I use online coupons and always google "(merchant or product) discount" or "(merchant or product) coupon" when I purchase anything online. I haven't had *much* luck with clipping, but I did get some cheap and tasty strawberries a couple of weeks ago with a coupon.
I used to burn through cash like it was gas in an H1. Since getting married to a "dutch", aka frugal, gal, I have since changed my ways. We've always tried to spend as little as possible on groceries and such but haven't used coupons until a few months ago. We subscribed to an online coupon site and had great luck with it. Once we got the hang of it, we canceled our subscription (to save more cash) and simply work the system we learned and altered a bit. We follow these steps below.
1. Get a binder and some baseball card holders. You should be able to get these at Wal-Mart. We ended up getting a box of 100 off eBay.com.
2. Get the Sunday paper.
3. Cut out the coupons for the items we are likely to use. Regardless of brand. Brand loyalty will drain you of precious dollars.
4. Organize the coupons in the binder. use a page for each category. Some ways to do this is alphabetically by brand name or store name or type of food. Do what makes best sense for you and the way you think.
5. Look through the ads for the stores you go to and those that you don't but are near you. We look through the Hy-Vee, Price Chopper, CVS, and Walgreen's ads. Write down the items that look like good deals and then see if you have coupons for them. This will be a bit discouraging at first since most coupons won't get used for a few weeks. Give it some time though.
6. Maximize your coupons with store coupons when possible. Some stores have their own "coupon" program. For instance, CVS has Extra Care bucks. We've had great luck with these. They work like cash but have an expiration date. Certain sale items qualify for these coupons that you can use on future purchases.
7. Hit the stores weekly and buy only the items you would typically buy and that you have coupons for at first, if you don't know what the prices typically are. The only exceptions are items that never have coupons, like meat, produce, etc. If you know pork roast for $1.50 a pound is a good price, put it on your list.
8. Start a list of the items that you buy and the lowest prices that you get them for. This will allow you to make educated decisions on future purchases. We use a spreadsheet for this. To make it easy to look things up, we order them by item type, i.e. Dairy, Meat, etc., and then by item name, i.e. Apples, Eggs, etc.
This system has worked great for us. We've had a few bumps in the road, i.e. forgot a coupon or two, bought the wrong item, etc., but we've stuck with it, saved some dough, and tried some new stores, like CVS. Happy clipping.
I definitely do clip! Just this past weekend we saved $20 on new running shoes that my husband needed and $20 at a restaurant that we wanted a friend to try. That's enough proof for me!
I hardly ever use coupons - but mostly because I hardly ever see coupons for things I buy. We don't have kids, so we don't spend money on much besides food and gas. We also try to buy the least-processed forms of food that we can, and coupons tend to be for things that come in boxes.
I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at Aldi. Their regular prices are about 30% less than the regular grocery stores, and the savings are the greatest on precisely those processed foods that you most commonly find coupons for. Of my total grocery bill, less than half is processed, "couponable" items. The rest is stuff like meat, milk, and produce, where you're not going to save any money anyhow. Even if I were able to get *all* couponable items for 50% off, every week, through coupons, I think it'd still come out to more than what I spend at Aldi, and it would cost me more time and effort, to boot.
I'd rather pay $1.79 for a box of cereal, than pay $3.79 minus a $1.00 coupon.
I do but only for things that I normally use. My grocery store doubles coupons, too. The few $$ I save makes me feel OK about spending money on the Sunday paper which I can read online for free.
I have a tendency to clip coupons for a while and accumulate "stuff" and then go cold turkey for a while as I use up the accumulated goodness I've acquired.
Nope. Don't buy papers; stores here don't accept printed online coupons; what I would save isn't worth the time or memory it would take to use them effectively.
In your post you say "apply it when and how it will fit my life" That is the secret to almost anything in life. Use coupons when it works for you and don't when it doesn't. If you value your time or hobbies more than clipping coupons then don't clip. Ramit Sethi at I Will Teach You To Be Rich says making more money is more profitable than saving a few cents here and there. If you read Simple Dollar, Trent explains that every financial decision is a choice we make based on our own lifestyle needs. It makes sense for me to make my own home repairs where I've saved hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars but this may not be a wise choice for someone else. Apply what works for you, when it works for you and how it works for you.
I love the savings you can get with coupons but I make sure to only clip coupons for those things that I would normally purchase. Then I wait for the item to reach the bottom of its sales cycle (usually a 2 for 1 sale) and scoop in to get a real bargain.
Interestingly at our website our informal survey showed that 50% of respondents use coupons sometimes, 42% use coupons always, and 8% never use coupons.
I'm always on the look out for coupons. I buy a lot of toothpaste and like items for little or nothing with coupons. Coupons help me stretch my grocery budget each week.
We go through the coupons for things that we need and generally can't make at home cheaper. At the store if the items aren't on sale, we don't get them. We also make sure that even if it's on sale and add the coupon that the store brand isn't cheaper.
I print coupons from online sites like MyPoints (where I save money with the coupons AND earn points toward saving even more money), but I only print coupons for items that I actually use and buy regularly.
I only use coupons for items I already plan to buy and once in a while as an excuse to try a new product. I know that coupons are another way to advertise a product, get you to buy items you don't really need, and I'm wary of deals like "55 cents off when you buy 2" unless I'm sure I'll use both items soon.
I don't typically clip coupons (because I don't get the newspaper), although some of my extended family does. So, I ask them to hold on to coupons for certain products that I use and they don't. I will also use coupons that come in or on a package of something I'm buying. Additionally, I make sure to sign up for coupons for free products if I see a link online. And I ALWAYS make sure to look for coupon codes for online purchases.
I've been clipping for over a year now, and used to clip EVERYTHING. But I soon found that I was spending more time being a coupon fairy than actually shopping! Between buying the Sunday paper for the inserts and printing online coupons, I was losing $$.
So I scaled back. These days, I find printable coupons online and sign up for newsletters - but just for the products I regularly use. Then, I wait for sales on these items to max out the savings!
No clipping - I buy things I don't need if I attach myself by clipping the coupon. I save the intact inserts and pull out what I need if I see a great deal matchup.
The time it takes to clip coupons is really not so much considering the savings, plus my kids like to help. all the free and nearly free stuff that I don't use or don't need more of we give to organizations that do need it.
Hmmmmmmm it seems like one could divide the comments (would never want to divide people!) into several categories. I am of the sort that I use them when they apply to something I want. But we use mostly unprocessed foods, so it is tough to get coupons for those items. LOL I try to find coupons (and yes, I puruse the Sunday paper) for stuff, but rarely has it made much of a difference. And I too have had my share of problems redeeming coupons. I have learned to go on line, but, too, my printer can get cranky trying to print coupons. Would love to be one of those who saves lots of money, but haven't been able to make it work for me.
I used to clip lots of coupons but in the interest of time, I now clip only for products I use (or seriously want to try), and only if I think I'll need them before the expiration date. Also, if I get a coupon (or two) for a product, I'll bypass any others I find for the next month or so.
I like clipping this way because I'm usually pretty aware of what coupons I have and have a general idea of when they'll expire. Lots less clutter!
Yes, I absolutely do use coupons, and I take them to the store in town that doubles the amount. What a savings it make.
I use online coupons and always google "(merchant or product) discount" or "(merchant or product) coupon" when I purchase anything online. I haven't had *much* luck with clipping, but I did get some cheap and tasty strawberries a couple of weeks ago with a coupon.
I definitely clip! I routinely save $7-12 on gorcery trips with coupons and I rarely allow them to tempt me into items I wouldn't have bought anyway.
I used to burn through cash like it was gas in an H1. Since getting married to a "dutch", aka frugal, gal, I have since changed my ways. We've always tried to spend as little as possible on groceries and such but haven't used coupons until a few months ago. We subscribed to an online coupon site and had great luck with it. Once we got the hang of it, we canceled our subscription (to save more cash) and simply work the system we learned and altered a bit. We follow these steps below.
1. Get a binder and some baseball card holders. You should be able to get these at Wal-Mart. We ended up getting a box of 100 off eBay.com.
2. Get the Sunday paper.
3. Cut out the coupons for the items we are likely to use. Regardless of brand. Brand loyalty will drain you of precious dollars.
4. Organize the coupons in the binder. use a page for each category. Some ways to do this is alphabetically by brand name or store name or type of food. Do what makes best sense for you and the way you think.
5. Look through the ads for the stores you go to and those that you don't but are near you. We look through the Hy-Vee, Price Chopper, CVS, and Walgreen's ads. Write down the items that look like good deals and then see if you have coupons for them. This will be a bit discouraging at first since most coupons won't get used for a few weeks. Give it some time though.
6. Maximize your coupons with store coupons when possible. Some stores have their own "coupon" program. For instance, CVS has Extra Care bucks. We've had great luck with these. They work like cash but have an expiration date. Certain sale items qualify for these coupons that you can use on future purchases.
7. Hit the stores weekly and buy only the items you would typically buy and that you have coupons for at first, if you don't know what the prices typically are. The only exceptions are items that never have coupons, like meat, produce, etc. If you know pork roast for $1.50 a pound is a good price, put it on your list.
8. Start a list of the items that you buy and the lowest prices that you get them for. This will allow you to make educated decisions on future purchases. We use a spreadsheet for this. To make it easy to look things up, we order them by item type, i.e. Dairy, Meat, etc., and then by item name, i.e. Apples, Eggs, etc.
This system has worked great for us. We've had a few bumps in the road, i.e. forgot a coupon or two, bought the wrong item, etc., but we've stuck with it, saved some dough, and tried some new stores, like CVS. Happy clipping.
I definitely do clip! Just this past weekend we saved $20 on new running shoes that my husband needed and $20 at a restaurant that we wanted a friend to try. That's enough proof for me!
I hardly ever use coupons - but mostly because I hardly ever see coupons for things I buy. We don't have kids, so we don't spend money on much besides food and gas. We also try to buy the least-processed forms of food that we can, and coupons tend to be for things that come in boxes.
~Q
I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at Aldi. Their regular prices are about 30% less than the regular grocery stores, and the savings are the greatest on precisely those processed foods that you most commonly find coupons for. Of my total grocery bill, less than half is processed, "couponable" items. The rest is stuff like meat, milk, and produce, where you're not going to save any money anyhow. Even if I were able to get *all* couponable items for 50% off, every week, through coupons, I think it'd still come out to more than what I spend at Aldi, and it would cost me more time and effort, to boot.
I'd rather pay $1.79 for a box of cereal, than pay $3.79 minus a $1.00 coupon.
I clip them if I have the time, but I don't have a good way to organize them so I tend to lose them.
I do but only for things that I normally use. My grocery store doubles coupons, too. The few $$ I save makes me feel OK about spending money on the Sunday paper which I can read online for free.
I have a tendency to clip coupons for a while and accumulate "stuff" and then go cold turkey for a while as I use up the accumulated goodness I've acquired.
Nope. Don't buy papers; stores here don't accept printed online coupons; what I would save isn't worth the time or memory it would take to use them effectively.
In your post you say "apply it when and how it will fit my life" That is the secret to almost anything in life. Use coupons when it works for you and don't when it doesn't. If you value your time or hobbies more than clipping coupons then don't clip. Ramit Sethi at I Will Teach You To Be Rich says making more money is more profitable than saving a few cents here and there. If you read Simple Dollar, Trent explains that every financial decision is a choice we make based on our own lifestyle needs. It makes sense for me to make my own home repairs where I've saved hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars but this may not be a wise choice for someone else. Apply what works for you, when it works for you and how it works for you.
I love the savings you can get with coupons but I make sure to only clip coupons for those things that I would normally purchase. Then I wait for the item to reach the bottom of its sales cycle (usually a 2 for 1 sale) and scoop in to get a real bargain.
Interestingly at our website our informal survey showed that 50% of respondents use coupons sometimes, 42% use coupons always, and 8% never use coupons.
I'm always on the look out for coupons. I buy a lot of toothpaste and like items for little or nothing with coupons. Coupons help me stretch my grocery budget each week.
We go through the coupons for things that we need and generally can't make at home cheaper. At the store if the items aren't on sale, we don't get them. We also make sure that even if it's on sale and add the coupon that the store brand isn't cheaper.
I print coupons from online sites like MyPoints (where I save money with the coupons AND earn points toward saving even more money), but I only print coupons for items that I actually use and buy regularly.
I only use coupons for items I already plan to buy and once in a while as an excuse to try a new product. I know that coupons are another way to advertise a product, get you to buy items you don't really need, and I'm wary of deals like "55 cents off when you buy 2" unless I'm sure I'll use both items soon.
I clip coupons pretty regularly. Most things I buy are either on sale, or I have a coupon for it. It really can make a difference.
I always clip coupons. It really helps out the grocery budget.
I don't typically clip coupons (because I don't get the newspaper), although some of my extended family does. So, I ask them to hold on to coupons for certain products that I use and they don't. I will also use coupons that come in or on a package of something I'm buying. Additionally, I make sure to sign up for coupons for free products if I see a link online. And I ALWAYS make sure to look for coupon codes for online purchases.
I've been clipping for over a year now, and used to clip EVERYTHING. But I soon found that I was spending more time being a coupon fairy than actually shopping! Between buying the Sunday paper for the inserts and printing online coupons, I was losing $$.
So I scaled back. These days, I find printable coupons online and sign up for newsletters - but just for the products I regularly use. Then, I wait for sales on these items to max out the savings!
No clipping - I buy things I don't need if I attach myself by clipping the coupon. I save the intact inserts and pull out what I need if I see a great deal matchup.
The time it takes to clip coupons is really not so much considering the savings, plus my kids like to help. all the free and nearly free stuff that I don't use or don't need more of we give to organizations that do need it.
Hmmmmmmm it seems like one could divide the comments (would never want to divide people!) into several categories. I am of the sort that I use them when they apply to something I want. But we use mostly unprocessed foods, so it is tough to get coupons for those items. LOL I try to find coupons (and yes, I puruse the Sunday paper) for stuff, but rarely has it made much of a difference. And I too have had my share of problems redeeming coupons. I have learned to go on line, but, too, my printer can get cranky trying to print coupons. Would love to be one of those who saves lots of money, but haven't been able to make it work for me.
I used to clip lots of coupons but in the interest of time, I now clip only for products I use (or seriously want to try), and only if I think I'll need them before the expiration date. Also, if I get a coupon (or two) for a product, I'll bypass any others I find for the next month or so.
I like clipping this way because I'm usually pretty aware of what coupons I have and have a general idea of when they'll expire. Lots less clutter!