Extreme or just Savvy Couponers -- Come and Teach Me

[Gil]

I'm interested in learning the way of the couponer. Anyone want to teach me?

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Frankly, it's harder than ever these days. And most of the things I see people stocking up are very junky (IMO). Are you a cook-from-scratch, fruit-as-snacks, eat-your-vegetables kinda guy, or are you pretty comfortable with processed foods? If it's the latter, you may do really well! I'm an organic/all natural-everything kind of gal, so I find it less useful for my purposes. 

 

It also kind of depends on where you are. Do your grocery stores double coupons? 

 

This is a good site to start with:

 

http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/

 

If none of these stores apply to you, you might search for a coupon/deal site more local to you.

 

The forums here are also useful. You can drill down to your preferred stores and stay on those forums, watching for deals people post.

 

http://www.afullcup.com/forums/index.php

 

I print coupons when possible (you can usually print two per device), but I don't get newspapers and I'll very rarely buy coupons online. To really be good at couponing, you need the time and energy to hit multiple stores each week to catch the loss-leader sales. I don't have that anymore, so I just catch what I can, when I can. 

 

The best thing is really to find a good, well managed deal site. They'll put deals together for you so you can just grab the coupons and go. 

Edited January 31, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[SparklyUnicorn]

Honestly, a lot of that is not so great.  I've couponed before and I think I ended up spending more money sometimes, but every time I ended up with products I would not have bought anyway. 

 

But a few tips are to learn the coupon rules at your various stores.  For example, some double coupons.  Some will send you coupons if you sign up for them.  The Sunday paper is usually the one that has coupons.  There are coupon services you can sign up for where you can buy coupons.  They tend to cost a few cents, but with those you can choose the coupons you really want.  Some stores will take competitor coupons.  There are apps that keep track of lowest prices.  There are coupons you can print on-line.  Most stores take those, but for example, most stores won't double them.  I also find that many of those sites are filled with viruses. 

 

The stuff you see on TV wouldn't be possible anywhere.  For example, most stores have limits on how many coupons you can use for the same item.  Meaning you can't use 10 coupons for 10 boxes of Cheerios.  Coupons themselves often have limitations.  Many stores have limits on the number of coupons you can double or triple.  One of my store runs triple coupon weeks, but they have all sorts of limits.

 

You can save if you are willing to shop in more than one store.  So shop all the sales at each store.  Another way to save a lot is to make a list and stick to it.    Some people make a price book.  So you can keep track of prices at the various stores and know whether or not something is a good deal. 

 

When I couponed probably the best deals were sometimes I'd get a free tube of toothpaste.  For example, if it went on sale I might have a coupon that can be doubled and I'd get it for free.  But a lot of stores realize people do this so they will often only put the size on sale that the coupon excludes. 

 

But really this stuff you see on TV?  It's pretty much a lie.  The stores will often suspend their rules for the show.  They don't mention what someone spent to buy the coupons they used.  They might also not mention the fact the person spent hours and hours to find the best deals.  Who has that kind of time and is that really saving money?

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh I do know of one meal planning app that creates their meals based on store sales.  I'm googling around now to see if I can find it.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

https://thedinnerdaily.com/how-it-works/

 

This one.  They base meals on sales of the store you choose (if your store is in the list of course).  There is also a coupon component. 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh and when I say double coupons, they usually mean up to 99 cents.  Most coupons are for $1.  So most coupons aren't even able to be doubled.  And if you have something like 25 cents off, double at 50 cents...big whoop.

 

Once in a great while my usual store will double anything up to a dollar as a special, but usually they limit that to a few (3/4 coupons total). 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

What's really cool is we live in a two family.  An entire two family.  So we have 2 addresses.  My favorite store sends books with $10 off if you spend $50 all the time in an attempt to entice who they assume is a non customer (the address I don't have listed with them).  So I use those all the time. 

[gingersmom]

I love coupons.

 

If you don't eat cookies then don't clip coupons for cookies. Problem solved!!!

 

We like Colgate toothpaste. The expensive ones. I get coupons for them constantly. Some I get for free, others for 1/2 price. I haven't paid full price in years.

 

Dove soup, Tide, Dawn, dental floss, razors all bought with coupons.

 

I get tons of spices with coupons. Also eggs, chicken broth, garbage bags, ziplock bags, Clorox wipes.

 

I could go on and on.

 

I think everyone should send me their coupons!

 

ETA: I shop at one store and spend at most 15 minutes with a circular and scissors.

Edited January 31, 2016 by gingersmom

[Valley Girl]

Another thing is to know your prices at the different stores you shop. I use coupons to stock up when items are on sale. But one store's sale price may still be more than another's regular price. (My biggest win this week was three tubes of Colgate toothpaste for twenty-five cents each. The sale was 10 for $10. You didn't have to buy a full 10, so it was really $1 each. I had three 75-cent coupons clipped from the coupon section of the newspaper. The tubes were slightly smaller than the ones I'd normally buy, but for 25 cents they were a steal.)

[Guest]

I just go to Costco and buy my dry goods in bulk from an importer of Azure Standard up here.

 

That has saved us FAR more money as coupons kind of suck around here. We shop enough at Costco that the membership rewards pay for the membership and we cannot get meat, dairy, or produce cheaper anywhere up here.