Extreme Couponing

[Belle10]

Stores are wising up. Even though this is legal, I somehow feel this has an immoral quality of greed.

I almost feel as if this is greed and an ends don’t justify the means going on.

The food has to be paid for by SOMEONE. People have come to view business as these great big machienes of doom who are impersonal and careless. What people don’t realize is things like this cost people jobs, bonus’ and raises. We complain about minimum wages, about prices driven up and this is WHY. We are starting to just look out for us and our own.

Let’s say on it’s own mustard is $1.00. The extreme cuponers clean the store out and the store didn’t make any money. The store will raise the price to $1.39 to cover the cost of it’s loss, knowing people need mustard.

I’m not saying cuponing is a bad idea. Using cupons to get discounted product as a promotion is good. They are trying to build a psycological brand loyality, so they’re doign their part.

1. My intent is not greedy at all, but thanks for the insult.
2. When you use a coupon, the store gets the money that you saved by using the coupon – the manufacturer is the one who pays it. It’s not like the store doesn’t get paid.
3. Prices are going up and there aren’t as many jobs because of the horrific policies put forth by the current administration and the jumbled, awful tax laws in this country, NOT because people use coupons. I guess that’s another topic for another thread though.

You have to be willing to shop around for the best deals in each shop, i.e. it might take you five or six supermarkets to complete a weekly shop rather than getting everything in one place.

Yeah, I generally go to Wal-Mart because it’s not usually cheaper anywhere else. If I’m going to start using coupons faithfully though (not even in an extreme way, but just in general) I’ll have to shop around more.

Go at the end of the day and get the reduced price stuff that is going out of date BUT ONLY IF IT’S SOMETHING YOU’LL ACTUALLY EAT! And it has to be in a large enough quantity, e.g if you’ve got a family of six and there’s one pack of pork chops on offer, it’s not worth it. You can freeze most of these things so you don’t have to eat them on the actual day.

Oh, I definitely won’t be buying things we wouldn’t use! That just wouldn’t make any sense.

Use leftovers. There are so many websites and cookery books with tips for these but you really can make 3-4 meals out of the main meat/fish that most families would throw away after one.

I definitely do this already. :yup:

Buy seasonal fruit and veg. They sell nearly everything all year round now, but if you’re price concious, actually look at what they’re charging to import strawberries from Nigeria it’s criminal!

Thankfully my SIL and BIL have a HUGE garden (they run a small farm) so there’s always too much for them and they share their produce. We’re planning a garden for ourselves for next year, and DH wants me to learn to can and such (I’m not really into that, but we’ll see!).

Look in the shops. Sometimes you’ll have a coupon for something but the shop’s own brand version is still cheaper than the branded one with money off. Some things I think it’s worth being brand loyal to - life’s too short for non-Kellogg’s Cornflakes, but most things you can’t tell the difference.

I’m definitely not brand loyal except for a few select items. Most of the time I buy store brand because, like you said, it’s cheaper even if there’s a coupon for the name brand.

 

[beckers]

The only two episode I liked was the guy who bought and used all the toothpaste for care packages for the troops and the pastor who saved and emptied his garage for a charity.

The rest of the people I don’t understand. They buy tons of processed items and very rarely fruits etc. So un healthy. But if I see a coupon i will occasional use them bc being single it’s just cost extra since I end up throwing away so much food.

 

[Little_Mary]

100 bottles of mustard is greed. I don’t care if they did get them all free with their coupons.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

The OP is talking about doing this kind of thing in a smaller scale. Also, stores get reimbursed for coupons, and manufacturers include it in their budget (they can choose how many coupons of what value to put out there) and if you are going to buy something while it is on sale, it won’t make a difference to the store if you use a coupon or not. The manager of the supermarket I go to told me he likes coupons because they get the products moving. Don’t get me wrong, I very much dislike when people abuse the system and are inconsiderate, because aside from it being immoral, it does ruin it for other honest people, plus sometimes the “deals” aren’t really such a good deal if you factor in any extra gas money, time, etc it may take you to get it, but in general a person can put a little extra work into saving money and that can be helpful to the family budget. BTW, Walmart price matches if the store flyer has the price on it (instead of %off or buy one get one), so sometimes that is another way to be able to take advantage of sales that you would otherwise miss because of gas/time if you needed to buy other items at Walmart.

 

[Scout]

I’ve watched the show a few times. It’s one thing to want to save money, which is what I believe people on this thread are wanting to do, and the people on that show who are hoarding groceries. It looks like those people have OCD. I saw one woman who had over $35,000 worth of groceries in her basement. Who needs 11 bottles of laundry detergent. And who has time to spend 40 or 50 hours a week looking for coupons?

These people could stock their lock food pantries in a heart beat. I think some of these people need to go on one of those hoarding reality shows.

Maybe they could do a cross-over?

Scout :tiphat:

 

[HouseArrest]

I’ve watched the show a few times. It’s one thing to want to save money, which is what I believe people on this thread are wanting to do, and the people on that show who are hoarding groceries. It looks like those people have OCD. I saw one woman who had over $35,000 worth of groceries in her basement. Who needs 11 bottles of laundry detergent. And who has time to spend 40 or 50 hours a week looking for coupons?

These people could stock their lock food pantries in a heart beat. I think some of these people need to go on one of those hoarding reality shows.

Maybe they could do a cross-over?

Scout :tiphat:

I could use 11 bottles of laundry detergent! Seriously, with 9 people in the house we run out quite often! I actually think that the laundry soap/TP/paper towel stock up isn’t such a bad idea.

Those of you shopping for low prices… you may already know this…but be careful of WalMart. Your box of waffles might be one dollar compared to 1.25 at your neighborhood store, but there may be a few missing. Happens all the time… manufacturers make them their own (smaller quantity) packages so it looks like you are saving money but you are actually paying more.

 

[MomaMary8]

I could use 11 bottles of laundry detergent! Seriously, with 9 people in the house we run out quite often! I actually think that the laundry soap/TP/paper towel stock up isn’t such a bad idea.

Those of you shopping for low prices… you may already know this…but be careful of WalMart. Your box of waffles might be one dollar compared to 1.25 at your neighborhood store, but there may be a few missing. Happens all the time… manufacturers make them their own (smaller quantity) packages so it looks like you are saving money but you are actually paying more.

lol I was thinking the same thing! I know 11 bottles of dertergent wouldn’t last that long with my 9 kids + plus DH who just loves to garden and dig in dirt

I have a few saving tips I’ll try to pass along Belle, but I’ll have to post them later. I have to run DS to baseball.

 

[Rence]

Making coupons and sales work for you takes some time and effort. I keep all of my coupons in a binder. I’m fortunate enough to have a publics, walgreens and kroger, all within five minutes of each other. So when I get the Sunday paper, I match coupons to sales. A deal is especially good when you pay less for your favorite brand than you would for the generic, especially when you really really like a particular brand. Most times a generic is just fine. But we all have our favorites.

Krogers and Publix doubles coupons up to 0.50 cents. So for example, if a bottle of something is on sale for 1.00 and you give a 0.50 cent coupon, you get the item for free because they will double that coupon. But unlike the people featured on Extreme Couponing, I don’t have a room full of file cabinets with coupon inserts. Rather, I usually buy three papers, so I’d get three of those deals. Obviously, I don’t need fifty bottles of ketchup, mustard, etc.

One of the stores doubled my coupons up to 75 cents…but I don’t remember which one it was…

But when I see a really good deal, and it’s a staple in our house, I will stock up on it. Do I worry about cleaning out the shelves for the next person? No. Because both places offer rainchecks that have to be redeemed within 30 days after the sale ends. So really, if an item isn’t available for the next person, it’s because the store didn’t stock enough to accomodate their sale. So for example, our family uses that 20oz can of hunts whole tomatoes for everything. It’s a staple in our house. Have we used the generic brand? Sure. But this is mom’s favorite. Well, it was buy one get one free on sale at publix. That made it cheaper than the generic. When I do shop for that item, I get anywhere from 6-10 at a time. So you bet I got like 80 cans. There was a limit of ten on them. I bought ten of the plum whole tomatoes, and ten of the plum whole tomatoes with basil. And I made four trips because I was in town that much anyway. And we will probably run out before it goes on sale again. Same thing for Barilla pasta. I waited and waited for it to go on sale. It finally was on sale B1G1 at Publix. Cheaper than the generic and mom’s favOrite brand. Yes, I stocked up on it…but they had plenty, I doubt anyone needed a raincheck then.

Matching sales with coupons, you can usually get things like toothpaste for free. You can also save quite a bit on shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, razors, etc.

Prilosec is something my family uses. It’s very expensive. I can get some samples for free from the doctor’s office, but otherwise I have to buy it out of pocket. How does it not make sense to use a $4.00 coupon when the bottle is $19.00?

I don’t have a cat. I have four dogs. But my brother has a cat. Publix had Whiskas on sale for $2.49 and they were buy one get one free. I had $1.00 coupons for each bag…so I got both bags for $0.49 AND I had coupons for the cans too. The cans were on sale for $0.50, and I had $0.50 coupons, which were doubled. I had three of those coupons. So I got two bags of whiskas and six cans for $0.49 How does that not make sense?
I held on to three $3.00 coupons for Tide. It went on sale at Krogers for $5.99 from $8.99, but I only paid $2.99. I saved $9 on a regularly purchased item. How does that NOT make sense?

You just have to be careful that you don’t use coupons just to use the coupons. Buy only what you would normally buy and make the coupons and sales work for you…

 

[Rence]

If you all make a couponing or smart shopping group, be sure to make an announcement

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I could use 11 bottles of laundry detergent! Seriously, with 9 people in the house we run out quite often! I actually think that the laundry soap/TP/paper towel stock up isn’t such a bad idea.

Those of you shopping for low prices… you may already know this…but be careful of WalMart. Your box of waffles might be one dollar compared to 1.25 at your neighborhood store, but there may be a few missing. Happens all the time… manufacturers make them their own (smaller quantity) packages so it looks like you are saving money but you are actually paying more.

I do know they make cheaper models of electronics (no frills, etc), but more often than not the specific items I purchase (price per item in the box) cost less at Walmart than anywhere else (sometimes even compared to sales). But that is true, usually smaller boxes mean a larger price per item (not always though). Now I have compared prices Walmart vs Sam’s club, and although they are the same company, there have been several items that were cheaper to buy smaller packages at Walmart vs bigger ones at Sams (for example I was on a Frosted Mini Wheats kick (sugar! ), and knew the price per oz it costs at Walmart and when I compare to the price per ounce at Sams, Walmart was cheaper. I can’t remember what else, but there were several items that I knew how much they usually cost at Walmart, and when I compared them with Sam’s price it was the same or cheaper (and took up less space at home, less chance of spoiling). And last time I was at Sam’s they didn’t take coupons either which affects the bottom line too. Now, though, I see the convenience of just buying several items in bulk with larger families, I have done it, and I have also purchased items off Amazon that are cheaper than regular price, but might be more expensive than sales + coupons, but for the convenience of having them arrive in bulk at my house and not having to wait for a sale I do it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

one of my adult daughters does this all the time and saves a tremendous amount of money. And she only buys things her family will use. It gives me a headache to hear her even describe how she does it, so I don’t know myself, though some of the advice given in these posts sounds familiar. But it sure does work. (She has seven kids, so it’s a good thing she does it.)

Interestingly, her husband is one of those guys who can bargain. He’ll go right into a department store and bargain with the salespeople over merchandise. Sometimes it does him no good, but a surprising amount of the time it does. Until I saw him do that, I had no idea retail stores would ever do that. The bigger the item, it seems, the more likely it is that they’ll do it, probably because they have a bigger margin in it and feel themselves able to afford it just to move the merchandise. Seems the salespeople have more discretion than we assume they have, or at least their supervisors do. Recently, my wife and I bought some furniture and I at least tried to do it on a modest scale, and it worked even though I’m a poor price negotiator and hate the whole process.

 

[MomaMary8]

I do know they make cheaper models of electronics (no frills, etc), but more often than not the specific items I purchase (price per item in the box) cost less at Walmart than anywhere else (sometimes even compared to sales). But that is true, usually smaller boxes mean a larger price per item (not always though). Now I have compared prices Walmart vs Sam’s club, and although they are the same company, there have been several items that were cheaper to buy smaller packages at Walmart vs bigger ones at Sams (for example I was on a Frosted Mini Wheats kick (sugar! ), and knew the price per oz it costs at Walmart and when I compare to the price per ounce at Sams, Walmart was cheaper. I can’t remember what else, but there were several items that I knew how much they usually cost at Walmart, and when I compared them with Sam’s price it was the same or cheaper (and took up less space at home, less chance of spoiling). And last time I was at Sam’s they didn’t take coupons either which affects the bottom line too. Now, though, I see the convenience of just buying several items in bulk with larger families, I have done it, and I have also purchased items off Amazon that are cheaper than regular price, but might be more expensive than sales + coupons, but for the convenience of having them arrive in bulk at my house and not having to wait for a sale I do it.

That reminds me about making sure to contact companies that you use. I bought two packages of taquitos as a treat for my kids. When I lined them up on the pan, the lines were un-even and they should have had equal amounts in each package (it was packaged per piece, not packaged by ounces.) I contacted the manufacturer and got a bunch of coupons and a refund for the package. You don’t have to call and complain, but just ask a customer service question or give them feedback, and companies will often send coupons. I used to get coupons all the time when calling about food allergies.

Thanks for the tip about Amazon LIB! I have to look into that. Another bonus to Sam’s is that you can place your order on-line and then go and pick it up! It keeps you from impulse buying and saves you a ton of time and hassle. The canned veggies I buy at Sam’s is $.50 cheaper/can than what I can buy in our grocery store. Ground turkey at Sam’s is cheaper/ounce than either ground turkey or beef at my regular grocery store. That one really surprised me. I have not found any place cheaper for cereal than Wal-mart though. Sam’s is expensive for cereal. You just really have to know your prices.

I know I’ve posted this before but a monthly calander of dinners saves me quite a bit. I know what I am going to need all month long, so when something is on sale, I can grab it and store it for latter in that month. If it is a fresh item that would need to be used, I can always switch the dinners around to fit the needs. Most of my dinners are repeated after 2months, so I know the basics that I can stock up on and have pantry shelves in my basement to store everything (not quite as much as some of those on that show…but I’m close!!)

Do you have a freezer or extra fridge? You wouldn’t need to get a fancy fridge, but just one that works well enough in a garage or basement to help you store foods. I usually have the sencond refrigerator’s freezer full of bread which I buy at a local bread store. It’s usually cheaper than the store brand at the grocery store and freezes well to save for at least a month. I buy huge bags of flour from Sam’s (20 lb bags, I think) and divide it into zip-loc bags and store them in the freezer. It is much cheaper to bake your items and the flour in bulk is much cheaper where I live. You can buy the huge cans of canned fruit at Sam’s and divide and freeze those as well. If you can’t stand the syrup, just rinse it off before you serve like we do. In the long run, a freezer will pay for the money you save in stocking up on sales. And stocking up is NOT being greedy. If you know your family will eat it, you are being wise and prudent with your money.

I gotta go, but one last thing is check all places for good deals. In one area we lived in, milk was cheaper at the gas station!! We couldn’t stock up, as the dates expired sooner, but a quick stop on the way home to grab a gallon was worth the extra 2-3 minutes. (oh, and skim milk is always the cheapest milk here.)

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I gotta go, but one last thing is check all places for good deals. In one area we lived in, milk was cheaper at the gas station!! We couldn’t stock up, as the dates expired sooner, but a quick stop on the way home to grab a gallon was worth the extra 2-3 minutes. (oh, and skim milk is always the cheapest milk here.)

Lol, I just got back from buying 2 gallons of milk at the gas station, we were out of milk for tomorrow morning. In the last few moths it went up from 2 for $6 to 2 for $7, but it is still cheaper than anywhere else, except when it goes on sale at CVS. No rbST too. We have a gas station at the entrance of where we live, so its closer than other stores also.

 

[Hope_n_Happines]

Hi,

I use to do this extreme couponing, but what I see on TV makes me sick. I would keep a stock pile of things I would use within 3 - 4 months. It was great because money was very tight. But since I saved so much money I would set aside $10.00 every week to use on things I wouldn’t normally buy and would get a good deal on. Those items would go to food banks, Pet shelters and Homeless shelters. I would never use the coupons illegally, I used them on the specific products they were meant for. And if I were in a store I would pass coupons on to other shoppers. When you can get things like shampoo, soaps and other cleaning agents for next to nothing or free. It feels good to be able to provide for others who would otherwise go without, or sacrifice something else they need. During this period I had learned that Food Stamps do not cover important things like Toilet paper etc. Or at the holiday times when there is cake mix and frosting in the food bank it just makes mom feel better that they can provide for their kids.

These people need to learn it is better to give then receive and start sharing their stockpiles to those less fortunate. One time I did get asked by management what I was doing with all the stuff. And I told them what I was doing and they never gave me a hassle because they do get paid by the manufacturer. The doubling part they do lose some money, but there are few that take advantage of them like that. Also I would never dare clear the shelf, because it just leaves others in need having to do with out. While I didn’t have a lot of cash, my shopping trips provided for more then my family and lots and lots of shelter pets. Well enough said.

 

[Belle10]

Who needs 11 bottles of laundry detergent. And who has time to spend 40 or 50 hours a week looking for coupons?

I need the laundry detergent! We go through it like crazy around here!

I don’t have 40 or 50 hours a week, but if I can spend a few hours at least (like a part-time job while I’m still home with my kids) that would help our family so much.

You just have to be careful that you don’t use coupons just to use the coupons. Buy only what you would normally buy and make the coupons and sales work for you…

Thanks for all the tips. Yeah, I won’t be buying stuff just because I find a coupon for it, my goal is to save money on the items we need on a regular basis.

Interestingly, her husband is one of those guys who can bargain. He’ll go right into a department store and bargain with the salespeople over merchandise. Sometimes it does him no good, but a surprising amount of the time it does. Until I saw him do that, I had no idea retail stores would ever do that. The bigger the item, it seems, the more likely it is that they’ll do it, probably because they have a bigger margin in it and feel themselves able to afford it just to move the merchandise. Seems the salespeople have more discretion than we assume they have, or at least their supervisors do. Recently, my wife and I bought some furniture and I at least tried to do it on a modest scale, and it worked even though I’m a poor price negotiator and hate the whole process.

Interesting, I didn’t know they could do that. Maybe I can get my hubby to try to negotiate some things for us.

You don’t have to call and complain, but just ask a customer service question or give them feedback, and companies will often send coupons.

I know I’ve posted this before but a monthly calander of dinners saves me quite a bit. I know what I am going to need all month long, so when something is on sale, I can grab it and store it for latter in that month. If it is a fresh item that would need to be used, I can always switch the dinners around to fit the needs. Most of my dinners are repeated after 2months, so I know the basics that I can stock up on and have pantry shelves in my basement to store everything (not quite as much as some of those on that show…but I’m close!!)

Do you have a freezer or extra fridge? You wouldn’t need to get a fancy fridge, but just one that works well enough in a garage or basement to help you store foods. I usually have the sencond refrigerator’s freezer full of bread which I buy at a local bread store. It’s usually cheaper than the store brand at the grocery store and freezes well to save for at least a month. I buy huge bags of flour from Sam’s (20 lb bags, I think) and divide it into zip-loc bags and store them in the freezer. It is much cheaper to bake your items and the flour in bulk is much cheaper where I live. You can buy the huge cans of canned fruit at Sam’s and divide and freeze those as well. If you can’t stand the syrup, just rinse it off before you serve like we do. In the long run, a freezer will pay for the money you save in stocking up on sales.

Cool stuff MomaMary. We do have a chest freezer that gets stocked in the fall (DH likes to deer hunt). I’ve been thinking about getting a bread maker, because we go through at least a half a loaf of bread DAILY if not more than that. (DH brought up buying flour in bulk.)

I really need to get a meal plan set up, I know it would help immensely. I keep thinking about organizing one and then I don’t do it.

And stocking up is NOT being greedy. If you know your family will eat it, you are being wise and prudent with your money.

Thank you, that’s what I think too!

Hi,

I use to do this extreme couponing, but what I see on TV makes me sick. I would keep a stock pile of things I would use within 3 - 4 months. It was great because money was very tight. But since I saved so much money I would set aside $10.00 every week to use on things I wouldn’t normally buy and would get a good deal on. Those items would go to food banks, Pet shelters and Homeless shelters. I would never use the coupons illegally, I used them on the specific products they were meant for. And if I were in a store I would pass coupons on to other shoppers. When you can get things like shampoo, soaps and other cleaning agents for next to nothing or free. It feels good to be able to provide for others who would otherwise go without, or sacrifice something else they need. During this period I had learned that Food Stamps do not cover important things like Toilet paper etc. Or at the holiday times when there is cake mix and frosting in the food bank it just makes mom feel better that they can provide for their kids.

I’ve been on the receiving end of a box of staples from the church at Thanksgiving or Christmas because our finances have been so bad. It’s no fun accepting charity – I’d rather give it! I’m really hoping I can start saving some money to help my family and others in the long run.

 

[KCT]

I’ve watched the show off & on. I just don’t understand why you would want to have hundreds of tubes of toothpaste, for example, or hundreds of bottles of shampoo taking up your garage space. I’m always happy to be able to save some money, but really!

I sometimes wonder if we’ll later see some of these folks on another show – Hoarders.

I don’t have cable, but I’ve heard about the show. Some of it sounds a bit OCD to me.

 

[Little_Mary]

I don’t have cable, but I’ve heard about the show. Some of it sounds a bit OCD to me.

I think they are treating it like a sport, and the stockpile is the trophy.

Meanwhile, I come into the store an hour behind them and I can’t get mustard for tonight’s dinner because they bought all 113 bottles!

 

[MomaMary8]

I really need to get a meal plan set up, I know it would help immensely. I keep thinking about organizing one and then I don’t do it.

.

Start by writing down the meals you have eaten already this week/month. This way you don’t have to strain your brain (“Brain Strain” as my kids yell!) to remember all that you’ve cooked. After 4 weeks, you have your month of meals and then switch things around on the calander. I just use my computer calander for appointments to make my menu calander.

I’ve been on the receiving end of a box of staples from the church at Thanksgiving or Christmas because our finances have been so bad. It’s no fun accepting charity – I’d rather give it! I’m really hoping I can start saving some money to help my family and others in the long run.

Without those who accept the donations, how could we exercise our ability to perform a corporal work of mercy?? So thank you for allowing God to humble yourself, so that we can remember to be humble in our times of plenty.

 

[kevinsgirl]

I coupon! Not extreme couponing, though…most stores won’t let you do that and I give away or use my stockpile so it isn’t huge.

Make sure you find a good website to use. I use hip2save.com and have been using it for over a year–it’s the easiest to use that I’ve found and I love it! She has little videos on her website that show you how to coupon at each store and how to understand the different coupon policies.

I get on average $200-$250’s worth of stuff free using coupons and sales every month. About half of the stuff we use and the other half I donate (toothbrushes, pads, toothpaste, medicine, etc.).

It saves us money and I can give my extras to the needy–a win-win situation!

KG

 

[kevinsgirl]

I’ve been on the receiving end of a box of staples from the church at Thanksgiving or Christmas because our finances have been so bad. It’s no fun accepting charity – I’d rather give it! I’m really hoping I can start saving some money to help my family and others in the long run.

Please don’t feel bad! When I donate I’m so happy to be able to be a blessing to others–and I know they will bless someone when they can!

Oh and feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the hip2save site, Belle. I’ve taught lots of family and friends how to coupon.

KG