Coupons?

paintgirl

Hey gals! It's Friday so I figured people might be bored (or just distracted by the weekend) and willing to answer a random question. I see all these crazy TV shows about couponing but I've never really done it. I'm getting stingy in my old age and don't like to part with a dollar if I don't have to.

Do you use coupons?
What's your best source - websites, the newspaper, etc?
Do you spend a ton of time doing it, or just a few minutes?
How much - either dollar amount or percentage - do you think you save at the grocery store with your coupons?

I just noticed our grocery store has electronic coupons. You just load them to your frequent shopper card before you go and BAM! You get the discount at the register. Even I'm not too lazy to use those!

Swazzle

Our grocery store does that too!  Do you shop at PathMark?  

Other than that I don't really use coupons at the grocery store.  I don't usually think to hunt for them before I have to go food shopping. 

I do, however, use them when shopping for stuff online.  I almost never buy something online without some sort of discount or free shipping code.  My favorite site is www.retailmenot.com.  I also like eBates which when you shop through them you get a % of your total purchase back into your eBates account and then every 3 months they mail you a check or send the money via PayPal which is nice! 

becunning2

My boyfriend and I have recently started clipping coupons. I'm not a big fan of it, but he spends most of the time doing it, so I don't mind. On our last/first grocery shopping adventure with coupons, we saved about 10%. 

deburnin

Do you use coupons?
Yup. I have a binder full of coupons! I really only started using coupons hardcore in the last month or two since we've been trying to find ways to cut costs to save for the wedding.

What's your best source - websites, the newspaper, etc?

I use a mix of both. I get the majority of them from the newspaper, but if there's a specific item that I want and didn't get a coupon for, I'll search online to see if there are any printable ones.

Do you spend a ton of time doing it, or just a few minutes?
Every Sunday morning it's the first thing I do. I go through the coupons and then through the store's sales flyer and create a shopping list based on what's on sale and what I have a coupon for.

How much - either dollar amount or percentage - do you think you save at the grocery store with your coupons?

Last week with shopping sales and using coupons we got $135 in groceries for $73. We saved $19 with couposn and $42 thanks to sale items. We also get points towards gas at our local store. We earned 793 points thanks to buying specific sales items (100 points = .01) and 100 bonus points (10 points for each manufactuere coupon coupon used). We're up to $1.20 off per gallon.

Hazel_B

Do you use coupons?

I've always sort of used coupons when i remembered and they were right in front of me. I recently got more organized about it.

What's your best source - websites, the newspaper, etc?

For me it is online, Canada doesn't do the newspaper coupons the same way as in the US.

Do you spend a ton of time doing it, or just a few minutes?

Ummm, maybe 30 minutes a week. So, that is looking for the coupons themselves, matching them with the deals and clearing out the expired ones.

How much - either dollar amount or percentage - do you think you save at the grocery store with your coupons?

There is no way I can get things for free like in the US, everything is more expensive here and coupons aren't valued as high plus no one doubles. I try to save about $5 to $10 a week. It can only go so far though, I can only stock up on so much stuff and we don't buy a lot of processed food.

dwest2201

Paint, I LOL'ed at your "stingy in my old age" comment! 

Anywho, I get a paper a couple times a month and clip coupons for items that I know that I will use, or donate (I collect personal care items for St. Vincent dePaul continually).  I used to keep them at the house, but have started keeping them in my car, because I kept forgetting them!  I will occasionally search for printable coupons for items that I buy regularly or new items want to try too.

Some trips to the grocery I only save a couple bucks, others I've saved nearly 50%...depending on what I'm buying, combined with their sales and coupons used.  Another place that I use coupons regularly is Walgreens, when their items are on sale and you have a coupon you can get some great deals!

For online shopping I always do a quick search for discount/promo codes before making purchases, even for things that I purchase at work!

CCO2012

I like coupons when I can find them. I usually sign up to get emails from brands I really like.

Also, I shop at Aldi. I just started to go there this summer and I am shocked by the quality of food and how much we save! I really like their ice cream, milk, and cereals . Also, most of their crackers, chips and canned food are just as good if not better than big store brands. Last time I went to Aldi I bought milk, 2 boxes of cereal, cheese, apples, bananas, and yogurt and only spent $14, $14!!!!!!!!! That has probably saved me more money than coupons has.

But for coupons I like Coupons.com and Hip2save.com. Also check Walmart and Target's websites for their store coupons.

leia1979

The digital grocery coupons sound cool. My store doesn't do that, but they have the club card sales, so we often try to buy what's on sale.

In general, I don't coupon much. We don't even get a newspaper. However, I never go to JoAnn's or Michael's without my 40% off coupon in hand. I also hit up retailmenot.com when shopping online.

paintgirl

Funny - I'm the same as some of you gals about online purchases. No coupon, no order.

I think I'll start with the digital coupons and stuff sent by stores. (I get Target coupons a lot and usually forget to use them.)

I just got coupons for $3 off the pups nail trims! Sweet!