Coupons and deals

[ShaneEnochs]

Just wanted to share something with you guys. I have been watching "Extreme Couponers" on Netflix, trying to find a way to realistically survive without foodstamps, and I picked up some tips and tricks throughout the series. So today my wife and I went to the grocery store prepared with coupons and a grocery list full of deals.

We spent $117.48. We SAVED $98.20. How awesome is that? I'm pretty sure we're set for the rest of the month (except for things like milk and bread). I was so excited! I can't believe I've been paying full price for crap when I absolutely didn't have to. I paid little over HALF of what I normally would have. How awesome is that?

 

[W_BRANDON]

Don't forget to factor in the time it took you to collect/sort those coupons.

I'm concerned most with your taste in television.

 

[KCIndy]

Just curious - where did you get the coupons?

 

[ShaneEnochs]

Just curious - where did you get the coupons?

Most were digital coupons that I loaded straight onto my Kroger card. Others came from the newspaper/sales papers. Most of the savings came from the in-store deals. The coupons did help a bit though.

Don't forget to factor in the time it took you to collect/sort those coupons.

I'm concerned most with your taste in television.

It honestly only took about three hours of preparation.

As far as the television thing goes, I'm always looking to learn. Why not learn about saving money?

 

[MelissaWV]

Most were digital coupons that I loaded straight onto my Kroger card. Others came from the newspaper/sales papers. Most of the savings came from the in-store deals. The coupons did help a bit though.



It honestly only took about three hours of preparation.

As far as the television thing goes, I'm always looking to learn. Why not learn about saving money?

Kudos on that, but I don't find a lot of coupons for meat and dairy and produce. It's usually for frozen food, non-food items, and prepackaged things.

 

[W_BRANDON]

It honestly only took about three hours of preparation.

As far as the television thing goes, I'm always looking to learn. Why not learn about saving money?

I was just kidding about your taste in tv.

It doesn't seem like the people on the show really save as much you are lead to believe. They end up having a bunch of crap they don't need (e.g. 200 bars of soap, 150 tubes of toothpaste, 80 boxes of detergent etc..). Some of this seems like a waste but then again I've never tried doing it.

 

[phill4paul]

I was just kidding about your taste in tv.

It doesn't seem like the people on the show really save as much you are lead to believe. They end up having a bunch of crap they don't need (e.g. 200 bars of soap, 150 tubes of toothpaste, 80 boxes of detergent etc..). Some of this seems like a waste but then again I've never tried doing it.

And if you got these things for pennies on the dollar do you think you could sell them for half what the store was selling and make a profit? That's what yard sales and flea markets are for.

 

[ShaneEnochs]

I wasn't going into it with the expectation of getting huge amounts of stuff. I just wanted to be able to save as much as I could buying what I would normally buy.

I did, however, end up buying like 30 cans of green beans. But hey, I like green beans.

 

[Steven Douglas]

Don't forget to factor in the time it took you to collect/sort those coupons.

The only time I would factor in time, counting it as money, is if it really was a substitute for other time that was, or could have equated to money.

I had a pantry, fridge and freezer fully stocked and packed during my "starving" college days, for literally pennies on the dollar from what the average person paid in groceries, and all because I was systematic about it. This is no idle boast; in the early '80's, my all-time record for savings was $317.13 worth of groceries (two FULL carts) for exactly $16.00.

It's not like it was in the 80's, with price wars and double and triple savings, and multiple coupons, but it's starting to get there. Right now stores like Krogers and Safeway are producing enormous savings opportunities for anyone willing to go online. The big push is to get you to buy in larger quantities, but people of truly limited means aren't spending unnecessary money on unnecessary items simply to brag about how much they "saved". It's all about survival and necessity at that level, with a lot of patience involved. I would buy four copies of the Sunday paper (to begin with) just for the coupons. And more if I needed, if the sales warranted.

One enormously valuable strategy I employed has to do with staying power. In other words, how long will it be before the next sale on this particular item, and can I last until then? I needed peanut butter, but would go without until it went on sale. I never compromised, I had no problem substituting, and acquiring a taste for sale items, so I count ONLY a big sale with substantial savings. And if peanut butter was finally offered at a "Loss Leader" price, I'd search out matching manufacturers coupons (they will ALL send coupons to you if you write to them and ask point blank), and make whatever substitutions I needed to make, to funnel it into peanut butter, so that I could stock up enough to last me until the next sale.

Shop those sales, baby, and more power to you! Get it down to a system and a science. There is no need to pay a lot for groceries if you have the spare time to invest.

 

[angelatc]

Awesome! I was into it a few years ago. I think there were much better deals then.

The best deal I ever got was from Jewel Osco. They were giving $5.00 back if you bought 5 Proctor & Gamble products. They also had ivory soap on sale for .49 a bar. Ivory Soap is a P&G product. So, (rounding and excludung tax) I made $2.50 for every $2.50 I spent.

 

[angelatc]

The only time I would factor in time, counting it as money, is if it really was a substitute for other time that was, or could have equated to money.

I used to argue that same point about whether it was "worth it" to list low cost items on eBay. If I'm doing nothing but watching TV, I'm making nothing. If I'm watching TV *and* selling $5.00 items, I'm making money. Obviously I'd be making more doing other things, but at 9:00 on Sunday nights, I didn't want to do much else.

 

[Tpoints]

Don't forget to factor in the time it took you to collect/sort those coupons.

I'm concerned most with your taste in television.

if you don't have a job or better use of your time, that's almost irrelevant.

 

[Tpoints]

Most were digital coupons that I loaded straight onto my Kroger card. Others came from the newspaper/sales papers. Most of the savings came from the in-store deals. The coupons did help a bit though.

It honestly only took about three hours of preparation.

As far as the television thing goes, I'm always looking to learn. Why not learn about saving money?

Exactly! Why not learn to save money if it doesn't cost too much to learn?

Just make sure you don't buy what you don't need, and use what you buy. Otherwise, wasted is still wasted, even if you "saved" money buying it.

Some people here will tell you that buying from this store or that wholesale club will save even more, and they may have a point, so do whatever fits your budget and time.

 

[amy31416]

Awesome! I was into it a few years ago. I think there were much better deals then.

The best deal I ever got was from Jewel Osco. They were giving $5.00 back if you bought 5 Proctor & Gamble products. They also had ivory soap on sale for .49 a bar. Ivory Soap is a P&G product. So, (rounding and excludung tax) I made $2.50 for every $2.50 I spent.

One of the things that annoys me the most about this area is that food is a lot more expensive here, with the exception of milk. Back in my hometown, grocery stores doubled coupons, you got gas points, there was a good variety and we actually got coupons in the mail--none of that here. Not even shopper cards to get discounts or special deals. I have to get a Meijer credit card in order to get a minor discount--that's ridiculous. And even the markdown section (discontinued/close to expiration) sections in the store suck.

Am I doing something wrong here? You'd think that food in the Midwest would be cheaper.

 

[oyarde]

One of the things that annoys me the most about this area is that food is a lot more expensive here, with the exception of milk. Back in my hometown, grocery stores doubled coupons, you got gas points, there was a good variety and we actually got coupons in the mail--none of that here. Not even shopper cards to get discounts or special deals. I have to get a Meijer credit card in order to get a minor discount--that's ridiculous. And even the markdown section (discontinued/close to expiration) sections in the store suck.

Am I doing something wrong here? You'd think that food in the Midwest would be cheaper.

Little bit South it is , I have never been able to figure it out , if I go a State North, everything costs more , but I know ,it is all the same companies and , logistics, trucking , warehousing , fuel , are halfway between me and that.....one of the reasons I like being situated where I am , groceries as cheap as it is going to get in the US , no tax on groceries, 1% property tax on primary residence.....

 

[oyarde]

One of the things that annoys me the most about this area is that food is a lot more expensive here, with the exception of milk. Back in my hometown, grocery stores doubled coupons, you got gas points, there was a good variety and we actually got coupons in the mail--none of that here. Not even shopper cards to get discounts or special deals. I have to get a Meijer credit card in order to get a minor discount--that's ridiculous. And even the markdown section (discontinued/close to expiration) sections in the store suck.

Am I doing something wrong here? You'd think that food in the Midwest would be cheaper.

Just thought of something, are the grocers up there Union ??

 

[amy31416]

Little bit South it is , I have never been able to figure it out , if I go a State North, everything costs more , but I know ,it is all the same companies and , logistics, trucking , warehousing , fuel , are halfway between me and that.....one of the reasons I like being situated where I am , groceries as cheap as it is going to get in the US , no tax on groceries, 1% property tax on primary residence.....

I just wish it were easier to find a good property around your parts. There's a reason there isn't an abundance of cheap land/houses.

 

[angelatc]

One of the things that annoys me the most about this area is that food is a lot more expensive here, with the exception of milk. Back in my hometown, grocery stores doubled coupons, you got gas points, there was a good variety and we actually got coupons in the mail--none of that here. Not even shopper cards to get discounts or special deals. I have to get a Meijer credit card in order to get a minor discount--that's ridiculous. And even the markdown section (discontinued/close to expiration) sections in the store suck.

Am I doing something wrong here? You'd think that food in the Midwest would be cheaper.

It's the rural part that's killing you. Where we are now we have a Target, Wal-Mart, Meijer, and Kroger at the same intersection, and Walmart matches prices. At the new house, there's a small grocer. Prices are a lot higher.

Plus Michigan just seems to have a lot of independent grocers. More than anywhere else I've lived.

 

[opal]

I used to have a lot better luck with coupons than I do now. Our grocery choices are very limited where I live and we try to do a once a month *big* shop at the commissary on base - which really isn't that much cheaper anymore and has really narrowed the brand selection drastically.
I don't shop at china-mart .. our other choices for local-ish groceries are Publix (expensive) Winn Dixie ..meh.. the store is clean anyway and one called Pick-n-Save that has weird to me brands and attaches a sur charge on everything .. someone explained how that's legal to me once but I've since forgotten. It's still cheaper than the big chain stores but it's a small store with not much that I use.

Coupons are generaly for things I don't use.. packaged crap.. baby items and a whole lot of proctor and gamble items - which are forbidden in my house.
Produce and meats I don't find coupons for and that's the major part of my grocery bill.
I do get some coupons for frozen stuff and dairy but not nearly as many as I used to .. due to brand narrowing - they just dont' carry the brands I find coupons for anymore.

 

[tod evans]

The absolute best food deal you can get is to befriend a farmer.

Meat should always come wrapped only in white butcher paper written on with a sharpie, never wrapped in cellophane.

Veggies come in brown paper bags or reused wal-mart plastic usually with dirt still attached and an occasional bug.

Many farmers will sell home canned or frozen produce after you get to know them.

But yeah, coupons for all the plastic, disposable China crap most of us use.....