Shopping with Coupons/ Do You Like Them? Use Them?

almost never. the lady diane and meself buy different products from different markets so tring to keep straight which coupon goes to what market would really be bothersome. In any given week we shop at 4 or 5 different markets.

I am searching my memory to figure if I've ever used one. Mostly I am not interested in any of the products the coupons are for. If I were, I might look at the coupon pages in a timely manner.

Aha, I remember now.. I used the mailed coupons that I got from my Expert Tire shop for oil changes (they're a Firestone tire and fixit shop)m and I was saving a tear out coupon for a check up on my car air conditioning system.

I find it very belittling for a grown person to clip coupons. I don't know why, but I just do.

At one time I atttempted to use coupons. I would then put them in an envelope, as close to the order that the items were in the store as I walked through it. I found it very annoying to have to juggle the coupons for which I had found the item, the ones that I couldn't find, and the ones that I decided not to use. I found that my effort was not worth any savings that I had gotten.

What I do though, is attempt to buy things that I normally use that is on sale on a particular week, even though I might not need that item right away. On my sales slip, it lists the savings of sale items, and then totals them. It is fun to see how much money that I "saved". It usually runs about 10% of the bill.

I use them. Quite a bit.
And yes , when I first started 'cutting coupons' , I would buy something I never ate before, or never thought of buying, or never even HEARD of .. simply because the coupon was a good deal.
1.00 off one.. or 2.50 off 3..

those make me buy some pretty wierd things.

I use them now , mostly e-coupons so I can get the coupon for the product I USE.. instead of going through the paper looking for coupons from products I recognize.

And ( out comes my wierd side) when I use a coupon, I DO save the .35 cents.
In a bucket
on my desk.

35 cents off of something doesnt make a big diffrence in a 50 dollar grocery bill.
In fact, I got discouraged on that for a while.
Then I had the idea to set aside what coupons really save me to see if it was worth it.

By the end of the month, if i save that quarter, 50 cents, 2 dollars.. what ever the coupon says, I can have almost 40 bucks in ' coupon savings'

I've gone through stages of using them and not using them. I kept them sorted in an envelope by expiration date and tried to use them before they expired. I never open the ones that come in the mail, they go straight to the recycle bin. I still occasionally flip through the Sunday paper inserts and cut out the ones I think I'll use, but then I end up not using them. I've noticed the ones in the Sunday paper oftentimes correspond to the weekly sales at the major grocery stores so sometimes it does double up.

My mother would cut out the ones that were treats and buy things she wouldn't buy otherwise, restricting herself to one treat per shopping trip. She felt less guilty if she paid less than full price for her cookies. I figured she deserved to buy herself cookies if she wanted to and if it took a coupon to make her feel better about it then thank goodness for the coupon.

One of our groceries offers a loyalty card that is actually worth something. After a three month cycle you get back dollar off coupons for 10% of what you've spent over the previous three months.

In addition they send you coupons good for $2 off produce and $2 off meat when they send you your rebate thingy.

I LOVE those coupons.

Becasue the store also sells electronics, toys, hardware, and so on it is really easy to rack up some serious rebates.

Once a month Safeway also has a save $20 on any $100 purchase coupon that comes out in the Food Day section of the paper. I always shop at Safeway that week.

But I never clip actual coupons for products.

boomer- Did you know that those "loyalty cards" track a patron's purchases? I suppose that there is no harm in that, but I would like for patrons to be informed of that when they apply for the card. (It probably says it somewhere on the application, in print that is fit for an owl to read! )

i used them often while i subscribed to a newspaper. use enough of them, they subsidize the subscription cost quite a bit. now, i only use them at Costco & for a OTC medication i order online. another similar thing i do, which is a real pain at times, is send in rebates. i've even sent them in so i could get a check for a buck and a half. and, you guessed it, i use loyalty cards as well.

I love my loyalty card - I recently got $75 off a large purchase with my points.

They can track all they want - since I pretty much don't use cash anymore, the debit card carrier already knows where I buy my socks and soap and roasts.

I use coupons whenever I can. We don't really have newspaper coupons here - those delivered envelopes are the primary source.

My approach to the savings used to be a lot like Shewolf's. I had an old wine carafe that coupon savings and pennies went into. The money in the carafe kept me in my favourite French perfumes and colognes.

Yes, I know they track my purchases. I'm not too concerned about them knowing what kind of bread I like.

I also have a PetCo Top Dog card. They send me coupons for 20% off of anything every couple of months. When I mix that discount in with the regular discount along with the free bag of food every 10 bags that is another card that really pays off.

No, don't use them. I just never got into the habit.

I never use coupons, and if you'd make a price check
of certain items, you find that the store brand is often times
cheaper than the item with coupon. Besides, I rarely buy
what's offered on coupons, which brings me to my question:
Why don't they ever offer coupons on fresh fruit and vegetables,
milk, and other essential foods?

I also have a loyalty card from safeway, and I usually
save anywhere from $5 to $ 20 with it. And since I buy
flowers every week, ever so often I get a free bouquet.

I use coupons all the time. I definitely do the price check -- yesterday 6 cans of College Inn broth for $1 off was not as good a buy as 6 cans of the store brand. But sometimes the coupon is a better deal, or it turns out that we just have an absolute preference and don't want to substitute.

I estimate we save about $10 - $15 per week, often more like $25 - $30, or $500 - $1500 per year. Yes, that much.

I don't care about them tracking my spending habits. If they really want to know what shampoo I buy, who cares? And it hardly even matters, because products we like still go the way of the dinosaur, or we are sent store coupons for stuff we don't buy. If they have a database for this, it's not a very good one.

I use coupons all the time. I rebate all the time.

Once you get a system going, it takes very little time.
I only use coupons for items I use regulary, or something I think would be something good to try. Like a different brand of a type of product I use regularly.

When I use a coupon, I think of it this way.....
If an item costs $4.00, and I have a $1.00 off coupon, it's like earning 25% on your money, tax free.

Where else can you get a return like that, for taking 5 seconds to cut out a piece of paper?

There are drugstores that do monthly rebates where you buy whatever rebate items appeal to you throughout the month, and turn in all the receipts at the same time.

OK - dig this.....

In the Sunday paper, the drugstore of course has it's weekly flyer.

I glance through it and see what's being offered that week.
I note that a brand of shampoo, toothpaste, hair coloring are all on sale this week, for the exact price that the rebate is offered for....plus I have a $1.00 coupon for shampoo, $1.00 off the toothpaste, and $2.00 off the coloring. PLUS.....if I take the rebate in the form of a store gift card, they through in an extra 10% for my trouble......

The shampoo is on sale for $5.00
The toothpaste costs $3.00
The hair coloring is on sale for $9.00

So I get $17.00 worth of products I use anyway
I get the 10% store bonus of $1.70
and I used $4.00 worth of coupons.....

I get a bottle of shampoo, a tube of toothpaste and a box of hair coloring PLUS and extra $5.70 ahead of the game....they are paying ME to use the products.

With that system, I have not had to pay a dime in years for body wash, mascara, makeup foundation, the above items plus all kind of other stuff too numerous to mention.

I have a cupboard that we call Chai's Pharmacy, whenever one of use runs out of whatever, we reach in and have the opportunity to try yet another interesting product.

I rebate for printers, stoves, office furniture, home video equipment.

I clip coupons for 2 for 1's at sandwhich shops, restaurants, etc. and buy the food take out, bring it home and we enjoy 2 meals for less than the cost than I could have made it myself.

I don't think this is demeaning at all.....I think it's damn smart.

It's an immediate return on your money of up to 100% plus, affords you the opportunity to try new products, and in the long run saves time because you don't have to waste your time running out to the store because you ran out of shampoo.

Here is a fact.....Companies offer rebates and coupons not only to get you to try their product, but because they know (with rebates anyway), that well more than half the people who buy a product and take the rebate coupon home will never use it. They bank on that.

What does all this extra "work" cost me each month? I estimate no more than 30 minutes, tops, ususally less.

I read the paper from cover to cover anyway, and everyone goes to the drug store, why not take advantage.

No one has a problem rebating to get $1,000 back on a $25,000 car, why not get stuff for free?


Oh - one other thing, I actually do buy stuff I don't use, if I can get it for free. That I take down to the local Hospice and donate, I've taken boxes full of stuff to them, or I'll just give it to someone.

We use coupons only sparingly. Some years back, living in Providence, I had opportunity to observe my sis in law with coupons. She belonged to a club and had a pantry full of coupons. She actually went shopping for about 60 70 dollars woth of groceries and the store ended up giving her money once the coupons were figured.

We'd like to use more coupons, but good ones seem to be harder to get these days. There's a lot of crappy ones about for stuff /services that we would never use.

this is a great idea

Thanks Chai T

Thanks!

Stuff they particularly always need are toothbrushes and toothpaste, lotion, soap/shampoo, tissue, q-tips, deorderant, shaving razors and shaving cream (those last 2 are big ones)

Also, not to pay particular attention to the ladies, but also stuff like nail polish. The nurses or aides going in say many times they'll put a fresh coat on while talking with the woman. Makes 'em feel better sometimes, ya know?

shopping with coupons
I used to rely heavily on coupons, saving up to $20-25 every month or so. I combed the Sunday paper and rarely used coupons for stuff I didn't want/need. But that was years ago, and the coupons don't mean too much now. Maybe my wants have been a bit reduced?