplies to a family who lost their house in a fire... and you can't even tell the stuff I gave away. :lol: But yes, I only buy brands we like (I am particular... which is why I coupon) and if I buy a brand we don't like/won't use, then I donate it to the nearby shelter.

 

I also coupon to collect travel size items, which are great for taking in the car or on road-trips to family.

 

When I think about coupons, I think "If I need this Product, and I have a coupon. I can save $1 on this product." So even if the Product is NOT on sale, I have saved $1. When I worked at Target, I LOVED combining my employee discount, Target coupon, and manufacturer coupons for EXTRA savings!! I got so much free stuff- it was great!

 

That being said, there are a lot more "organic" coupons coming online now, and a good way to score deals in that area is ordering online. I know Amazon offers discounts for purchases (through Subscribe and Save) and often those go on sale for extra savings... Since Amazon Mom/Prime thing got discontinued, I have not really ordered from Amazon a lot (except books).

 

My plan normally is this:

Thursday night - Meal Plan for next week (starting Monday)

Saturday night - I sit down with the circulars (if I got the Sunday paper the day before...) then make out my shopping & grocery list. I use my grocery list (I keep this "on-going" throughout the week)

Sunday night - I clip, sort, and put all coupons away.

Monday - shopping

 

I tried doing the meal plan (on Saturday or Sunday night) based off that weeks sales, but it was too complicated. It usually got put off till Monday, which then meant I did shopping Tuesday. if I do the meal plan on Thursday, then I plan my meals starting Monday from my new shopping list. It's a "figure out as we go" kind of thing.

 

That being said, right now I only buy 1 paper. I get a subscription because it is easiest, and I got a discount. Check Groupon occasionally for local paper deals that is how i got mine.

[Stayseeliz]

We don't have a Costco, but I notice this with BJs and Sams. It's just not cheaper. It's about the same if you buy what's on sale in the regular grocery store. And that's without even thinking about what one needs to spend on the membership. I wasn't saving money with them. And I really don't need so much stuff with a fairly small family.

 

And they basically only sell name brands (which are always more expensive). So unless you insist on certain brands (in some cases I do, but in most I don't) it's not cheaper. I think they each had one sort of generic brand, but only for a few items.

 

I have found that certain things are much cheaper but not everything. Produce is fantastic and much cheaper. Cottage cheese, bread, coffee, eggs, heavy whipping cream and many other things are cheaper. You just have to know what things cost on sale at your local grocery stores. I never ever buy toiletries at Costco.

[Georgiana Daniels]

My plan is to coupon only in the summer, when our school load is light.

 

Last summer we saved scads of money, upwards of $70+ dollars a week, and we stocked up on everything. In fact, we're just now starting to run out of our stockpile. Now I know we need even more to get through the entire school year. By doing that, I can take time off from couponing when school is in, plus we hardly had to spend money on supplies, only fresh fruit, veggies, and dairy. But shampoo, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, health and beauty stuff--covered.

 

I realize this is not a reasonable solution for everyone, especially if you're just starting to coupon, but it works for us, and may be a time-saver in the future.

[AdventureMoms]

I use coupons. I spend at most an hour a week dealing with coupons (probably a total of 2-3 hours doing coupons, meal planning, and making my grocery list, then another hour or two shopping). I spend $2-8/wk on newspapers (depending on how good the coupons are). I save about $20-30/wk with coupons alone, and we eat almost entirely unprocessed foods. In the past couple of weeks I've used coupons for eggs, kiwi, apples, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, frozen vegetables, organic tomato paste, and plain yogurt. Many coupons are for junk, but there are good ones out there too. I think the notion that you have to eat junk to save money with coupons is false. Choosing which items to use your coupons on is a part of the process. I do not use coupons for potato chips or goldfish crackers or oreos, because we do not eat those foods. (Well, we do sometimes, but not because of the coupons)

 

The BIG savings for us come in cleaning products and personal care stuff. I do not pay for toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, or deoderant. I pay a dollar or less for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, packages of razors, and shaving cream. I pay less than 50% of the regular price on most cleaning products. I keep only as much as we will use, and donate the rest. I'm currently donating to an organization that helps runaway teens and putting together a donation for my local hospital's maternity unit. Most of what I donate is free, at most it costs me $.50 or so.

 

Also, I shop at two stores most weeks - one grocery store and one drug store (Rite Aid). Both double coupons up to $0.99, neither will accept more than four like coupons per transaction. I really never have a need to use more than 4 like coupons in a transaction... I usually get through both stores in about 1.5 hours. I occasionally use BJ's, but usually only once a month or so, since they are further away and their prices aren't great for most things. There are a couple of things I do stock up on there, though. I use coupons at BJ's too.

[Susan in TN]

I did "extreme couponing" for about a year. Then I just got tired of it. It was time consuming and we ended up eating a lot of stuff that, really, I just didn't feel was all that good for us.

 

BUT, I know how it works and how to do it, so if the time comes when we simply must cut back that far on the grocery bill, I will make myself make the time.

 

Right now, I'm more likely to scan the produce, bakery/deli, meat, and organic sections for "managers specials" (usually marked down 50% for quick sale) and use it quick or throw it in the freezer. I do clip coupons for things I usually buy, and also load coupons onto my local grocery store's "customer card". Not a ton of saving there, but every little bit helps...

Edited March 9, 2012 by Susan in TN

[FriedClams]

I am with the cyclical couponers. I do the CVS thing in cycles and it's totally worth it. But, like others have said, how much toothpaste do you need? I do it for a while and get a reaonable pile, then take a break. The money I save on toiletries (since they are free or really close to it) really makes the rest of the budget stretch a lot further. you can also ve a ton on dish soap, dishwasher soap, etc.

 

For me, the most money I save is when I menu plan and stick with it.

 

Also, look for a produce distributor where you are. I get a lot of produce there and it's so much cheaper. I bring cash and ask for a price list each time so I can see what the going prices are for each item and see what's worth buying. If you can eat it all - because it's commercial sizes - get a friend to split it with you and you'll both come out ahead. We eat A LOT of apples and I couldn't afford it any other way.

[TheHomeScientist]

Just to play devil's advocate? Not everyone does sales or coupons; in that case, it might be cheaper?

 

That's probably true in our case. Barbara and Mary both work full-time and both have many other demands on their time. They both use coupons, but I suspect a serious couponer would consider them just casual couponers. Both of them just buy what they want without worrying too much about the price. There's always a cost versus time trade-off.

[Dustybug]

I have couponed in the past and saved a great deal of money....but that means we ate a ton of processed, unhealthy food. There just aren't many, if any, coupons for the healthy stuff. :/ I do use coupons for toiletries IF the coupon will get me a better deal than most generic or store brand products.

 

I don't get the CVS thing. Most of the products I would have to buy to get the ECBs (or whatever they are called) are things I wouldn't ordinarily use. Maybe I just don't really understand how it works. :confused:

[Lisbeth]

With stores and manufacturers cracking down on "extreme couponing", I wonder if it's even worth bothering any more.

 

We buy most of our groceries at Costco, and every time we make a run we take along our friends Paul and Mary, who are not Costco members, as our guests. That way, they don't need to pay for a membership and we get a small kickback on our Costco AmEx card on their purchases.

 

My wife and Mary tell me that it's much cheaper to buy at Costco even without coupons than it is to buy with coupons at supermarkets and drugstores. And Costco does have coupons. Interestingly, you don't need to have the coupons for everything in your cart. You can just hand the cashier any random single Costco coupon, and the register automatically credits you the coupon amount for anything in your cart that's on sale with a coupon.

 

Paul and Mary buy mostly name-brand stuff. We buy a lot of Costco's store-brand Kirkland stuff, which is usually significantly less expensive and of very high quality. The only disappointment we've had over the years with any Kirkland brand stuff was some dishwashing liquid, which was terrible. For that, we now buy the name-brand stuff.

 

My experience has been very different. Most serious couponers will tell you that Warehouse stores cost substantially more than couponing done right. I also get name brand items for cheaper than their generic equivalents. I spend about 2-3 hrs per week on it. I always save 50% and often save 80-90%. It is not always junk food. There is about a month long learning curve.

[WeeBeaks]

I coupon. I save $20-$40/week. I also shop at Costco. I keep a price book. If it is cheaper at Costco, I get it there. If at the store with sale/coupon, I get it there. I don't spend tons of time anymore, maybe 1-2 hours a week? I get one newspaper delivered ($10/yr for Sunday only delivered on Groupon deal), and friends share with me too. I give them the coupons I don't use.

 

Costco has much cheaper (for me) spices, flour, yeast, garlic, spinach, carrots, cheese, toilet paper. It is massively pricey on cereal and some other things.

 

I coupon heavily on soaps, detergents, shampoo, deo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and so forth. Keeping those things rock bottom puts more money in my budget for other things. I do use some food coupons also, some as treats and some stuff we use regularly. We have a dairy allergic so all those coupons on rice milk, coconut milk, etc., take it lower than Costco pricing. When a new brand of a product comes out, they entice with coupons. As long as I don't care what brand we buy, I try the new one (with coupons), and stop when it is no longer the cheapest.

 

After now nearly 10 years of couponing I have a feel for what will be useful for me to coupon and what will not, what we use, what goes on sale here.

 

No matter if you use coupons or not, no matter where you shop, keep a price book. Buy when it is cheapest and stock up on things you use. When chicken or cheese or whatever is rock bottom price, buy enough to get you until the next rock bottom price. It's cyclical so you will learn. If I happen upon something nonperishable (laundry detergent comes to mind) and on way low clearance, I'm not against buying a year's worth or so. I did this when I found Ecos laundry detergent for $3 for the bottle that is usually $12 (100+ loads each bottle). I got 10 of them. It doesn't go bad. If you use coupons, use a coupon on top of the cheapest price. Even Costco has some coupons quarterly that make their things even a better deal.

 

You can coupon and save a little without it taking millions of hours. If you find 10 coupons for items you use and would buy anyway and save $5, that is still $5 more in your pocket.

 

Don't forget to check the website of the store you shop at. We use a Kroger store. You can load electronic coupons right on your loyalty card. If you buy that item, it comes off automatically at the register, no clipping involved. If you don't buy the item, no harm done there. I put the electronic coupons for items we regularly buy on there and just forget about them most of the time, then am pleasantly surprised when they come off automatically when I shop.