U.S. stores and coupons

[Audrey]

So.... we watched an episode of Extreme Coupons (sp?) and it rose the discussion of how coupons are not as prevalent here (in Canada) as this show makes them appear to be in the U.S. Many stores here only take their own coupons (Loblaws, Superstore, etc.) and I've never seen any stores that do the double and triple coupons days.

 

I know this show has been discussed here before, and I remember my experiences as a cashier at Safeway, but I do not ever recall anything that would qualify as "extreme coupon" use (although I encountered a lot of what qualified as coupon fraud back then).

 

Dh and I were wondering, though, if such extreme use of coupons has affected the way coupons are accepted at stores, or the store policies on it. So my questions to you are:

 

If you live in the States, are avid couponers prevalent? Do stores allow such voluminous use of coupons as one sees on that show? Have you noticed stores tightening up their coupon policies, and if so, do you think that extreme couponers may have contributed to that?

[gingersmom]

It would be impossible at my foodstore to be an "extreme" couponer. They limit coupons to 4 of the same item so it would be impossible to buy 100 of anything at the same time.

[Joker]

I don't remember the last time I saw any store around here do double or triple coupons. Our local store will take any coupon, even those of other stores. There are also limits of how many of one item you can purchase.

[jrn]

That show is totally unrealisitc in my area. Local stores do not ever double or triple coupons and all my coupons have a limit on them. I'm even questioned when I print coupons off my home printer.

[Baseball mom]

Around here the most you can use is 5 like coupons at a time with a grand total of 100 coupons.

[Erica in OR]

There are some avid couponers where I am in the States. I used to be much more into it, using a subscription to the Grocery Game (they track sales cycles to determine the best "rock bottom" price and matched coupons with products to maximize savings). However, our area is not conducive to the Extreme Couponing style, since at most one can double four coupons in a single trip (Safeway). A second store in the area will take the four coupon doublers too, but the way their cash registers work you don't get the doubler benefit if it's on a product you're purchasing with one of their store coupons.

 

I don't think using huge amounts of manufacturer coupons has an effect; the stores need to process them anyway and get the money back from the manufacturers. When internet-printed coupons first came out, it seemed to make stores wary and skeptical when you used them, because of just a few people using fraudulent ones. Our stores now seem to be moving more to the e-coupon mode, where you load the coupons onto your store card.

 

Erica in OR

[delaney]

That stupid show has really made it hard for those of us who use coupons sanely. I always shop with them but most of the stuff you can get is the processed crap. They do it all in the name of donation. Well if they can do it can't someone who is in need do it too? Grrrrr burns my britches.

[beaners]

I used to get a ton of stuff for free or pennies, or sometimes the coupons took more off my bill than the item would cost. If I was only buying sale and coupon items, I could have a very large cart for very little money. Normally we also bought other sale things too like produce and meat. There were coupons for those, but never like the free stuff I usually bought. I stopped for a while because I was too busy with so many small children, and because I had a full pantry. I never bought 100 of anything, but I did use as many multiples of the same coupon as I had. I still have a huge stockpile of awesome toiletries. We've long since eaten the food. Lots of places I've lived have double coupons up to either 50 cents or 99 cents. The coupons mailed to those locations varied depending on what stores in the area stopped doubling at. I guess the Kroger here stopped doubling coupons recently. I have noticed more restrictions on the coupons.

[Cinder]

I have seen only a very small amount of super couponing--the ones who have their coupons divided up and organized in a photo album and are driving a cart with 10 boxes of Hamburger Helper. I have never actually witnessed any actual extreme couponing.

 

The only effect I've seen is that our stores have changed their double coupon policy. They used to "double" up to $1. So if you had a 25c coupon it would be doubled to 50c--IOW you'd get a "bonus coupon" for an extra 25c. A 50c coupon got you $1 off your total. A 75c coupon would also get you $1 off; you got a bonus coupon for an additional 25c. They no longer give bonus coupons for any over 50c. So now a 55c coupon doesn't get you an extra 45c off; just the face value of the coupon.

 

The other change I've seen is that some coupons actually state that you can use no more than 4 same-type coupons per purchase. Like this:

 

Limit one coupon per purchase of products and quantities stated. Limit of 4 like coupons per household per day.

 

And to circumvent people using the coupon to buy an item with a similar UPC some coupons state:

This coupon good only toward purchase of product(s) indicated. Any other use constitutes fraud.

[Catwoman]

I have no idea how the couponing thing works, but it looks like a lot of effort! I don't use any coupons, and I never look at grocery store sale flyers; I just buy what I need at whatever store I'm in. I know a few people who go to 4 or 5 different stores each week to take advantage of the sales, but I keep wondering if they really pay less than I do in the end, after you factor in their time and the price of gasoline to drive to all of those stores.

[Guest inoubliable]

 

 

If you live in the States, are avid couponers prevalent? Do stores allow such voluminous use of coupons as one sees on that show? Have you noticed stores tightening up their coupon policies, and if so, do you think that extreme couponers may have contributed to that?

 

Full disclosure: I don't use coupons.

 

I've never run into a couponer in front of me or behind me at the supermarket checkout. I don't know that it's a big thing here. I have heard that a lot of people do the coupon thing at Walmart. We only go to the Walmart maybe once a year so I don't know. I've never seen any signs anywhere at our store with coupon limits. I don't think the stores here allow the doubling and tripling that I've heard talked about here.

 

When some friends and I were talking about this phenomena last year we figured that extreme couponing (in our experience) seems to be mostly in the South.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I think, like so much "reality" TV, a lot of what you see on those shows is staged. You know how the manager will always come by and override the register when it wants to void the whole transaction? From what I've read that wouldn't happen unless the cameras were on.

 

I've never seen anyone checking out like they do on that show. I HAVE seen someone shopping with a huge binder of coupons before.

 

I don't go out of my way to acquire coupons but I'll happily use some when they're sent to me, for products I need. So I haven't witnessed any tightening up of coupon policy, because I've never tried to push the limits.

[Guest inoubliable]

I have no idea how the couponing thing works, but it looks like a lot of effort! I don't use any coupons, and I never look at grocery store sale flyers; I just buy what I need at whatever store I'm in. I know a few people who go to 4 or 5 different stores each week to take advantage of the sales, but I keep wondering if they really pay less than I do in the end, after you factor in their time and the price of gasoline to drive to all of those stores.

 

Yes. I wonder how much time and effort these people are putting into researching coupons, clipping or printing them, and then driving around. And when you consider that coupons are usually for processed food. Ugh. I'm guessing that buying whole, raw foods from one good store and making things from scratch would end up saving you time and money in the long run.

[Dandelion]

I don't use coupons, but I've seen quite a bit of couponing in my area. I've also noticed more price-matching recently, where people take a flyer from another store to the register and then they adjust the prices on everything (I was in line behind a woman who did this a few weeks ago, and she had them match/adjust the prices on at least 20 items - and she also used a stack of coupons).

 

Haven't seen the show, so I can't comment on whether it exaggerates the couponing phenomenon or not. But I would imagine they only show the most extreme situations, as that makes for better TV. :001_rolleyes:

[Acorn]

I've tried some of the drugstore sales with matching coupons. None of the items are ever in stock, so there must be other couponers in my area.

[beaners]

I have no idea how the couponing thing works, but it looks like a lot of effort! I don't use any coupons, and I never look at grocery store sale flyers; I just buy what I need at whatever store I'm in. I know a few people who go to 4 or 5 different stores each week to take advantage of the sales, but I keep wondering if they really pay less than I do in the end, after you factor in their time and the price of gasoline to drive to all of those stores.

 

We don't have the luxury of just buying whatever we want. I don't mean that to sound snarky. We just can't afford to buy something no matter what the price is. There's not room in our budget to do that. We don't spend extra gas money though. :) My husband passes 4 major grocery stores on his way home every day, plus Walmart.

[Um_2_4]

I use to "super" coupon back before 4 kids. I actually "knew"(from a forum and trading coupons) one of the women on that show. It was staged. The store was told they were coming in, things were special ordered ( does your store have 100 bottles of 1 brand of mustard on the shelf?), coporate gave the ok for filming etc. I stopped couponing because it became VERY competitive in my area and coupons became low $$ amts and limits on use(1 per person, etc.). My stores did not put a limit on total # or $ of coupons used, EXCEPT for what is written on the coupon themselves.

 

[Orthodox6]

Most? -- Many, at least -- coupons which I have seen in recent years include print instructions that only one coupon may be used for purchasing one of the specified item. (An individual grocery store sometimes will have a store policy that a coupon for under a specified value will be doubled or trebled.) Whatever be the wording, the message is that second and subsequent items of the identical thing must be paid for at full price.

 

Food coupons are not for foods that we desire to eat. That all but kills dead in its tracks the sport of "couponing". Occasionally I will use a coupon for some household item such as a drain cleaner.

 

I live in the Southwest, as far as I am concerned. Some consider my state to be in the South.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have never seen the show and live in a country that doesn't have couponing. I know my niece in Canada gets coupons, photocopies them, and takes them to some American shops which are in her area and gets lots of produce, like say 20 jars of mayonnaise. I am not sure if this is what you mean about couponing though.

[Catwoman]

I have never seen the show and live in a country that doesn't have couponing. I know my niece in Canada gets coupons, photocopies them, and takes them to some American shops which are in her area and gets lots of produce, like say 20 jars of mayonnaise. I am not sure if this is what you mean about couponing though.

 

I'm glad you mentioned the "20 jars of mayonnaise" thing. (I know you were just making up an example, but it got me thinking about it.) Every time I have seen people on TV showing off their huge stash of stuff that they got for practically free through extreme couponing, I can't imagine how they would even begin to use most of it before it expired and had to be thrown away.

[Tap]

Yes, it has affected ways that companies are handling coupons now. I work for a large company and they have absolutely tightened up policies on coupons.

 

I do see a lot of 5-10 couponers in our area, but since most stores don't double coupons here, buying a basket of groceries with stacks of coupons for 75cents doesn't really happen.

[Carrie12345]

My store limits to 4 like coupons and doubles up to $1.00 value. When I'm really serious about combining sales with coupons, I get 1/3 to 1/2 off my bill, but there's no legitimate way (around here, at least) to get a carts and carts of free stuff.

[stripe]

I have never seen anyone with two carts full of stuff and a $5 tab. Occasionally I see people with a small handful. I am all for coupons, but on groceries at least, there's only so well I can do in terms of wild deals.

 

I will say that I don't think most Americans are all that thrifty or deal-seeking. I mean, I read about them online, but my experience has been that my immigrant husband and Depression-era grandma are way better than the average non-senior. When I go to clothing stores with huge deals, I just don't see anyone but immigrants going crazy. Seriously, I was at a store with a HUGE rack of $1 silk shirts prominently displayed at the entrance, and most people walked right by and had no interest! I bought one for every female relative of my husband!

[MooCow]

I know a few people who go to 4 or 5 different stores each week to take advantage of the sales, but I keep wondering if they really pay less than I do in the end, after you factor in their time and the price of gasoline to drive to all of those stores.

 

 

 

I do that; for two stores that are practically right next to each other. The first one I'll do the "bogo's"(only ones we'll use)

and the second one I'll buy some loss leaders (I think that is what they're called) and whatever is on my list.

The second store I get gas points, and if I pay with my "band" card, my dd gets 4% of our monthly total

deposited into her band account at her high school.

The loss leaders/bogo's always have a limit you can purchase, and I quit years ago trying to use coupons

because it drove me insane. :smash:

[Caroline]

I hate to be behind a couponer at the check-out line. (And I don't use that word lightly.) A few of the bag boys at Publix know me and will warn me if I am behind a notorious couponer. It takes FOREVER for a couponer to check out. And they always think something has gone wrong. 999 times out of 1000, it is the couponer who is wrong, not the cashier. UGH!

[Serenade]

My favorite grocery store, Harris Teeter, is doing super double coupons next week -- that means that they will double coupons with a face value up to $2.00, so you can potentially get $4 off an item. I've often gotten free items or nearly free items this way. The store does have a limit of 20 coupons a day that will double.

 

I'm not a huge couponer, but I'll use them if it's convenient for me and if there is a good deal going at the same time. Sometimes even with super double coupons, an item is still too expensive, IMO. I do my best shopping by buying the weekly specials -- this can be better than coupons. Plus I look for items reduced for quick sale. We eat pretty well here, including fish, free range chicken and occasionally grass fed beef, and other yummies like crab and lobster, and I average about $100 per week (maybe a tad more) for a family of four. I can do this by shopping sales and loss leader s, not by using extensive coupons. Coupons can take up a lot of time -- that's why I use them when they're convenient -- when something falls into my lap at just the right time. But I don't spend huge amounts of time seeking them out.

 

ETA: Here's a link outlining some of the freebies and good deals at Harris Teeter, starting on Wednesday, for those of you from other areas who might find it interesting. :-)

 

http://www.wral.com/harris-teeter-super-doubles-good-deals-list-/12119998/

[AK_Mom4]

No doubling coupons here that I know of.... But our local chain does mail out customized coupons for $1-$2 off things that we buy regularly. Last week I was in the store and I was the "obnoxious coupon lady" when I bought $50+ worth of non-grocery items and paid under $5 and a big stack of coupons.

[tearose]

My mom used to be an avid "couponer"--to her, it was a hobby. She got satisfaction out of getting the best possible deal, and it was a game to remember what coupons she had, when they expired, what was on sale in each store that week, etc. She still fondly remembers the days (back in the early 80s, probably) when you got cash back if your coupon exceeded the price of the item (like if you had a 50 cent coupon for something that was on sale for 45 cents, you'd actually get 5 cents, plus the item), and when all coupons were doubled (rather than only up to 50 cents) or even tripled on certain days. We had some family in our area, none of whom used coupons, so they always saved them from the Sunday paper for her. She also worked in a hospital, and Sunday was one of her work days, so extra coupons there, too. She pretty much never paid for packaged things--paper products, cleaners, shampoo, soap, etc. We ate very few processed foods, but she would get the stuff if it was free and give it to anyone who wanted it (family and friends often "shopped" at our house). Back in the day, she could get a free turkey for every x amount she spent, and that was calcualated from the subtotal before subtracting coupons, so she got A LOT of turkeys. Some of the stores started limited how many of each coupon could be used each time through the register, so she'd just go through the check-out twice (or more!). When I was in grad school, I kept one of her receipts on my fridge as a conversation piece; it was a super-long one, and you can see that she paid less than $8 for $90 worth of groceries.

 

But now she doesn't find it worth it anymore, since fewer coupons can be doubled, and there are limits to how many of each coupon can be used (tracked through the store's discount card). Plus the coupons expire a lot sooner now than they used to.

[Crimson Wife]

Where I live the stores do not double coupons and they stopped taking internet printouts a few years ago.

[GSOchristie]

Harris Teeter always doubles coupons, up to $0.99, I think, if you use your VIC card, and occasionally will do triple coupons. I shop at Aldi, mostly, because the stuff I buy (fresh produce and meat), does not come with a coupon.

[vonfirmath]

 

I live in the Southwest, as far as I am concerned. Some consider my state to be in the South.

 

The "South" states are those that seceded during the Civil War. Those that were not states/did not secede and are in the South are the Southwest :)

[2_girls_mommy]

I coupon regularly. Yes, coupon is a verb to me LOL. We have a store that doubles coupons daily, up to 1.00 (so if the coupon says a dollar off, I get 2 dollars off) but no higher than that. They only double one like coupon a day though. So I can't hoard 50 $1 off of something coupons and then go in and fill my cart and empty the shelf.

 

The way I do it it that I have a blog that I follow that matches the weekly sales of the store to current coupons that are out. Then I have access to a $5 off of a $35 shopping trip that I put on top of that. (They are available in the program to a local sports event that my neighbor has season passes to. He gives them to me, since he doesn't use them.) So I do take time before my weekly coupon trip. I match the sales to the coupons. So if cereal is on sale for $2.50, which right now they are frequently, then I take my $1 off of 2 boxes coupon which doubles to make each box $1.50. I go around the store until my ticket totals around the $35. Then I use the $5 off to start, then the others to get the total down.

 

So currently I can make the $35 total anywhere from $11 to $20, depending on the weekly deals. This usually covers boxes and canned goods and yogurts and other dairy products for our household. Sometimes it can be baking stores like flour and sugar and butter and eggs. When it is I stock up so that I am never paying full price on anything. (that is the goal.)

 

I use this to supplement our regular shopping. I have another store that has good prices on produce and things like milk and eggs. I get there what I need as far as produce and other thinsgs when I don't have a deal. So dh stops there once a week for me on his way home. And I have a drugstore that doesn't double coupons, but has a good loyalty program and offers store coupons that I can stack w/manufacturer coupons for good deals on things like dish soap and personal hygiene and cosmetic products and medicines and vitamins.

 

I keep our budget down pretty low and really only shop the 2 stores weekly and dh shops 1 once a week or every other week. And we save a ton compared to how I used to shop, which even then was quite frugally. (but do not hoard crazy amounts of stuff nor need extra rooms in our house to store LOL) I really have enjoyed learning how to do this. I know some people don't and think it is too much work or whatever. But for me, I do like it as a hobby that helps my family.

[Orthodox6]

I was thinking, instead, of culture. East Texas, where culture melds into that of Louisiana and further east, Texas is "southern." Everywhere else, we are "southwest".

 

 

 

The "South" states are those that seceded during the Civil War. Those that were not states/did not secede and are in the South are the Southwest :)

 

[KatieJ]

I watched this for the first time this weekend. The show I saw they were buying for a wedding. Pasta was free after the store sale and a 50 cent coupon doubled. But they bought 82 boxes of pasta! How on earth do you get 82 coupons for pasta and what do you do to the stores supply when you buy 82 boxes of a sale item!

 

Came across as totally unrealistic to me.

[beaners]

I watched this for the first time this weekend. The show I saw they were buying for a wedding. Pasta was free after the store sale and a 50 cent coupon doubled. But they bought 82 boxes of pasta! How on earth do you get 82 coupons for pasta and what do you do to the stores supply when you buy 82 boxes of a sale item!

 

Came across as totally unrealistic to me.

 

You get 82 coupons by buying them online. You aren't allowed to charge someone for the coupons themselves, but people got around that by saying that the cost was for their time to clip them and package them together. Where do people get such large groups of coupons to sell? Sometimes there are inserts left over after the papers are delivered. Tons of coupons and newspapers got tossed at the hotels we've stayed at.

 

That's the way it worked when I was doing it. I never bought coupons. We had weekly paper delivery, my husband got two Sunday papers at work that he brought me coupons from, and my MIL would send me her coupons she didn't use in her weekly envelope full of stickers and stuff for the kids. Plus sometimes a new coupon comes out before the old one expires. That number of coupons was always plenty for me.

[Lady Marmalade]

Couponing has definitely changed in my area. There are stores who run special days where they will double coupons- but only up to ten total, AND in order to get your coupons doubled, you have to also purchase $25 worth of non-coupon groceries. So there is no such thing as a cart full of groceries for pennies.

 

I do have friends who make this work to their advantage. They don't shop except for the double coupon days- and they easily fill their $25 requirement by stocking up on basics like milk, eggs and meat. Then, they stack their coupons in a particular order- they can use as many as they want, but the store will only double the first 10. So they put the highest ones on the top of the stack, and they frequently end up paying little to nothing for everything beyond the first $25 worth of groceries. But, most of that is processed foods like snacks and cookies, and that's just not how my family eats.

[JFSinIL]

None of the roughly six stores I frequent in n/w Illinois do double coupon, much less triple. I use coupons only if they are for something we'd get anyway - I do clip and carry some for the most usual items, so I can whip out the coupon if the item is on sale (I like to combine coupons with sales as much as possible.) I average $5 - $10 in coupons each week.

I have noticed coupins tend to expoire a lot sooner than they used to. I suppose that cuts down on folks hoarding them or reselling them.

[Cinder]

I was thinking, instead, of culture. East Texas, where culture melds into that of Louisiana and further east, Texas is "southern." Everywhere else, we are "southwest".

 

I get what you're saying. We lived in west TX for 5 years after having spent 4 in MS. Maybe it's related to the weather being so different between the two sides of TX. You know--it's a *dry* heat. :laugh:

[2_girls_mommy]

OH, and another thought. For us the store that has the lowest prices regularly (but not the couponing store) has weekly meat stock up days. So once a week they run a sale on some cut of meat if you buy it in a big quantity (usually 3 lbs or such..) So we watch that. When it is something we want, we buy that and do the weekly shopping that day. It is usually enough to last us a month until the next time they run the sale again on what we buy.

 

So we have worked out a system that works for us, though we do use 3 stores a week. I do 2 of them that are near to each other 1 day a week, and dh does the other one on his way home from work a couple of times a month.

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, I have noticed they expire more quickly than they used to. It takes more work to keep them clipped and the expired ones weeded out than it used to.

[kewb]

Not realistic here. I rarely use coupons because the ones around here are usually for products I don't use. I don't know any extreme couponers. The stores around here have not doubled a coupon in years. Certainly no tripling. When internet coupons you could print out first started the supermarkets would not accept them because of forgeries.

[Georgiana Daniels]

It's not really prevalent here. I did the coupon thing for a while and got some smokin' deals! In fact, we stocked up for so long on certain toiletries, I haven't had to buy them for over a year. But it's pretty rare--the show depicts people buying only what they have coupons for, and people don't really shop that way. People need their fresh fruit and veg and whatnot. Plus, it's VERY time consuming. On another note, I did see the newspapers tightening up on which coupon circulars were inserted and not being as easy to get a hold of. That was frustrating.

[Alessandra]

Personally, I almost never use them. In the stores I shop in, discounts are offered if you use a loyalty card for the store (or just ask the cashier to run the store card through). Mostly I buy fresh food -- stores have sales on specific items, but not coupons. Most coupons are for brand name processed food that I would not buy no matter what the price or for brand name cleaners and so forth that usually have a cheaper, store brand equivalent.

 

But I have a friend who gets several local papers just for the coupons -- she doesn't actually read the papers. Then she clips and organizes everything. It takes a couple of hours a week, but she saves a lot of money, as she shops for her family, her parents and her parents in law.

 

One new trend that I have read about, but not experienced is personalized coupons that come to you over your cellphone. So if you are in the diaper aisle AND you usually use a coupon for diapers, you will get an offer on your phone. The person standing next to you, who also buys diapers, but at full price, will not get an offer. This sort of creeps me out. In any case, I keep location services turned off to save battery power and because I do not think that my cellphone manufacturer needs to know -- and sell -- my location information. End of mini-rant.