how much are you saving using coupons?

[markio26]

i try to obtain a discount for everything i purchase.. i use coupons for everything i can.. i have a stash of deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, various meds, lotions, creams, cleaners, toilet tissue, makeup, razors, shampoo, conditioner, shaving creams, aftershaves, candies, etc. but, i am stockpiled... i think i have about 30 of each item... i seem to find my best deals on these items.. i pay cents on the dollar, with coupons.
my last wag purchase, i saved $35 bucks with coupons.
my best receipt was last month from topps, they doubled and tripe couponed for one week.. i saved over $80.
i would like to know what everyone is buying with their coupons and the item they are saving the most on.

[Ima saver]

I mostly just save money using coupons for groceries. I try not to buy much of anything else. I guess I save between $5-10 a week.

[Lori63]

I always use coupons and save at least 30-60% ever week.

[PRICEPLUS]

I'd guess between 10 and 15 dollars on average.

[Ima saver]

I have gotten better at looking for things i need and waiting, if I can, for the items to be on sale. For example, hair color. I use it about every 2 months, so i try and buy it when i can get it for $2 off.

[getforfree]

I usually buy things when they are a good deal with coupons.
Sometimes, I don't use them and end up throwing them away if I can't find that item on sale, and only 50c or $1 off a $3 item which is not on sale is not much. I would rather wait when its on sale and if I have a coupon at the same time, then its a super deal.
I mostly use coupons to get something free. You can't beat that. I usually save more than I spend (sale and coupons combined)
If something is free after rebate in Walgreens of Rite Aid, and I have coupon for that, then not only the item is free, but I also I profit from it. So I collect all the coupons I can find, and if I waste a few, no big deal.
I buy shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, lotion and toothbrashes only if they are free after rebate. I get more of them then I can use. So I never have to pay for them. Maybe tax only, but if you get it at Walgreens and request a gc instead of check, they add 10% to the rebate. So, even if I don't need the item, if I buy it, I still profit from it, like 2%. Not much, but all pennies add up.

[poundwise]

I'm not exactly sure but I would say that it is a considerable amount. I use a coupon service. Initially, I was wary of this since there is a fee associated with it but, as an example, I just received over $60 worth (in savings) of coupons for less than $5 total including postage and fees. These are specifically items I or my wife buys and uses and many of these coupons are for $1 or more off an item.

I don't know if it is acceptable to post a link to the service I use, so I will not unless a moderator tells me that it is ok but you can find services like this from a simple online search. They are not all the same and some are probably quite poor so if you do search for one, check them out carefully.

[getforfree]

I never pay for coupons. I go to strores and collect blinkies or any other coupons I can find. I print a lot from online. Sometimes I go to local small stores on mondays where I know the owners and ask them if I can take the coupons from the Sunday paper (they will return it for credit anyways).

[poundwise]

Oh believe me, I do that as well. I get most, in terms of quanity, of my coupons in the mail and print some online, however, there are advantages to getting the specific coupons you want and in the quanity you want.

For instance, my wife's hair products, shampoo and conditioner, were recently featured in a sale at a local retailer. We definitely saw it as an opportunity to stock up a little. Well, besides the sale price, I also had six $1 off coupons (from the service I referred to above) and so we bought 3 bottles of shampoo and 3 of conditioner. The net result is that we got 6 bottles of product for less than what we normally would pay for 3.

Coupon exchanges are great too. Individuals swapping coupons for free (or, at most, postage), however, again, it is hard to always be able to obtain coupons for products you want and in the best values, etc.

There are many tools at our disposal. I am open to using whatever has a net result of savings.

[katwoman]

Since I can use expireds in my neck of the woods, I save almost 100% on those items using a coupon. How? Often times the stores run promotions where you buy 3 or 5 items of a certain product line and they give you back money to use on your next shopping order. I get my coupons together and combine them with the promo items to get the catalina for the next time and continue like this until I'm out of coupons!

I've been able to get soup, softsoap, Dawn foaming dish liquid, salad dressing, mayo, soda, etc., like this. The only limiting factor was the number of coupons I had. As a poster above recommended, you can use clipping services to buy more coupons.

On dealagogo.com, a few members work at stores like Walgreens and Meijer's so they get the ads early and post what's coming up on sale. This way the rest of us can put our heads together and organize a plan of attack!

Those people who can double or triple coupons do the deals in a similar fashion.

Another thing that has worked for me is to get coupons for Office Depot or Staples along with any other promo they are running and use those for toilet paper, water, candy, etc. The Office Depot in my area was running a promo to get people to sign up for emails. As an incentive, they were offering a $10 certificate on a $20 purchase. I also had a $10 off coupon anyway and combined the 2 to score a free case of toilet paper.

Creativity goes a long way in couponing.

[markio26]

i do my wag, FAR carefully... wag has not completed the rebates properly since jan. of this year... 2 of my pals, and son have not received their rebate cards....... i had to call 3 times to obtain mine and still they denied a few things...
i will do cvs, and go back in two days and use up the cash back or whatever..
i love rite aid for FAR, i do it on line, effortless and they are super nice at my store....
thanks for the info..
btw.. i do get alot of sale bargains from wag, with catalinas and coupons...........

[Ima saver]

What is FAR?

[marjorie]

Free After Rebate

[Cheetahwoman7]

Oh...couponing!!! Two years ago I really got into couponing as I had found a great source for the Sunday paper inserts. There was a store about 1/2 an hour from here that would double up to two like coupons (Ralph's). I would generally average a $100 in purchases and pay about $20 for the whole shopping trip. My BEST trip was almost $300 worth of stuff for $30. The cashier was cool about it, but the people behind me almost fell over!

Now, my source for the coupons has dried up and both Ralph's within an hour of me have shut down. I coupon on a much smaller scale now and my stockpile shows it. I still keep my eyes open for good coupons (like Fresh Express Salad) that allow me to get things for free when they go on sale.

In my opinion, that's the key to getting the best deals with coupons. Use them in conjunction with sales. Amazing the final prices you can get.

Katwoman, you're a fellow dealagogo member too? I don't get on to that site as much as I used to, but it is a phenomenal source of coupons and deals.

CJ

[nanamom]

I have been anti coupon for years, My mother hated them. I admit I tried years ago when I was first married to see if I could do that shop for 100 but pay 10 or 15 but never understood how they did it. i even subscribed to a newsletter on refunding once but go nowhere with it. They wanted me to save every wrapper that came into my house and I couldn't stand that much clutter. Plus often I would find that the generic or homemade version of something was cheaper than the thing with the coupon. Last night I found that the store I most like has started doubling coupons one day a week so I am going to try again. Any advice or web sites I should check out?

[Cheetahwoman7]

Nanamom, I would go to the dealagogo site to start. They have a section devoted to people just starting out. In my opinion, the things to do that will help you out and save the most:

1. Organize your coupons and never leave home without them. I use the binder method. In my zippered binder I have baseball card holders that are divided into sections, the same sections that are in the grocery stores: frozen foods, dairy, canned veggies, shampoo, etc...you get the picture. This makes it easy to flip to any section and find the coupons I'm looking for. Much easier than thumbing through envelopes.

The reason to never leave home without them is you never know when you'll find a great bargain that can be made even better (like my favorite, FREE) if you'd only had your coupons with you.

2. Find a source, friends, family, McDonald's on Sunday afternoon, for all your Sunday newspaper inserts. Remember, having multiple coupons will allow you to buy multiple items that you can then stockpile until the next sale.

3. Use your coupons on things that are on sale. When you combine the two (especially with double coupons) you'll save much more. Don't use your coupons because they will expire in two weeks and you don't want to lose using them. I can't tell you the number of times when something I had coupons for went on sale the week they were expiring. Made for much better deals.

4. Remember, there's usually a cycle to coupons. If you didn't find any sales on something that you had tons of coupons for, usually within a few weeks those coupons will come out again and you'll have the chance to buy the items when they go on sale.

Hope that helps to get you started.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Originally Posted by nanamom

I have been anti coupon for years, My mother hated them. I admit I tried years ago when I was first married to see if I could do that shop for 100 but pay 10 or 15 but never understood how they did it. i even subscribed to a newsletter on refunding once but go nowhere with it. They wanted me to save every wrapper that came into my house and I couldn't stand that much clutter. Plus often I would find that the generic or homemade version of something was cheaper than the thing with the coupon. Last night I found that the store I most like has started doubling coupons one day a week so I am going to try again. Any advice or web sites I should check out?

I'm with you on this one!!! Aldi's outbeats all our local grocery stores prices. One store started double couponing but you could only use up to $5 in coupons & had to spend $50 to get anything doubled!! I don't always have $50/wk to toss away for groceries @ that store to save a few cents.

I save more buying generic & then using coupons I find online for the few namebrand products I actually use. Plus the paper here runs crummy coupons that again make Aldi's much cheaper even with the coupon. & if it's a good coupon it can't be doubled because it usually says "DO NOT DOUBLE" So what's the point?!?!?

I'd love it if they didn't attach all these rules but the store does & it's the only one within a few counties that even double coupons at all. CAN"T WIN HERE!

[Snoopy2645]

Well I did alot of coupons everytime I had a baby thier are tons for babies food, formula diapers all of that. Now that none are babies I have gotten more into rebates. Our coupons around here are bad & no stores double. But as for rebates I average probably $30 a month doing those.

[PrincessPerky]

I am with Nanamom, I could never find coupons for the brands I use, or anything...I just settle for the sale price and cheapest store around.

Part of my thing is I don't shop much, so I am not stopping at a store on Monday to grab coupoins and Wednesday for the meat sales, and friday for the bread sale, I just go once a week to one or two stores (I prefer one)

I may not save on groceries but I do save on gas, and more importantly, my marriage! DH hates shopping!

This is not to knock those who have had success, just to chime in for anyone else not having success.

[poundwise]

There certainly needs to be a balance. I started using coupons and seeking sales again recently because it is worthwhile for me. However, the reason my wife and didn't do it for a while is because we sort of got 'caught up' in it and ended up spending way too much time to save a small amount. I understand the mentality to do anything to save but really, time is a valuable asset that cannot be recouped. So, now I watch for sales, clip coupons, etc. but I do it as efficiently as possible and with a sort of unofficial, built-in time limit for myself to spend on 'saving'.