Can we talk coupon clipping?

[Deleted]

The other thread where the poster coupon clips to save $ got me thinking. Does this REALLY save money? I have never thought it does simply because my time is more valuable than what I could potentially save with coupons. To be fair, in Canada we have more stringent rules about coupons but i just don't think it adds up.

What does MM think?

[Deleted]

Meh. If I see a coupon that I'll use, I'll hold onto it. But most of the time the coupons are for stuff we don't buy like chips, processed food, toys, etc.

Usually it's not worth my time. But I value my time pretty high right now.

[ssmjlm]

I just get the paper and clip what's useful. I don't have time to go to multiple stores or play the price match game.

[cjeanette]

I think area where coupons triple and such it can be worth it for some items like razors.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2012 13:19:01 GMT -5 cjeanette said:

I think area where coupons triple and such it can be worth it for some items like razors.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

ah, we cant do that up here.

[BNL2]

I use the occasional coupon but I usually don't save enough to cover the cost of the newspaper. I don't know of any grocery stores that double or triple coupons here I rarely see beg savings. I regularly use Ulta and Bed Bath And Beyond coupons but those come in the mail and I don't have to go out of my way to use them.

[5thofjuly]

If you get the Sunday paper anyway it takes, what, 60 seconds to look through the coupon circulars and tear out the pages of the ones you'll use for products you buy anyway. Then, just shove them in an envelope and put them in your purse.

You could definitely save more money by coupon-sale matching, but, like you, I find that overly time consuming for the savings. Still, even if I'm not willing to search the internet for 15 minutes to get free toothpaste, saving 55 cents on it is better than nothing, right?

[pugz]

I use them at target since they stack manufacturer and target ones

[kadams767]

I will take 15 minutes or so while I am planning my menu and grocery list to scan a few of the coupon sites and print them for anything that I actually use or will be buying soon. I try to see if I can find coupons for anything that is prepackaged or processed that I am planning on buying or that we use regularly, but I don't clip or print extra coupons or buy things just because there is a sale or coupon. I did this yesterday and saved about $7 on baking supplies that I needed for holiday baking, which is pretty good for me, and considering the stff I was buying, I cut my baking bill almost in half.

I also previously signed up for the email lists for a bunch of my favorite products and they send coupons once in awhile.

[limey]

The only time I use a coupon is if it is for a substantial purchase, such as a Groupon or a BBB coupon when I'm buying a $100+ item.

I'm not wasting my time to save 50 cents on a tub of yogurt.

[smiley]

I was clipping coupons but then found I didn't use half of the ones in the circular. Now I use www.Iheartpublix.com and www.klip2save.com/ to coupon. I only buy groceries at Publix so it is easy to look at her coupon match ups and then order my coupons from Klip2Save ... The coupons are ~.08 and I only order what I have to. I know paying for the coupon that way takes away it's value but I never spend more than $1-2 (including shipping) so it's still cheaper and faster than buying the newspaper and I don't have to clip and sort!

[bazealina]

I think it is such a waste of time and energy. Besides the coupons are always for brand name processes garbage..we use store brand foods for EVERYTHING..It is just fine. We also spend about 50% of our grocery budget on meats and fresh fruits and veggies. Never a coupon for those things.
Our grocery budge is low as we don't have LO. DH and I have budgeted $60/week in groceries. This includes our lunches which are generally leftovers from dinner the night before. (Cheaper than lunch meats and not processed). We do ok with it.

[rubytue]

About once a month I sit down for 30 minutes with my coupons and the sales flyer from my local grocery store that doubles coupons (also our primary store anyway). I'll match the coupons to the sales to the things we eat, and then go shopping. Usually results in an additional 15-20% off the sale prices.

And while many coupons are for processed stuff, there is some processed stuff we eat, including cereal. That is probably where I get my best deal. Stack a sale with coupons and I'll get the Chex I love for $1/box.

Oh, and a good chunk of my couponing is frozen veggies, cheese, etc. Heck, my last trip I got sour cream for $0.50 each. Also, baking supplies. And yeah, sometimes I get cake/muffin mixes. I can make those myself, but when its $0.50/box, my time is not worth making brownies from scratch.

[galaxy8227]

I do use them a lot and find great deals on household products. I spend maybe 10 minutes a day on it and find it has saved us money and started stockpiling certain items that we use often (very useful after my c-section when I couldn't drive for awhile).

I purchase coupons online (www.thecouponclippers.com) so I buy the coupons that I use and usually spend about the price of a sunday newspaper. Works well for our family

[moolarkey]

I'm not coupon crazy but 2 weeks ago I saved $44 by using coupons and about 2 months ago I saved $56 with coupons. I often forget to take them but usually I save $10-20 a trip with them.

[sjh722]

I live in an area with no stores that double or triple coupons + we get way fewer in the paper than anyone else. (I thought I was imagining it, but I saw part of an episode of Extreme Couponers shot in Chicago confirmed my suspicions, LOL.) I had tried it and realized it's a gigantic waste of my time when I don't have any of the coupons that match-up blogs list online.

I'll do the CVS ECB deals if I can combine it with a printable coupon, or occasionally same for Target (because you can combine manufacturer + Target coupons), but that's about it.

[sporky]

Like most things in life couponing can be worth it to some and not worth it to others. I consider myself a moderate-use couponer. I never spend more than an hour a week (and usually it's more like 15 minutes) looking at sale ads and clipping coupons. We also never buy much in way of processed foods, but do have preferred brands for certain products. I routinely save about 20% on any particular shopping trip, and that includes meats and produce which you can actually find coupons for. Like another poster, for us Target is often the best deal since they coupon stack.

[dragonfly08]

I'll take a minute to clip useful coupons from the Sunday paper, but if there are two or three there I'm interested in, that's a lot. More than three-quarters of what we buy are fresh fruits and veggies or store brand items...no coupons for those (or in the case of store brand items, still cheaper than the name brand for which there may be a coupon). I don't go to multiple stores to shop unless I'm getting an *amazing* deal, like saving $1 or more per pound on grapes since that could be up to $5 in savings/week for me which adds up over the course of the year, or the time I got four boxes of K-cups for the price of one. But to save 50 cents on something? I'll probably only do that if I'm going to be near the store with the sale price already...I won't make a special trip.

[heygrey]

Dec 9, 2012 13:20:00 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

Dec 9, 2012 13:19:01 GMT -5 cjeanette said:

I think area where coupons triple and such it can be worth it for some items like razors.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using proboards

ah, we cant do that up here.

you must not live in the land of london drugs ;-)

you can stack coupons (use different coupons for the same product) so if you catch a sale, you can get things for free. i only collect coupons for things i use and scan the flier quick to see if anything matches up. i'd say it's less than 5 minutes effort a week. i have a friend who does this as a hobby and then donates the loot to our food bank. i think she singlehandedly supplies them with toiletries. and london drugs encourages the coupon stacking! every once in a while i'll see them advertise "pair this manufacture coupon with this facebook coupon and our sale and pay just .27 for this $14 bottle of aveeno lotion".

mostly, i save money on groceries by figuring out the sale cycle and stocking up. superstore is super predictable. everything is on a 4, 6, or 8 week rotation. i know that the week after the no name brand cheese is on sale, blue diamond will be even cheaper (per 100g). so i wait. they have unadvertised one day sales on tuesday. for example, pc brand bacon is 2.97 instead of 5.47 every fourth tuesday. a lot of their sales are fri-mon and then go back up to regular price tues-thurs. only the things advertised stay on sale all week.

if you find something on sale one day, note it and then check back in a few weeks, you'll start to catch on.

[mbcdefg]

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but whatever coupons I find just aren't useful to us. They're usually for brand-name stuff and frozen/boxed foods ... meanwhile, I mainly buy fresh produce/meat and store-brand staples (cereal, flour, etc.).

The only one I've really ever used is the $1 off Marcal Small Steps paper products.

[thedutchgirl]

I live in the land of Target, so I clip from the newspaper and print of the Target website before I go, and that's it. 15 minutes tops, and I usually save $5-$15. Worth that time to me, but I'm not a crazy person about it.

[smiley]

Dec 9, 2012 15:04:09 GMT -5 heygrey said:

i have a friend who does this as a hobby and then donates the loot to our food bank. i think she singlehandedly supplies them with toiletries.

I would like to be able to do this. There are always great deals on toiletries and the food banks could definitely use them. I told DH I would like to start couponing more and donating it if it's super cheap (give myself a budget for the month to stick to).

[Balki.Bartokomous]

Years ago I played the grocery game. I did save a ton of money, but it was on processed food & brand name toiletries, so in the end it's not *really* a good deal if you consider the fact that it's all junk food.

I think we're better off just shopping for produce that's in season & discounted meats that are near their expiration date & can be frozen for later use.

[pugz]

I follow a local blog that breaks down the weekly grocery ad and links to any coupons you can use to save extra when things are already on sale. I don't get the paper but I will print coupons when they are for things I like and are on sale per the blog.

[shortstax]

This post makes me realize how much I love Kroger. They have a "plus card" like a member card that you scan each week on purchases.

Then, every 2 months or so, they mail me coupons targetted to what I buy. They're awesome.

Here are some examples of coupons I used this morning:
$5 off an order of $65+
$2 off if spending $10 or more in frozen department
$2 off $15 purchase from meat department
Free dozen eggs

Other than that, I only use coupons I print online. Nothing major. This morning I used one for my coffee creamer and for the gerber organic fruit/veggie pouches that I was planning to buy anyways.

Easy peasy.

[Deleted]

We get coupon books for free in our mailbox every week. I throw 99.9% of them away. I print coupons from the websites of some organic/natural foods brands that we like and also print some off online.

[ellipses84]

The $/hr is probably very low. The extreme couponers treat it like a full time job. If you have ways to make $$ on top of your usual job, it makes more sense to spend your time doing that. I just use select coupons for products I buy a lot, like diapers. My best savings are when I can combine a sale, a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon and whenever I shop online I google for coupon codes before I buy. I actually really hate coupons because they take so much time and I always forget them at home.

[hippygirl]

I use a ton of coupons when I'm shopping. Not a lot of food coupons but coupons for other non-food items. Today I bought a baby gift at Gymboree and used a coupon to get a free bodysuit. I bought a dress for a friend and used a $10 coupon offer and got the dress for shipping cost only. I do love getting my freebie (after coupons) toiletries, etc. I follow two sites that mostly list the deals for me.

[pugz]

I saved about $12 at Target and Price Chopper today with coupons, plus an extra 5% off my total with my Target card and I got a free thing of butter with a special store coupon

[takeonyou]

I run a home daycare. I feed my family of four and five daycare children (ages 2-5) for about $100 a week. I save a TON and I don't use a lot of processed foods. I just follow the sales and match coupons. I swear that a healthy menu and couponing are compatible.

But it is time consuming simply because of how often I cook at home. I spend about 1.5 hours a week matching, clipping, and menu planning. I have the time because of my job (yay naptime!), so I don't mind spending that time to save the money.

My menu this week is:

Monday -- stuffed peppers with brown rice (peppers & onions were on sale, rice and taco seasoning were free with sales and coupons. I buy the ground beef in bulk to drive the price per lb down.)

Tuesday -- whole wheat pasta, tomato sauce and turkey meatballs with side salad (pasta was $.19 a box, canned tomatoes were $.25 per can, same deal with the meat)

Wednesday -- chicken stir fry with brown rice and salad with ginger dressing (rice free, dressing was free, soy sauce was free, carrots, onions, mushrooms on sale. Peas were free.)

Thursday -- steak & cheese whole wheat quesadilla with beans and roasted corn. (tortillas were $.50 for the package, cheese was $.99 for 16 oz., beans were $.25 a can)

Friday -- Homemade DIY pizzas. We will all make the dough together and the kids choose their toppings (veggies, meats, and cheese). (The whole wheat flour was $1 for the bag, yeast was on sale and I paired with a coupon to make it free, same canned tomatoes on sale for $.25, cheese $.99 for the bag)

Our snacks are usually fresh fruit, string cheese, yogurt, homemade veggie/fruit breads. I keep snacks pretty simple. I buy most produce at a local place that has large amounts of produce for a cheap price per lb.

The menu above had a lot of freebies or cheap ingredients in it this week. But I only go to two stores -- produce place and a regular grocery store.