I've heard a few stories about women who call themselves "couponista's". Essentially, these are women who clip and print coupons to go shopping with. They generally end up spending substantially less on groceries than they would without the coupons. It seems like a very good idea to save money when you are shopping and I need to do my monthly shopping very soon. I primarily spend $200 on groceries for the month but with the inflation in prices and the scarcity of affordable grocery stores (with the exception of the monopoly: Walmart) I have been getting less and less groceries for my money and it's beginning to worry me a bit. I've been wanting to try extreme couponing but I cannot seem to find coupons anywhere that I can use. Has anyone tried extreme couponing?? What has worked for you?? Do you have any tips to help save money while shopping??
From what I have heard, most extreme couponing doesn't exist in the "real world". Many of the individuals that you see on the shows literally spend more time than a full time job doing their couponing. I even saw one where they go into dumpsters and steal other people's papers to get the coupons. I don't know that I would strive for the "extreme couponing" title, but you could try a few easy tips that will get you started on saving. Look for sites that match up your local store deals with current coupons. There is one out there that I know of called something like Operation 40K. On the site they explain what the best match ups are. Then, make sure that you are clipping coupons for items that you may not necessarily use this month, but that you might buy next month (watch for expiration dates). I used to clip my coupons for my upcoming trips and then throw the rest away. But sometimes there were items that I use, but wasn't necessarily going to get at that trip. Buy keeping them I was able to go back when I did need the item and get it for a little cheaper. And what I try to do the most of, is really watch the fliers. Many grocery stores have fliers with their specials in them. Quite often you can get some pretty good deals with those sales alone, but if you have also stocked up with your coupons, you may be able to get an even better deal. One thing you may want to do to get more coupons (if you are buying more than one of an item) is to ask family members if they will save them; or even call your local grocery stores that sell newspapers and see if they would give or sell to you for a low price the old copies of the newspapers! Good luck!
The reason they are featured on those shows is because there is so much to document. Were it an easy process, there'd be no point in having the show. You can do it, but it's going to take a long while.
The reason I've never gotten into extreme couponing is that it takes dedication and time that I feel like could be better spent on other endeavors. I mean, I want to save money, too, but I find that the money I make by focusing on my work exceeds the money I save by focusing on coupon hunting. I tend to look for the easiest ways to do things. I'll use coupons that come to me in my email inbox, for example, but I won't, for example, make a spreadsheet of grocery store sales (as someone else here suggested).
I started couponing about 4-5 years ago, I do a little couponing but not "extreme". I try to match up coupons with sales or take my coupons to Walmart where the prices are a bit cheaper. I've have coupons for $2 off when the product cost $2.50 at Walmart, letting me buy it for $.50. Those deals are getting harder to come by though. I also take coupons to stores that double coupons and sometimes with a sale & double coupons you can get a good deal. Every little bit helps!
I watch these shows and I end up so angry! Yes its all fair and well to save your coupons and get a bargain on things you need. But saving up 500 coupons, and buying 500 bottles of Ketchup because it is free is just Greed! There is no way you need, or will use all that stuff! I think it is smart to coupon, and to save, but realistically some people take it to far! Being stuck behind a mega couponer, or a price checker during a busy shopping period is just hell!
I think the savings does exist with coupons, but the major savings is with store sales. These will be the products I would buy anyway, but with a reduced price. If I have a coupon for get one free after I buy 2 that does not help me if I won't be buying that product. Manufacturers get you to buy more and yet it you look at the price per item, the store sales have proved to me to be the best. I also shop and do errands to save on gas. I could be exhausted for the full day of traveling, but I have saved enough to make that fatigue worth while.
Now thats what I call extreme Couponing. Good Job man. How did the Grocery Workers act? Sometimes they get a little uptight with me even if the coupon goes through.
I would say that since I started collecting coupons I decreased our grocery bill about 20%. It isn't easy and most of the time the stuff I buy I don't have coupons for. You will save the most money on Health and Beauty products like body wash and toothpaste. Places like CVS and Rite Aid have these reward cards that allow you to get things for free and that will give you extra money to buy the food items you need. I would recommend that you clip the coupons that look even slightly usable - a brand you haven't heard of or a brand you haven't tried before. Sometimes you can find items that are clearance or on sale and can be less expensive than the item that you are used to. To become really thrifty you have to forget brand names. I can't do that on some things but others it doesn't matter. For example I will only buy Degree deodorant because I found that it works the best for me but I am not so picky on toothpaste. Most of the time we get so used to buying that brand we don't pay attention when the prices change. I get most of my coupons in the Sunday paper. You can also find most of those coupons online at RedPlum.com and SmartSource.com. You can also use online clipping services like CouponClippers.com where you pay a few cents per coupon. I would suggest that you only buy coupons that you will use though. You can spend money on coupons that you think look good only to find that you don't use them after all. And pay special attention to expiration dates! You can also trade coupons at places like Hotcouponworld.com. This all takes a lot of work but if you really want to save money you do what you have to.
I do use coupons but I make sure I only buy what I need. Purchasing an item just because I have a coupon is a waster of money. Usually the store sale maybe a better savings than the coupon offers.
My cousin's wife actually digs through the dumpsters outside of Walmart for coupons. I guess lots of people throw away their coupons. I don't necessarily recommend dumpster diving, though ! Seriously, though, you can print out hundreds of coupons online. I think that's how these extreme coupon-ers get all their coupons.
I used to get really good at it and had the store pay me 55 dollars one day. However, I have given up because so many stores have changed their policy it is nearly impossible to get the products like you used to. I do agree, though, getting the same amount of groceries has dropped drastically.
I prefer coupons where there is an across the board incentive - say £5 off on a £50 shop. That's 10% off your normal shopping, and it's a lot less time consuming. Also, look out for tie-ins. Morrisons in the UK is offering 6p per litre off fuel with a £40 spend. I spent just over £40 yesterday, and saved £2.80 on my fuel - that's more than 2 litres of fuel free, which is around 15 miles of free motoring in my motor home.
I think that, other than coupons, something you can do easily that really saves some money in the long run is to buy some items in bulk. For instance, if Charmin is having a sale, stock up on toilet paper. You will eventually need it so it won't go bad or go to waste, and you will save money. It can sometimes be hard if your budget is tight to spend more now even if it is cheaper per unit, but if you think about it, that can sometimes mean months of not having to buy the item again at all. I always stock up when paper products are on sale- the only thing that limits me is that I have to be conscious of how much storage space I have.
I can't really think of how many coupons you'd have to save in such a short amount of time, before the coupons expire, to reduce the price of groceries to 50% or less than the original price. That kind of dedication isn't really worth the time you could spend on other things to me, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't get a few coupons from family or friends that wont be using theirs. I just wont go as far as dumpster diving and such.
I don't even bother with it since I am single with no kids, so I would never go through large quantities of a given item like that. I used to live near a Stouffer's factory where you could buy cases of an item for dirt cheap, like a case of 12 pizzas for $7. But the problem was my freezer was full with them, and I would get so sick of eating the same thing.
I don't use coupons much, I do use promotions which save me some money. I think that people who use coupons and save themselves a lot of money. You do have to purchase the brands that appy to the coupons. But I admire people who can use the coupon to save money.
I'm really interested in using coupons to buy daily goods. I just wish that it'll become available in my country soon because I think that its only available in western and european countries.
I try to match up sales and coupons. My grocery allows only 4 like coupons per transaction, and I've had them enforce it. I suppose you could divide it between multiple transactions, but that seems very time consuming. I prefer stores like Aldi that just has low prices all the time.
I haven't done any extreme couponing like what you're talking about. I really have paid the equivalent of only 60 bucks for 500 dollars worth of groceries, though. I used a combination of coupons, free coupons from promos online, and sales in the store. The thing is, it's not the kind of food that would feed you all month long, though. You're going to end up with 10 boxes of cereal, for example, which is great.... because it'll last several months for some people, but you're still going to need to spend more on other things.
