Coupon savings

[LvsChant]

+1 Prepper7. There is some great information there!

[Prepper7]

+1 Prepper7. There is some great information there!

Happy to be of service. 

[ShannonB]

Tricks&tips: If the UPC codes on two different products from the same manufacture math you can use them on one another, IE Delmonte corn coupons can be used on Delmonte greenbeans.

I'd just like to point out that this tip is a form of fraud and is in fcat against the law and punishable by a fine.

Always use your coupons for the items they are intended for.... Not the product pictures but the one written on the coupon.  There has been a lot of cracking down of the laws since Discovery started running the tv show Extreme Couponing.

Example of one of our favorites: $0.35 off ANY Tide (it has a large box pictured). I use it on the individual tide pouches for single load or the 3 pck of sink load. Both are $1.00 at my store. My store doubles up to $0.50 and triples up to $0.39.... So this one coupon makes my single load or sink packs free. We use these when we are camping alot.

I use coupons for everything. My family was spending about $600 a month on groceries. I have cut our budget to about $200 and i still have plenty to stockpile, i make donations to a local food bank, i take care packages to many of my friends, family and i look after a few of my elderly neighbors who are on tight fixed incomes.

Some items i NEVER pay for or never pay more than $0.25 for are: shampoo, conditioners, soaps, body washes, razors, pasta, sauces, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, condiments, candy.

Cutting the costs of those items out of your grocery budget is a BIG help.  If anyone has any questions or needs any help couponing, please feel free to contact me.

[Morning Sunshine]

saw this today, about folks coming down on couponers:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/money/bs-bz-ambrose-extreme-coupon-20110711,0,5186695.story

personally, I do not coupon.  Since I do not shop the middle of hte store except for non-sugar cereal (which is almost never on sale) or seasonings/spices, coupons are generally useless for me.  now if I started getting coupons for produce or chicken....

[LvsChant]

Interesting article, MS. I have to say that the way I coupon, the "crackdown" would never affect me. I haven't ever cleared out an entire store's stock of an item and normally only ever have two of any one type of coupon at most. As for the B1G1 coupon doubling, none of the stores in my area will accept the situation they mentioned, although some of the couponing sites mention that method.

(Basically, for any non-couponers, this is a case where the store has a particular product on sale for B1G1 free. Stores around where I live are programmed such that the computer only recognizes one item being sold in this case (the second item was free, so you didn't pay for it). Apparently in some parts of the country, the programming was such that each item was charged as a sale at half price, so the computer recognized the transaction as two items sold. In this case, the computer would accept a coupon for each item, which occasionally meant that the items were both free to the customer.)

Being inconsiderate to other shoppers by completely wiping out all the sale items is not a good way to behave in general... and the stores and manufacturers are right to put a limit on how their programs can be used.

The TLC extreme couponing show notwithstanding, I am doubtful that couponing will take hold in the general populace because of the learning curve required at the outset. It isn't that hard, but does take paying good attention and organization. 

[Prepper7]

Being inconsiderate to other shoppers by completely wiping out all the sale items is not a good way to behave in general... and the stores and manufacturers are right to put a limit on how their programs can be used.

Amen to that! And such behaviour includes stealing the "peelies" (coupons attached to individual product packages) off items one is not purchasing.

The TLC extreme couponing show notwithstanding, I am doubtful that couponing will take hold in the general populace because of the learning curve required at the outset. It isn't that hard, but does take paying good attention and organization.

Sad, but true.

[kenser321]

I have to point out that my fiance and I only shop twice a month for groceries and we coupon. Extreming is hard if not impossible if you do it the legal way. So We do it the split order way. Their is two of us and two orders. We typically split the orders because we will use two of the same coupons alot of the time and thats not allowed on the same purchase depending on the coupon.

So the other day we did our normal mid month purchase and Weis Markets put out a new policy where any coupon over a dollar has to be manually overided by the Manager. Well the cashier was great, but the teenage manager was a bit of a knucklehead and raised his voice to my fiance. I considered boiling over and letting the punk manager know what I thought about his attitude, but decided that he was only mad at the policy his company has. Long story short I asked my fiance politely to relax and that we would talk about it later which led to the employees apologizing to us repeatedly. Needless to say I took the brunt of it when we got in the car.

We typically spend $200 every two weeks, but end up with about $300 worth of groceries thanks to paying attention to sales and couponing. It really doesn't take long to get a few days worth of extra food. It has taken us about 6 months to get around 3 months worth of food. Including dog food, cat food, cat litter, and paper towels. My next goal is to get at least a 6 month supply of toilet paper.

[LvsChant]

Good for you, Kenser. You're a good coupon ambassador...

[ShannonB]

Heads up if your albertsons has kraft bbq sauce as part of their 10's sale going on.

$0.78 each if you buy 10 sale items. Knock another $5 if you buy 10 more.

Albertsons had a Back to School flyer last month with a $1.00 off 2 coupon. Makes the first 10 $0.28 each. So thats $2.80 for 10 bbq sauces, about the price of two regular price.

[Sawzall]

New to the forum so forgive me if my post isn't done properly.  I noticed most of the posts here where for food items, but I thought I'd mention something else.  Never ever purchase anything online without a coupon.   I use Amazon.com to find what I want to buy.  Pick out what you want and then take notice that when you select a product on Amazon the web site tells you on the bottom who Amazon ships from, or who the supplier is.  Then proceed to the supplier's web page.  Immediately that generally affords you a $1-2 cheaper price.  Then just do a google search for something like "store name coupons."  Example: I just purchased something for my classroom from a store called Unbeatable Sales.  The original item was $124 on Amazon plus $20 in shipping.  I then proceeded to the supplier's website which had the item for $119 and only $15 for shipping.  I then google searched "Unbeatable Sales Coupons" and got a 10% off plus discounted shipping coupon.  My final price was $99.31 about $50 less than Amazon.

Also, we went to Kohl's this past weekend and I asked the lady if I could use an in store coupon from the internet if I didn't print it, I just pulled it up on my iphone.  She asked what the coupon was and I said 20% off and she didn't even ask to see the coupon she just took 20% off.  So don't forget to always search for an in store coupon on the internet before visiting your local store, or just pull it up on your smart phone once you're at the store.  You could even search for product coupons on your phone once your at the store and depending on the store policy they may or may not accept it.  Be wary too because some store have better internet coupons than mailed printed coupons.  I picked up a coupon at Michaels for Michaels Craft store for 20% off for the Veteran's day sale but they had a 25% off in store purchase coupon listed on their website for the same sale!

Always remember to google search coupons for your travel too on things like car rentals and even flights sometimes. 

Bottom Line:  If your checking out from an online store and it has a spot to enter a coupon code, then you should google search till you have a code to put in it!



-that's five!

[LvsChant]

+1 Sawzall... thanks for the tips. I wouldn't have thought of couponing for some of those things!

[PorcupineKate]

The Dollar Tree has just started taking Manufactures coupons.   

There may be some really good deals this way.  Be careful to make sure the package sizes match up!

[Mystidawn]

The holiday season is always a good time to coupon and stock up on items, because every company out there is competing for your money with coupons, sales and rebates. There are rebate sites on the net that will tell you what items or companies have rebates listed currectly, so you can find the coupons and match it to sales to save money. I know some people hate messing with rebates because you don't see the money savings immediately, but you will and it can save you a LOT of money.

My favorite coupon website is http://coupondivas.com/coupon-matchups.html You can go there and choose the stores that you normally shop at, and it will tell you the best deals to get for that week's sale. It works even better if you shop at more than one store. They also have a mailing list that alerts you to daily deals at stores and online. They also post free samples for "rare" and "high value" coupons that you can print off, like chicken and organic produce.

I saw some people say they can't get coupons because they live in a small town, and their papers don't have coupon inserts. You will never find coupons in your small town local paper, only in the large big name city papers.  Here is what you need to do... go to a national chain store, such as *cringes* Wal-mart, or Kroger. They usually carry other papers, like The New York Times. You want to buy the newspaper for the nearest BIG city. My aunt out in no man's land can pick up a copy of The Columbus Dispatch to obtain coupons. You just have to find out which store nearest you, carries it.

http://www.swagbucks.com/ This is a site I recommend using if you plan on ever printing your coupons. I don't have time to explain it all, but basically you earn points by printing your coupons through them. They also give you points for using their search system. You can cash in these points for gift cards... to buy more printer ink! Also remember if you print coupons, that you are generally allowed to print two coupons per computer and laptop. CouponDivas also has a coupon search engine so you can look up coupons, and they will tell you where to find them, or print them off.

If a store has a sale for Buy One, Get One you are generally allowed to use two coupons, but read your coupons carefully to find out for sure.
If you have two Buy One, Get One Free Coupons, you can use two, and get both items for free at certain stores.
These are just two tricks of the trade.. there are others.
The single most important thing you can do in regards to couponing, is find, print and read the coupons policies for the stores you shop at. The 5 minutes it takes can save you thousands of dollars a year and keep your family well prepared and stocked up in case of emergencies.

[Mystidawn]

I thought I would add that you can often get your coupons for free if you visit a convenience store first thing Monday. Stores generally tally up the papers they don't sell, and get them ready to be thrown out. You can just ask for the extras. People often ask for the old newspapers for puppy training, so it's not a strange request at all.

http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/ This website shows you what the coupons will be a day or two before the Sunday paper is sold. This allows you to better plan your shopping trip, or even decide if you want to buy the paper for that week. You may find high value coupons, and decided you need to buy even more newspapers than normal to get advantage of all the sales. It also will alert you as to when there won't be any coupons, generally around the holidays. Plus it can let you know if there are any extra coupons for that week, like the monthly Proctor & Gamble one, or one from Pepsi, or Target.

[Downeastwaves]

Thanks for the hints. We watched a couple episodes of Extreme Couponing show on TV and got to work. Last week we saved $7.50 on 60 bucks of groceries and I was some happy! We do not have stores that double coupons around here. I had a buck off some peanuts at walmart, gave the coupon up front with the bottle. The clerk rang us thru and then said oops, I missed the coupon, maybe next week. I was not pleased. We had to stand in line at the service desk to get the buck back. Next time I will pay attention before we pay!

[LvsChant]

Our local paper has pretty lame coupons (small town), but I have found huge savings on most things just by watching the sales ads each weekend. When there is a sale on anything we use, I stock up big time (at least 6 weeks' worth to last until it likely will go on discount again). Since we moved back home and I've been helping my parents do their grocery shopping, Mom says she has noticed a big drop in her cost for groceries (about half, she says). I have her pantry and freezer well-stocked and organized to rotate.

Coupons are good when they work, but the loss leaders at the local stores make a huge difference, too.

[PorcupineKate]

Coupons are good when they work, but the loss leaders at the local stores make a huge difference, too.

I love loss leader sales. The best is the few rare times I can use a coupon with it.

Curad.com currently has a printable pdf coupon for $.50 off any product.  This coupon is good till 12/31/13.  It is a great way to add to the first aid kit.  Print some out for the summer sales.
http://www.curad.com/docs/CuradOnlineCoupon_2012-2013.pdf

[Downeastwaves]

I love loss leader sales. The best is the few rare times I can use a coupon with it.

Curad.com currently has a printable pdf coupon for $.50 off any product.  This coupon is good till 12/31/13.  It is a great way to add to the first aid kit.  Print some out for the summer sales.
http://www.curad.com/docs/CuradOnlineCoupon_2012-2013.pdf

Hi PK and thanks for the coupon link. We totally agree about the store sales. We only have 1 grocery store here on the island and there are 2 grocery and walmart (the small one until fall, it is being converted to a super store) that are about 40 minute drive (oneway)

We've been trying hard the past couple of years to stock a good pantry. We are pretty much to the point where we just shop the sales at each store--except for fresh stuff. In the summer we rely on our garden and I've been learning how to dehydrate some of the harvest.

The coupons are a fun twist! Do not often see coupons that last more than a month so this one is nice. Hopefully the Curad brand will come on sale between now and December!

DEW

[Oxymoron02]

There's some pretty good guidance here, but let me toss out a few more ideas. 

I do use some e-coupon sites that don't come off at the register, which means you can use a paper coupon AND get the e-coupon credit.  The e-coupon money adds up over time, and when you hit the minimum disbursement ($5-10, depending on the site) you can request payment.  Some pay by paper check, some by direct deposit, some by paypal, etc.

Upromise.com  I've been a Upromise member since Oct 2001, and they rock.  In addition to grocery e-coupons, they offer cash back on your online shopping if you shop through their website.  You link your grocery & drug store cards to your Upromise, load e-coupons and shop as usual.  There's an email every time there's new coupons, you just need to go load them.  They market themself as a way to save for college, but there is no requirement to do so, you don't even need to have kids, and they'll just send you a check.  They process checks quarterly, if you ask for one, and, last I checked, the minimum amount you need to request a withdrawal is $10 (used to be $5, check the current rules before withdrawing).  Using the online shopping, with more stores offering shop online pick up in store, I've earned a couple bucks this year already just keeping my husband ordering online when he realizes he needs to run to Lowes for screws or a new bit or sandpaper or whatever.  And it saves money because he's not browsing, his needs are waiting at the front of the store for pick up. 

Savingstar.com  I've been doing Savingstar for almost 2 years now.  I got right on board when I saw them start their own e-coupons because Savingstar actually manages Upromise's e-coupon program, so I had faith.  The e-coupons don't come off at the register, but they add up in your Savingstar account, and once you've hit $5 you can request pay-out.  They do paypal, and I think Amazon GCs.  Just link your grocery & drug store cards on Savingstar, load e-coupons, and shop as usual.  I've been preferring Savingstar to Upromise for my grocery e-coupons because Savingstar has a smartphone app, and I can check for new e-coupons and check the e-coupon list from my smartphone (no printing a list or relying on my memory in the store).

There's also Ibotta, but you have to use a device to do Ibotta (smartphone, iPad, etc).  Savingstar and Upromise can both be done from just your computer.  I've not yet done Ibotta.  Mostly Ibotta requires you to photograph the product barcode and receipt after loading the offer.  They've recently added a few stores that you can load your store card info like Upromise and Savingstar.  Ibotta frequently wants you to watch videos, post to FB, etc to increase your e-coupon value.

I really like Savingstar and Upromise.  It's a level of security against my husband's shopping habits.  "I was out of deodorant, and it was BOGO at CVS so I bought 2."  *sigh*  I have a year's stock, and I have coupons, but at least he used the CVS card, and it was BOGO, and I had a 50 cent e-coupon on Savingstar.  Could have been worse.

[Dainty]

Bump.

I was glad to find this thread. This past week I was introduced to the show Extreme Couponing and was pretty amazed by the idea of getting stuff entirely for free or even moneymakers. I couldn't help seeing all those stockpiles acquired for free or pennies and thinking this has got to be a legitimate prepping strategy.

My goals would likely be different than most people's as I'm not interested in getting stuff I don't genuinely use. But for the occasional instant stockpile of a free item it makes a lot more sense to me than the "pick up a few extra at a time while you're in the store" strategy, as I otherwise find in-store purchases a waste of time and energy.

The article MS linked to mentions clearing shelves, but I saw one episode where instead of doing so the couponer called beforehand to order a certain total of that item, which was then brought out on pallets when requested. She mentioned it was a courtesy to the store, and also to other customers hoping to score a deal on the item.

I'll be sifting through the tips in this thread, but actual couponing will probably go on the back burner for now for now, unfortunately. If this house had color ink cartridges I'd be saving several dollars on a staple food item for me via printable coupons, but alas...

[Oxymoron02]

This past week I was introduced to the show Extreme Couponing and was pretty amazed by the idea of getting stuff entirely for free or even moneymakers. I couldn't help seeing all those stockpiles acquired for free or pennies and thinking this has got to be a legitimate prepping strategy.

My goals would likely be different than most people's as I'm not interested in getting stuff I don't genuinely use. But for the occasional instant stockpile of a free item it makes a lot more sense to me than the "pick up a few extra at a time while you're in the store" strategy, as I otherwise find in-store purchases a waste of time and energy.

The article MS linked to mentions clearing shelves, but I saw one episode where instead of doing so the couponer called beforehand to order a certain total of that item, which was then brought out on pallets when requested. She mentioned it was a courtesy to the store, and also to other customers hoping to score a deal on the item.

I'll be sifting through the tips in this thread, but actual couponing will probably go on the back burner for now for now, unfortunately. If this house had color ink cartridges I'd be saving several dollars on a staple food item for me via printable coupons, but alas...

Like most TV, the show is sensationalized, so take it with a grain of salt.  For example, there's one episode where the woman (who's name escapes me, but she went shopping with her teenager daughter who rolled her eyes the whole show) went to Lowes Foods.  Lowes Foods coupon policy states that you can use up to 4 identical coupons per household per day, and they limit you to doubling 20 coupons per day.  Forget doubling, they will not accept a fifth identical coupon, not even for face value.  Lowes Foods broke their own rules by letting her do what she did, and those of us couponers in Lowes Foods country complained so loudly that they apologized and promised never to let that show in one of their stores again.  Most of the stores where I live have very strict coupon policies.  Kroger, which stopped doubling coupons back in May, will only accept 5 of the same coupon per day.

If you're thinking about getting into couponing, start by playing the drugstore game.  Nothing inspires like a little success, and the drugstores make it pretty simple.  Many drugstore deals don't even require you to have coupons.  CVS is, IMNSHO, the easiest to learn if there's one near you.

Find your store's coupon policy, print it out, commit it to memory (OK, not really), know what you're doing.  If the store policies near you are similar to the store policies near me, picking up a few extra when you shop may be how you have to coupon.  Oh, and get your hands on their rain check policy.  If it's a deal, and they're out, you can get a rain check and pick it up next week, or next month, hopefully before your coupon expires.  Some of the stores near me have rain checks that never expire.  I get rain checks for stuff that's an "eh" deal that they're out of because it may be "eh" today, but ask me again in 2 years and it may be a spectacular price.

Placing an order is touch and go.  I've tried it.  When the product comes in before the sale week is over, it's good.  When it doesn't, not so much.  And if you're smacking up against the store's coupon policy restrictions, is there really a point to special ordering 5 of something?  Not really, no.  I do special order from time to time, usually when something I don't have a coupon for is on an epic sale and they're out.  Rain check + special order = good.

You can print coupons in black and white.

[Fyrsprite]

I've been using SwagBucks to make my coupons go even further.  They have a link on their site where you can print out all the coupons that coupons.com has, but you get an extra 10 SB (ten cents) per coupon used, on top of the coupon's value.  As many coupons as I can go through in a shopping trip, it adds up.  I've been using my swagbucks for Amazon gift certificates to buy permaculture books. 

I don't waste time with the surveys, which give out too much info IMO and aren't worth my time in the first place.  But this has been extra money back for something I already do. 

Ibotta has been great as well.  Every little bit helps, and as long as it's not a ton of hoops that I have to jump through I'm all for it.

[BillyL]

I got a book from the library years ago about decreasing your cost of living ... while still living a good life. One of the chapters was on couponing. The author claimed that you could save 50% to 70% on your grocery bill each month if you were consistent with it. I decided to put her to the test and was pretty serious for the next 6 months or so about finding, organizing, and using coupons. I can tell you that you can get amazing results! I often got 70% off after doubling coupons and using coupons on sale items. I had several shopping trips where I literally paid nothing for a cart full of groceries and even had them give me a few dollars when I checked out, because the total their register was a negative amount! It was incredible how quickly our food reserve grew (and how inexpensively). I will tell you, that it took a TON of time to figure out the best place and time to use each coupon, to cut and organize the coupons, and to do the actual shopping at multiple stores.

The thing that really made my couponing impactful, was the volume of coupons that I shopped with. I would find PDF coupons and print them as many times as I could (usually twice per device) from as many devices as possible. I also found that I could gather extra coupon inserts from recycling bins near my home. I found that a local paper boy would throw his unopened extra Sunday papers in one particular bin every Monday, so I made a habit of pulling them out, removing the coupon inserts, and then taking the remainder of the paper back to the bin. I would sometime end up with more than 100 copies of the same coupon circular that way. What that meant, is that when I found a really amazing deal on some product, I could often buy 100 of them ... not just one or two!

There are some really fantastic couponing sites that will match up store sales with coupons, saving you huge amounts of time. I'd strongly recommend finding and subscribing to a service like that. It shouldn't cost more than $5 or so per month, and you can usually cancel anytime.

[LvsChant]

Welcome, Billy L! I love hearing about your positive experience with couponing... you have done really well!!! I don't really have access to the type of coupons in the newspapers that you do (relatively small town without many of the coupons offered in bigger cities), but your tips for those who live in a more heavily populated area are great! Glad you are here! I really love the coupon site southernsavers.com for matching up coupons with store sales...