A couple nights ago my husband was out of town so instead of going to bed at a reasonable time I ended up watching Extreme Couponing for 2 1/2 hours and let me tell you I am intrigued! Is it really possible to buy $500 worth of groceries and only pay $20 for it?
I've used coupons here and there and I remember my Mom having a coupon folder when I was little, but this whole extreme couponing thing is taking it to a whole different level.
At first I was thinking "OK, I'm totally going to do this." Until I started hearing them say that they spend 30+ hours a week on clipping and organizing coupons and strategically planning their shopping trips. That is a bit excessive for me. I would like to learn a little bit more about using coupons to really save some money though.
So I'm wondering. What do you all know about coupons? Me, I know nothing. Like when a coupon says fifty cents off when you buy two....(fill in the blank) does that mean you get fifty cents off each of those two items, or is it twenty five cents off of each making a combined savings of fifty cents? And if the best coupons come in the Sunday newspaper but you have to pay to get those coupons, is it really worth it? And please tell me how you can end up getting a tube of toothpaste for free.
Really, I want to know!
4 comments:
Funny thing...I'm watching that show right now and reading blogs at the same time. Anyway, I used to do this with my dad when he and my mom split up. I don't know a ton, but I do know that you will get the best deal when you use the coupon while the item is on sale. I'm sure you've seen this on the show, but you need to know what your stores policies are. Some stores double coupons all day, everyday. Some will even triple coupons, but only on certain days. I know Walmart will match coupons, but not double.
Also, go to couponmom.com . (You can become a member for free.) It allows you to search by region/state and also by store. It will match your stores ad with the coupon and will even tell you which book the coupon is in and the date the book came out. (There is a video tutorial you can watch and it will explain the features of the site and ways to organize your coupons...both of which would save you time.)
One more thing, you can look online & print off coupons too. There's a link from couponmom.com .
Hope that helps. Good luck.
P.S. Love your blog!
The 50 cents off of two items means you get a total of 50 cents off (or 25 cents off of each). Taking the Sunday Paper will totally pay for itself if you use just a few coupons each week. To get the free tooth paste you wait until it goes on sale and you can match it up with a coupon. Most stores you can use a store coupon as well as a manufacturer coupon for bigger savings. So say the store issues a coupon to get the paste at $1 and you have a manufacturer coupon for $1 off, that makes it free.
Sales usually rotate through a 6 week cycle so if you know how many boxes of cereal you go through in 6 weeks and you can wait for the sale, combine it with your coupons and stock up. I rarely pay more than $1.50 for a box of cereal and usually i can get it for a dollar or less.
I don't do the extreme couponing. It is too much for me. but I do go through the coupons in the paper and I get some on line and clip whatever i think we might use. I don't bother with them if I don't think i'd buy that brand or use that product. I put them all in a coupon wallet divided by types of products (canned goods, plastic/paper, snacks, etc). At the end of each month, I go through all the coupons and pull out anything that expires in the upcoming month or in the first week of the next month. I put those in front so I'm aware of them and watch for sales during the month. At the end of the month if there wasn't a good deal I assess whether I want to buy it anyway and use the coupon or toss it. Most of them get tossed but a few I'll use anyway. My way of couponing is low key in terms of investing time and energy. you will never get $500 worth of groceries for $20 but you will still save a lot. When you start getting a good supply of the items you use, you can wait until the best deals to buy, combine with coupons and save a ton of money. I got to the point that if I didn't save at least as much as I spent, I felt disappointed in my shopping trip. When you get into it, shopping becomes a "sport" to find the best deals.
I am SO not a coupon person. In fact if I see the person ahead of me in line at the grocery store has coupons I will change lines. It seems like such a hassle. I think there is good in it though so long as you aren't extreme couponing. I've seen the show and those people all spend so much time trying to be hundreds of dollars worth of stuff for less than a hundred but if you look closely they are buying so much of the same thing there is no way they will use it all before it goes bad. It's just crazy. But if you get the sunday paper I say open it up and check out the coupon. I'm sure there's good stuff in there if you take the time to look.....which I don't.
I did this with a friend who was really into it for awhile and it was pretty fun but it takes a lot of time and effort. And I ended up with a bunch of (free) stuff that we'd never eat. A lot of coupons are for really processed foods. But they are great for household items like toothpaste etc. I got a ton of free stuff that we are still using almost a year later.
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