Good websites or apps for couponing and price matching?

[maize]

I really need to get our grocery spending under control; price match may be more helpful than coupons as I'm aiming for good deals on basics like produce, meat, and cheese, but I'm open to whatever works for people.

[TechWife]

Our local TV station has a "smart shopper" feature. She compares prices at the local stores for basic items on a weekly basis. Additionally, she goes through the sale fliers and matches them with available coupons to find good deals on things. Frequently she posts information about items that end up being free. Check with the local stations within a 100 mile radius of your home to see if any of them have a similar feature. 

 

Here are some general tips, though: 

 

Join all frequent shopper clubs (grocery stores and drugstores)

Often you can't get sale prices unless you do this. Some stores, such as Harris Teeter, have more than one opportunity to save through their cards if you link them to an online account. Not only do you get sale prices when you shop in the store, you get deals tailored to your previous purchases that are specific for you and are connected to your card). 

Through the CVS program, you can earn "extra bucks" which are coupons you can use for anything in the store. They can be used in addition to manufacturer's coupons and store coupons. 

Walgreens has "balance rewards" which is a dollar off amount on any purchase. 

 

Coupons.com - hundreds of printable coupons, including eggs, chicken and bacon. Availability varies. 

 

Double coupons (Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods double .99 and under coupons in my area, up to 20 per day) - save coupons until there is a great deal and stock up (of course if you need something, use a coupon you have, but that isn't where the best savings come in). Occasionally they will have a "super double" week where they double up to $2 or a triple week where they triple up to .75 coupons. 

 

ibotta.com offers "rebates" on items, including produce and pantry staples, in exchange for completing one question surveys or watching a ten second video

 

The biggest advantage comes when you can "stack" deals. For example: 

Bacon regularly 5.99

Sale BOGO (buy one get one free) 

Coupon for $2 off of two that doubles to $4 off (used during super doubles week)

Final cost: 2 packages of bacon for of for $1.99 or $1.00 each with super doubled coupon

Amount saved: $11.00, an 83% savings

 

That is a typical scenario for me. In that case, I would have saved all of the bacon coupons (brand specific) that I had found and when the sale comes up, I take the coupons out and use them. The store I go to most for deals allows three identical coupons, so in the bacon scenario above, I would buy six packages of bacon and put them in the freezer. This store is normally the higher priced store in the area, but when I can use coupons like this, I get quite the deal, as you can see. 

 

At CVS, another normally expensive place, you can earn "extra bucks" on certain purchases. I save these and use them when there is a sale. combining them with coupons. You also get coupons and sales that you can load to your card. These are somewhat tailored to purchases you have made in the past. At CVS you can use one coupon per item purchased. Some sales have item limits, though. 

 

Example: Clinical deodorant $9.99

Sale Price: $8.99

Extra Care Card Coupon 30% off clinical deodorant brings price down to $6.29

Manufacturers Coupon  $2 off brings price down to $4.29

Extra Care bucks previously earned; $1 off brings price down to $3.29

Amount saved: $6.70, a 66% savings

 

One of the most important things to remember is that you only buy items you know you will use. If you are picky about brands, that's fine, only buy that brand, though. You might be amazed at some of the deals you will find over time. 

 

I don't bulk shop for  a lot of food because there are only two of us at home now. However, the Costco prices I've seen are amazing for different meats and produce. Check out warehouse clubs, but be careful to cost compare. 

 

Cost comparing isn't as hard as it might seem - you can keep your grocery store receipts (I tuck mine into the pack of my coupon caddy) and pull them out to compare. 

 

I've been doing this diligently since August. I save most on toiletries and paper products, again, because I don't bulk shop for a lot of food. At first it took me about an hour a week to get organized, look through the sale papers and match things up. Now it takes me about 20 minutes per week. I have a lot of "best prices" stuck in my head now, where I didn't before. I know, for example, that I can get Tropicana OJ for $1.50,  Gillette Clinical Deodorant for $4 on average, Kotex Tampons for $2 and Head & Shoulders Shampoo for $2.50. However, I also have all of my receipts with me, so I can check a deal when I come across one to see if its worth stocking up. 

 

That brings me to another thing - keep your coupons with you. You never know when you will come across a good sale. I keep mine in an expandable coupon caddy that fits in my purse. 

 

I hope some of this helps you out. 

 

 

 

 

[mominco]

couponmom.com

[JustEm]

I think learning your store's sale prices and rock bottom price for your area will be your best bet. For example, whole chickens go on sale for 99 cents a pound every 4 weeks or so where I live. So I buy 4 or 5 and freeze the ones I don't need that week. If I see them for anything under 75 cents a lb I stock up for roughly 3 months.

 

This is my best strategy for keeping our grocery bill down to $500 a month for our family of 6. I do not go to multiple grocery stores or use coupons.

[Pawz4me]

If you shop at Walmart get their app and use the savings catcher feature.  It's super easy -- there's a QR code at the bottom of the receipt that you scan using the app and the price matching is done for you.  About 48 hours later you'll get a notification of how much you saved.  The amount is available as an e-gift card that you can use at Walmart (I believe -- I'm just letting mine build up for awhile, so I haven't tried redeeming anything yet).

[SparklyUnicorn]

Just be leery of some of these coupon sites.  With some of them I've had issues with viruses.  Very annoying. 

 

 

[Prairie~Phlox]

Couponing is not what it used to be.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Couponing is not what it used to be.

 

This is very true.  I notice more and more stores are adding more and more restrictions. 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

When I'm in couponing mode, I use http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/ and the forums at http://www.afullcup.com/. But I agree that it's not nearly what it used to be. My local papers have coupons that provide little value, and the digital coupons are nearly useless these days, or you have to jump through a million hoops to get them. Mostly I shop at BJ's and Costco and concentrate my money saving efforts in other areas. 

Edited April 28, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Prairie~Phlox]

High value coupons that we use a lot of, I will watch www.thecouponclippers.com & order.

[monstermama]

I rarely find coupons for things we use, so I just don't bother any longer.  The exception is Cartwheel at Target, because I can scan each item as I put it in my cart to see if it's got a coupon for it.  Otherwise it's just not worth my time.

 

With your family size, do you belong to a warehouse club like Costco?  At least in my area, Costco beats the local grocery stores on produce prices 95% of the time.  

 

Your best bet, though, is to make a price book - I do mine digitally in Google Docs.  I'd start with tracking things you know you're buying every week and gradually add in less frequent items so you don't get overwhelmed entering in a ton of data all at once.  Though, for your older kids, if they normally go shopping with you, it might be fun to send them on a scavenger hunt at the grocery store to write down prices for a bunch of items.  I keep an eye on the weekly store flyers, as well, so if a store I don't usually visit has a number of items on sale that week, I might make an extra stop there.  Lately I've been doing a lot of shopping online with Amazon Subscribe & Save and online grocery delivery.  A lot of the prices, for me at least, have been very competitive and it saves gas money (and the hassle of trying to take two young kids to the grocery store).