Does anyone else "extreme" coupon?

[Shortpants]

I figured this was the best section for this as it has to do with money. I debated about off topic, but it seemed to fit better here.

 

Does anyone else "extreme" coupon? I am just getting started on it now, but am amazed at what you can get super cheap, or even FREE, if you are willing to do a little leg work. I saw this Nightline a few months back:

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(just the first segment is extreme couponing, the last 2 are acai berries and squirrel meat... hmmmm, squirrel meat, oh my! LOL) Back to the subject at hand... I saw the program and was downright AMAZED at what these people were doing with coupons. I did some more research and have started doing it myself, with immediate results. I saved almost $25 the first time I went, and it has increased every time I go shopping.

 

I am by no means a "pro" at this, like in the video, but I am saving already and am ready to venture into the next realm of "super couponing" and start stockpiling super cheap and free items.

 

Post here if you do this, or if you have interest in it. PM me if you want more info on how to get started. Or, if there is enough interest, I can type it up here, I guess. I just don't want to fill up the relatiosnhip boards with couponing stuff! LOL All I know is one of the ladies I have met in my coupon travels feeds a family of four, with two teenage boys, on $50 a week! That is incredible!!

 

With the economy what it is, we all need all the help we can get. And if I can share some helpful things I have learned with the great people here at ENA, I'm game!!

[Catdancer]

Wow! I am definitely interested! can you post some of what you are talking about. I've never heard of "extreme couponing".

[pinkelephant]

im not in the states, so i cant watch the vid. i guess coupons are good. for those who are canadians, check out save.ca. apparnetly it's great.

[metrogirl]

I just do regular coupons. Sometimes if the timing is right, I can get some great deals. I went to Walmart the other day and my total was 116.00 and after my coupons it was down to 86.00 dollars.

[Shortpants]

I gotta go take lunchbreak and run a couple errands, I'll give you a rundown when I get back a little later... mah belly's a rumblin'! hehe

[shes2smart]

Look up Mary Hunt. She's written several books on "Debt-Free Living" and seein' as how food is most people's biggest expenditure after rent, she's written quite a bit about how to save money on food.

 

You wanna get serious about this, you'll make up a "price book" with data on the prices of items you typically buy at stores you tend to shop at the most.

 

That way you will know when a "sale" is really a "sale" (as in 'this is the lowest price at which they offer this item, so I will buy enough to tide me over til the next time it's likely to go on sale' sale)...and you can time your coupon use to make things even cheaper.

 

Not into the couponing so much, but keep a price book and am about 2-3 months into transitioning to "pantry/stock-up shopping" from "just buy what we need no matter what it costs" shopping. We have a house with a full basement, so space is not an issue.

[BellaDonna]

I don't think I "extreme" coupon, but I do always try to use coupons in combination with sales. On every one of my grocery chopping trips I save at least $10.00 in coupons. I am always cutting them out, organizing them, and trying to use them with sales.

 

I have to admit- it is more time consuming than I'd like it to be but using coupons is like being given free money, so it is time well spent, IMO. A dollar is a dollar. Why would I pay a dollar more for something if there are pieces of paper I can use to instantly save a dollar? The savings add up.

 

I will definitely look up those websites!

 

I also like reward programs. Even though I am potty training my son right now, I have really been picky about using diaper sales in combination with diaper coupons and have probably saved hundreds of dollars over the past 3 years doing that. I enrolled in the Pampers "Gifts to Grow" program which allows you to enter codes from your diaper packages to receive points that you can cash in for rewards. So far I have gotten free toys, a $20.00 gift card to Bath and Body Works, and free magazine subscriptions.

 

I complete online consumer surveys for "e-rewards" and get free stuff from that too.

 

I also have a credit card with a reward program so we put EVERY purchase (groceries, gas, everything) on our card and pay the balance in full each month using one check. Using that card has given me about $300+ a year in free giftcards for stores I shop in.

 

I hustle whenever I can.

[Shortpants]

Ok, back... sorry but had to git while the gittin' was good! LOL

 

Wow metro, that's great! Just a testament to the power of that little piece of paper!

 

S2S has got it right too, a price book is very handy. I know I don't remember all the different prices at all the different stores. Mary Hunt is great too.

 

Here it is in a nutshell. Most people are like I was before I got serious, they scan through the coupons they get in the Sunday paper, may see one or two that they might use, and generally think, "Bah, it's not worth the effort!" Au contraire, my friend!! With internet printable coupons, store coupons, manufacturers coupons, you can really make a HUGE dent in what you spend on food every month.

 

For instance, a common misconception is that you can't "stack" coupons on a single item. Not true! You can stack a manufacturers coupon and a store coupon for extra savings. As an example, say Walgreens is having a sale on Coppertone sunscreen for $3.98 a bottle and has an in-flyer ad for $1 off any Coppertone suncare product, and you have another $1 off manufacturers coupon... you can stack the two and get the sunscreen for $1.98. Not to mention that places like Walgreens, CVS, etc have return customer rewards that will print off a $$ off your next order coupon when you buy certain products. Those can also be stacked. So if you use all three, you can get the item free!

 

Which brings up stockpiling. When there is a situation where you have a deal like above with the free Coppertone, you collect multiple coupons and buy in multitudes. You can either stockpile the stuff for your own use ( things like toilet paper, shampoo, or deoderant are great for stockpiling for personal use) or if you really get into it, you can have a yard sale with all the things you have gotten free or really cheap and make some serious moolah. Check your local laws on yard sales if considering this though, as some areas have strict rules on what can and cannot be sold at a yard sale. This can be a huge moneymaker for some folks if you have the room to store stuff.

 

So yah, who has the time to do all the legwork to find all the deals and do the matching to what's on sale where, what the coupons are, yadda, yadda, yadda... Not me! LOL I leave my house at 6:30 AM and get home at 5:30 PM, so my time is precious. Lucky me, I found a website that does the matchups for me! No effort from me other than reading and finding the coupons, most of which I have already clipped. I make our dinner menus for 2 weeks at a time and shop for everything all at once, every other week. Work smarter, not harder!!!

 

All this new info has really opened my eyes to the value of coupons. I don't want to clog up ENA with links to other sites that deal with couponing, so just PM me and I'll send you the links if you want to take a look and learn more. Who doesn't want to save money?!?!?!

[BellaDonna]

this new info has really opened my eyes to the value of coupons. I don't want to clog up ENA with links to other sites that deal with couponing, so just PM me and I'll send you the links if you want to take a look and learn more. Who doesn't want to save money?!?!?!

 

OOOO- I want the links!!!

 

For instance, a common misconception is that you can't "stack" coupons on a single item. Not true! You can stack a manufacturers coupon and a store coupon for extra savings. As an example, say Walgreens is having a sale on Coppertone sunscreen for $3.98 a bottle and has an in-flyer ad for $1 off any Coppertone suncare product, and you have another $1 off manufacturers coupon... you can stack the two and get the sunscreen for $1.98. Not to mention that places like Walgreens, CVS, etc have return customer rewards that will print off a $$ off your next order coupon when you buy certain products. Those can also be stacked. So if you use all three, you can get the item free!

 

Which brings up stockpiling. When there is a situation where you have a deal like above with the free Coppertone, you collect multiple coupons and buy in multitudes.

 

I do all 3 of those things- I guess I AM an extreme couponer lol.

[jengh]

links links links!

[Shortpants]

PM's sent to Cat, Metro, BellaDonna, and Jengh!! Hope you all find it as enlightening as I did!!

 

Good luck in your penny pinching!!

[metrogirl]

I stack, boy oh boy do I stack. Walgreens is one of my favorite spots as they have some really good coupons in their weekly ad that I use with mfr coupons.

 

I stockpile too. Just a few weeks ago, there were 4.00 dollars off coupons for Nivea body wash. Cvs had it on sale for 4.88. If you spent 15.00 dollars on Nivea products you would get 5 eb's (extra bucks) back.

 

So everyone here at work knows that I coupon and 2 people here give me their coupons from their papers, plus the guy at the corner store knows that I coupon so he saves me some from the papers that he doesn't sell and my daughter will inevitably get me some extra coupons as well, plus the coupons from the paper that I buy.

 

Continuing on with the Nivea story, I ended up with 13 bottles of body wash and it cost me next to nothing. LOL

 

I am notorious for stock piling deodorants, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and feminine hygeine stuff.

[Shortpants]

Sounds like we DO have a couple "extreme" couponers here, and they didn't even know it!! LOL BellaDonna and Metro, you guys are already on the road to Super Couponing!

 

The reward points (ie: Coke codes, Pampers codes, etc.) are huge too. You can even redeem the points you earn for more coupons!

 

The return customer rewards from places like Walgreens and CVS are a biggie too. The more you shop, the more you earn. And some grocery stores (in my area it's Price Chopper) will give you cents off gallons of gas with every dollar you spend with them with your advantage card.

 

Also make sure if you are couponing, you are going to grocers that double or triple your coupons. That's where the coupons really add up. Also check what the EXACT policy is for doubling. Some stores only double up to 50 cent coupons, but won't double the $1 ones. Make sure you are going to the place that gives you the best deal. This plays in with the price list S2S mentioned. You do need to compare prices at individual stores and who doubles what coupons and make sure you are getting the lowest price you can.

 

Another misconception is that you can only use one coupon per item, per transaction. Again, this is dependant on the policy of the store. Some will be picky about it, others will ring you up with a smile. The best way I heard it explained was one woman recounting about how a cashier was giving her a hard time about the wording on the coupons she was using. The cashier was arguing about how it stated "one coupon per item, per purchase". The woman kindly pointed at her individual items, saying, "this is an item", then laid one coupon on the top of each item and said, "these are each a purchase", then finally waved her arm over the whole order and said, "THIS is all a transaction". I love it and have used that same line when cashiers give me a hard time about multiple coupons. Worst case scenario, you make the cashier ring up multiple transactions if they are being snarky.

 

Lots of money to be saved if you play your cards right!

[metrogirl]

My stores don't double like they did years ago. I know Ralphs from time to time will double coupons that don't exceed .50 cents. Vons doesn't double any more.

 

In case you gals didn't know, once a month K-mart will double coupons. I went in April and they were doubling coupons up to 2.00. So if you had a 2.00 dollar coupon, it was doubled to 4.00 dollars!

 

Where's Ms. Firecracker? She and I talk coupon stuff a lot!

[RideOn]

I don't extreme coupon but I do use coupons everytime I go to WalMart. I saw extreme coupon segment. It's amazing how they can save that much money. However, I'm not going to buy something that I don't need or use just to save money. I usually save on the average about $5-10 on coupons everytime I go to WalMart. At the end of the year those savings really add up.

 

I went and bought the Sunday paper because I needed gas and I was all excited because I figure there would be a lot of good coupons. Unfortunately, for some reason, the Sunday paper didn't issue coupons that day. Talk about being frustrated. lol

[metrogirl]

I don't extreme coupon but I do use coupons everytime I go to WalMart. I saw extreme coupon segment. It's amazing how they can save that much money. However, I'm not going to buy something that I don't need or use just to save money. I usually save on the average about $5-10 on coupons everytime I go to WalMart. At the end of the year those savings really add up.

 

I went and bought the Sunday paper because I needed gas and I was all excited because I figure there would be a lot of good coupons. Unfortunately, for some reason, the Sunday paper didn't issue coupons that day. Talk about being frustrated. lol

 

No coupons before a holiday. It's been like that for years. Next weeks should be good though.

[Shortpants]

I'm super lucky that my regular grocers double coupons up to $1, so I get $2 off for each $1 coupon! Woot, woot!! They even double the ones that state "no doubling". I love my grocers!

 

Kmart actually will have occasional TRIPLE coupon dates also. Which is awesome, but it seems to be relatively unannounced and only some stores do it, not all.

 

Nice, RideOn! You are right, every little bit helps! Yeah, no coupon inserts on Holiday weekends (although a few people I know DID get a General Mills one on Memorial Day weekend... my paper didn't have one, boo hoo!) That's when I get a copy of All You magazine (a mag that is all coupons, pretty much) from Walmart and get my coupon fix there. hehe

 

Next weekend will be the RedPlum insert, the SmartSource insert and the Proctor & Gamble one. I don't see a SmartSource preview posted yet though. Maybe it just hasn't been leaked yet. LOL

 

Love to see all these couponers!

[Shortpants]

However, I'm not going to buy something that I don't need or use just to save money.

 

I know EXACTLY what you mean RideOn! That's one of the biggest reasons I never did coupons in the past. They never seemed to have ones for the brands I bought. BUT one of the first lessons I learned was to stop being brand specific. Say you usually get Nothern toilet paper, but White Cloud is on sale that week and there is a manufacturers coupon and a store coupon available... you bet your shiney hiney I'm getting the White Cloud!! LOL

 

That's one of the main reasons I was so happy to find the couponers network website I go to, with being able to trade coupons I get but will never use for coupons I may not get in my area but would use, it has been a Godsend, and I never use a coupon on anything "just to save money", that just totally defeats the purpose!!

 

Oh, and another side note for expired coupons. Military families that are stationed overseas can use expired coupons at the base shopping centers up until about 6 months after the expiration date. I highly encourage all couponers to look into donating to our military members and families when their coupons expire.

[BellaDonna]

Oh, and another side note for expired coupons. Military families that are stationed overseas can use expired coupons at the base shopping centers up until about 6 months after the expiration date. I highly encourage all couponers to look into donating to our military members and families when their coupons expire.

 

I never knew that. I would definitely do that. So many of mine expire and I always feel like I wasted my time once I throw them away. I'd feel better about donating them. The manufacturers should still have to honor the coupon. I hate when expiration dates are so short. I think P&G is especially notorious for that if my memory serves me right.

[anggrace]

Most of my savings comes from "buy one get one". I buy about a months worth of whatever is buy one get one and it saves me a ton! I use coupons as well.

[metrogirl]

Oh, and another side note for expired coupons. Military families that are stationed overseas can use expired coupons at the base shopping centers up until about 6 months after the expiration date. I highly encourage all couponers to look into donating to our military members and families when their coupons expire

.

 

I didn't know this. I have so many coupons that expire and I just toss them out. Ok, will definitely look into how to donate my expired coupons to the military families.

 

Belladonna, you are correct, P&G gives you 1 month on most of their coupons. Grrr.....

[Shortpants]

Here's a couple links to places I found that you can send (or drop off if you are close to a drop off place) expired coupons to send overseas:

 

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It really is great that you can not only avoid tossing the expireds, but that someone in the Military can use them. The other option is if you know someone that is stationed overseas, you can send them direct and they can just put them at the commissarry/PX and anyone that needs them can use them.

[dragon lady]

Coupons are not big where I live now, but when I was in the States I found that it was rare to come accross coupons for things I actually wanted. I eat about 90% fresh food and most food coupons are for packaged items. I'm also picky about the brands I buy for household goods and cosmetics. The only coupons I used to take advantage of were razorblades. Those things are sooo expensive and knocking a couple of dollars of them was really helpful.

[shes2smart]

It seems like over the last, oh, 2 decades or so my food preferences and what companies offer coupons for have gone two different directions. After I read one of Mary Hunt's books I started following a couple of the online couponing sites she mentioned.....and am finding there's just not much there I'd use.

 

But, the price book....THAT has been an eye opener. It is truly amazing to see the differences in prices of the exact same item between stores....and even in different sizes of the same product (hint: the biggest box/bottle/container isn't necessarily the lowest per ounce price).

 

We have already changed our shopping habits. We discovered the bargain-basement grocery near us (Aldi's) has better bread products cheaper. The wheat bread is 70 cents for a 20-oz loaf and is fresher/softer than the selections at national chain grocery store, f'rinstance. My goal is to get our pantry so well-stocked that we will be able to actually skip a grocery trip every few months (we usually go every other week) -- with the exception of perishables (like milk), of course.

[SnowFox]

There is a website you can sign up to join that does a lot of the research for you on coupons, based on the stores in your area. This would be an option for people who don't have the time/interest to invest in researching/collecting coupons etc.... (I am one of those!)

 

Its called link removed.

 

from their website:

 

What is The Grocery Game?

 

When you play, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.

 

Why can't I just do this on my own?

 

Coupon pros spend hours preparing to shop. They research ads and match their coupons to sales, only to discover twice as many un-advertised sales once they get to the store. More hours are spent standing in the aisles sifting through their files for coupons to match those sales. They save a lot of money, but most of us don't have the time for this type of shopping.

 

Members of The Grocery Game eliminate those time-consuming hours and usually save even more than the coupon pros. For example, just because an item is on sale doesn't mean its time to play your coupon. Our databases track the sales history on nearly every item in the supermarket, waiting to use a coupon on rock-bottom sales. Now, the best possible savings are quickly accessible to busy professionals, overworked moms, single adults or anyone who wants to cut their grocery bill by 50% or even more.