Spending money to save money

[disneysteve]

Do you ever find yourself wondering if it makes sense to spend money to take advantage of a savings opportunity?

I got a mailer from Lowe's the other day with a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. There isn't anything I'm in particular need of right at this moment, but being a homeowner, there are always items that I know we will need eventually - heater filters, light bulbs, etc. - that I could buy now to use the coupon. Does it make sense to do that and save the $10 or would you wait until you actually need the items even if that means paying more for them later?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Makes sense to me. I always buy ahead of need on sale the items you mention. That $10 coupon would make it a sale. I might wait till the end of the life of the coupon to redeem it, though, in case some unforeseen need should come up. Then I'd use it for that need rather than stocking up on bulbs and filters. Actually, right now I'd apply it to a new set of masonry drill bits.

[scfr]

If I get an offer like that from a grocery store (for example $5 off purchase of $50 or more), I will go ahead and do a stock-up on frozen or canned goods. They are pretty rare, so storage for the food never becomes an issue.

Those types of offers from building supply stores (Lowe's or Home Depot), from office supply stores (Office Depot or Office Max), and home furnishing stores (Bed Bath & Beyond) seem to be a dime a dozen, so I will put off purchases waiting for a coupon. I usually won't go out and buy something just because I get a flyer, unless I am very low on a staple such as air filters. If I already had a big supply (3 air filters and a half-dozen light bulbs for example), I would NOT use it just to save the money. Space = money too as far as I'm concerned.

[bjl584]

I am also a homeowner, and I say use the coupon. There's always something to do around the house. There's nothing wrong with stockpiling up on stuff that you will need. I think the only time that it is bad to use such a coupon is when you run out and buy something that isn't all that useful. Something that you just had to have because it was $10 off.

[PrincessPerky]

That depends..on a lot of thing

-Do you have the $ now?
-Will you use the item faster if you buy now?
-is the item usually cheaper than money off price (are sales worth waiting for?)
-do you have room for the item?
-will you buy more than you need while there?
-is the time/gas to go get the item worth it?
-have you already stocked up more than you need?
-if you were out of the item would you find a frugal alternative?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

That depends..on a lot of thing

-Do you have the $ now? Yes.
-Will you use the item faster if you buy now? No. I'll use it as needed.
-is the item usually cheaper than money off price (are sales worth waiting for?) No. I think I'd pay more without the coupon.
-do you have room for the item? Yes.
-will you buy more than you need while there? No. I'm real good about that. If I have a coupon for a $25 purchase, I'll spend as close as possible to $25 if it means walking through the store with a calculator. I just used a $50 coupon at Mens Wearhouse and managed to spend $49.97.
-is the time/gas to go get the item worth it? Not an issue. I go past a Lowe's store regularly.
-have you already stocked up more than you need? No.
-if you were out of the item would you find a frugal alternative? No.

Very good questions. Answering all of them, it sounds like using the coupon is worth doing.

[zakity]

We will use the coupon for batteries if we don't have anything we need right away.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by zakity

We will use the coupon for batteries if we don't have anything we need right away.

I've done that, too. They have a really long shelf life. I think if you pick up a pack today, they're probably dated for 2013 or 2014. I know I'll use them long before that. Actually, I do need a 9V for my alarm clock back-up so I'll put that on the list.

[GREENBACK]

Those coupons, like most, are meant to get you in the store so you will make other impulse purchases as many who get them will. They are a good deal if you avoid the impulse buying trap. I always try to make use of them if I can.

[ScrimpAndSave]

I find that with food coupons...many of them are food for a while. I stock pile food coupons and wait until I have a lot...plan 2 weeks around using them in meals...and then go to the store and use them to buy the foods. I make sure I use it all up before going shopping again.

[Aleta]

I also would wait until you have some kind of coupons that can be used for the items you want to buy. There are coupons in the Sunday inserts for batteries. I also try to wait until there is also a sale on the item that I want.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I always find things I need to stockpile. Stuff like nails, repair stuff, keys (I lose mine all the time), etc.

[Kevinb81]

I use coupons and check deal rebates even freebies on some online dealwebsits, Edealeasy.com is my favorites.

[tonymaffoy]

i will use coupons.

[Hot dog]

I only get lowes coupons maybe 3 or 4 times a year and 10 off of 25 is a really good deal I would find something I need or wanted. They sell all kinds of things. I just got some totes to store the christmas lights, a crock pot, crown molding, and paint. They have cleaners brooms There has to be some kind of gift you could get someone and save lots. If the coupons were available more often I'd let it go but theyre not

[mom-from-missouri]

I ues those when I get them. Like gold her on the farm! We always need to keep a couple heat lamps in stock, furnace filters, barnlights (the spotlight kind-only place we can't use cfls), garden hoses, power cords...

Also there are items we can use in the house that I can bulk up on-again, furnace filters, CFL lights, batteries. Things that won't go "out of date"

[segmond]

I find that people use this as an excuse to save money.
Oh wow, it's on sale! am saving money! 25% off, wooohooo!

If I don't need to buy it, it's not worth buying, UNLESS I had already planned on buying it a while before I see it, AND my buying date is close to it.

If I am planning on buying a $5,000 car in 2 months, and I happen to come across a rare deal, same car in excellent condition for $3,000 and I know it will be hard to see it in 2 months, then I will get it.

However, if I didn't plan to make any purchases, I wouldn't, I saw a very nice furniture for around $1,200. I want to change my furniture in a year from now, usually I have often seen such furnitures for around $2,000. However a year is too long a time to spend $1,200 just to save $800.

At the end of the day, I don't buy into the idea of "spending money to save money", It is a matter of if you SPENT money or SAVED money.

[MoneyTrev]

I don't do this or support doing this.

It's save save save until you hit a need. Then it's spend reasonable on the need and back to saving. Now, if you think you can continually spend money on that company, then sign up for membership. Then you can potentially get points to get things for free or for a discount.

The stores I go to usually don't have a coupon program like Lowes. Shopper's Drug Mart doesn't use coupons, Safeway gives you discount as long as you're their member and that's free and Real Canadian SuperStore just lets you have things for free once you spend over $$xxx.xx on something.

[disneysteve]

Since getting this coupon, and starting this thread, I've tried to see if there was actually a list of items that I needed, rather than just shopping to use the coupon. So far, I know I need heater filters. Also, the other day, I was pruning a tree and broke my last saw blade, so I need to replace that. And my wife just got a really cute craft project to make a snowman from a brick paver stone, so we want to pick up one of those. I checked the date I last replaced our outside lights and based on past experience, they are nearing the end of their lifespan, so I want to buy backups for those. That should get us pretty close to the $25. If I need anything else, there are a couple of lamps in the house I'd like to put CFLs in. I think getting all of that stuff, that I would buy anyway at full price, for 40% off is a good deal.

[MoneyTrev]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Since getting this coupon, and starting this thread, I've tried to see if there was actually a list of items that I needed, rather than just shopping to use the coupon. So far, I know I need heater filters. Also, the other day, I was pruning a tree and broke my last saw blade, so I need to replace that. And my wife just got a really cute craft project to make a snowman from a brick paver stone, so we want to pick up one of those. I checked the date I last replaced our outside lights and based on past experience, they are nearing the end of their lifespan, so I want to buy backups for those. That should get us pretty close to the $25. If I need anything else, there are a couple of lamps in the house I'd like to put CFLs in. I think getting all of that stuff, that I would buy anyway at full price, for 40% off is a good deal.

Wow, lucky you.

Rarely do people be in a position to use coupons to buy many things and save huge amounts of money.