Hi everybody! I've been couponing for about six months now. I've managed to cut our household food bill by about 50 or 60 percent, which has made a big difference to our budget. It's been a bit of an adjustment for the family at times! We've tried a lot of new things, for example, and given up on most of our brand loyalties. But it's been worth the savings, and it's actually a lot of fun when we find something we can get for a bargain. We really have to be frugal, since I gave up my old job to pursue my dream of having my own business. There's one little luxury item my husband and I sure miss though, and that's wine and beer. A friend of ours gave us a gift of six bottles of wine, and we've been savoring them. We're going to be so sad when we finally drink the last one! Do any of you have any strategies for getting good deals on these luxury items? I have never seen a coupon for alcohol, but I have heard of some stores offering incentives like buy five/get one free, or something like that. Thoughts? Thanks for your input!
I don't know exactly how things are in America, but a lot of off-licenses here in the UK have some good deals on. Some big supermarket brands such as Asda (UK Walmart) and Tesco have deals like "buy one crate of beer, get another half price". Alcohol isn't all that expensive in honesty, and when you compare buying a crate of beers to drink at home to going out and drinking, the price difference is something crazy like 400%!
Go into more supermarkets/specialty stores. Most larger stores with a wide selection are more willing to put a store coupon or two into a flyer every now and again. Unfortunately, they're usually for the cheaper brands anyway and, well, sometimes you just get what you pay for as far as alcohol is concerned. Also, make sure to keep an eye out for rebate offers. Sometimes the store will put mail-in cards near the products on the shelf or in a store display. More often than not, the manufacturer will put a coupon around the bottle's neck.
As others have said, skip on the non branded off licenses and go for the larger supermarket chains, who usually have a decently sized off license on their premises. You'll usually be able to catch some really good deals as long as you're willing to drink different things then and again. If you're looking to drink the same thing every time, you'll be a bit out of luck however.
Yeah, brand loyalty costs money, doesn't it? I gave up most of my brand loyalties long ago for this reason. Thanks for the tips, everyone! I will look around for those bargains. Drinking at home is definitely way cheaper than going out to do it.
