How do you use your coupons to save money?

[dawnwes]

For anyone who might want to save on food but doesn't want to mess with couponing, I have found this e-book (free) to be very helpful. I don't follow all she suggests (we don't really eat beef so I don't do her meat plan) but she has some good ideas.

Budget101.com - - How to Feed a Family of 4 for less than $200 Month

I do stock up on chicken and turkey when it is on special though.

Dawn

[dawnwes]

There are many things I just buy at Costco. I don't even bother with coupons because, as you said, there aren't any for those items.

My Costco basics are:

Produce
Cheese
Dog food (Kirkland)
Kirkland organic salsa
Most meat
Brown basmati rice
Toilet Paper (we only like Kirkland)
Paper Towels (Kirkland)
Naan
Coffee beans

Costco is also great for over the counter medication. Benadryl is about $2.50 for 500 tablets for example.

I still coupon for a lot of things, but I buy basics at Costco.

Dawn

I don't use coupons. I eat pretty healthy and I stick to basic foods. Brown rice, chicken breasts, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, wheat bread, protein supplements. There aren't ever coupons for the foods that I buy. As far as other items like paper products and toiletries, I usually get them at the dollar store. They're are often cheaper their even if the name brand version has a sale or a coupon.

[dancinmama]

I have used coupons for over 20 years (before it became "fashionable"). I do most of my couponing at the drug chains. I combine rock bottom sales, with coupons and store promotions to get most of the non-perishables that we use for free. I have back stocked many of the non-perishabes that we use on a regular basis: razors, toothbrushes, toilet paper, paper towels, Ziplocs, foil, laundry products, household cleaners, Q-tips, shampoo, body wash, etc.

I also use coupons at the grocery store, but I don't have a grocery store that doubles so there is no "Extreme Couponing" for me.

[marvholly]

Hi Dancin
Interesting to find you here but I see you are new her.

People:
Dancin is an EXPERT. I 'met' her on the old msn Women in Red board, Grocery challenge thread. this has migrated. Not sure if it is kosher to post the current info. We are are LARGE group of sale shoppers/couponers from coast to coast who help each other w/deals, scenarios and sharing coupons.

[dancinmama]

Hi Dancin
Interesting to find you here but I see you are new her.

People:
Dancin is an EXPERT. I 'met' her on the old msn Women in Red board, Grocery challenge thread. this has migrated. Not sure if it is kosher to post the current info. We are are LARGE group of sale shoppers/couponers from coast to coast who help each other w/deals, scenarios and sharing coupons.

Hi Holly!! Ya, I googled "personal finance forums" and here I am!! DH is working some crazy long hours and the drug chain deals are taking a lot less time than they used to, so here I am.

Expert? Hmmm....I don't think anyone has called me THAT before. ha ha ha I just enjoy talking about and helping others save money if/when I can; but thanks for the compliment.

[Breton Wench]

Plain Colgate isn't good enough anymore. You need tartar control baking soda peroxide whitening vanilla mint with Scope crystals (which also comes in 4 other flavors).

Have you been sneaking around my Intermarche recently, Steve ??? Because the is exactly what I found in our new Hyper-Marche when I went to buy toothpaste - I had no idea that people are so picky about what to brush their molars with....and you forgot Natural Herbal Organic Green.
As for coupons - I find here in France they are mainly for high sugar, high quantity items.....like three packs of biscuits or three sodas for two, so I do not use them much. I got a good deal on packet soup the other day - but that was from an existing coupon on stock cubes. I also object to the quantities that you have to buy.

[marvholly]

Bjl
Sorry I did not notice your post before. Coupons DO exist for brown rice, fresh produce (recently Dole pineapple, & Driscol strawberries) and oatmeal. I have also found & used coupons for pre-trimmed & washed produce like Manns, fresh express or the store versions.

I am going to wait 1 more day to see if I hear from a mod or admin re: posting the grocery/HBA buying forum where both Dancin & I regularly read/participate. There are quite a few interesting other forums on that board from politics to debt reduction thru taxes into recipes.

[landon.bruno]

I don't do coupons, I usually do the bulk of my grocery shopping at walmart, and it is least expensive in my area. I buy bulk sizes of things that can be used for multiple meals. I also read sales insert in the paper every week, and focus on buying stuff when it's cheap. I stock up on non-perishables (canned goods, pasta, etc) and put meat in the freezer. I buy produce in season, and shop at the local farmer's market for a lot of things. (Not everything is cheaper there, but many items are.)

[Frugal]

Yes, I too avoid the coupons for large quantities. However, there are still plenty of coupons out there for one or two items only. I focus on using these to save money with coupons!

[rob62521]

Honestly, I think the show is rigged. I think store managers bend the rules for the show (and let them use more coupons than they normally would allow someone walking in without a camera crew in tow), and they order items and make sure the shelves are stocked for the filming.

Our local store has limits on coupons. 20 per day can be doubled but only 3 of a kind can be doubled. So, doubling 27 coupons on juice boxes wouldn't work for us.

I also don't want to hoard. I will generally max out on one year's supply of some items like dish detergent or shampoo if I find a free or almost free deal. I have 2 of those metal shelving units that I purchased from Costco and they are more than adequate for my stockpiling needs.

Dawn

I would have to agree...I think many are hoarders. One gal on the show had a bunch of diapers and didn't have kids. Plus, so much of the stuff is high fat processed foods. I use coupons, but not to this extent because most of the stuff I buy there aren't coupons available, at least not in our area. Our hometown paper usually has coupon inserts, but they are usually a joke -- mostly for ads for ordering stuff. Once in awhile we score Chicago Tribune ad inserts which are better, but they aren't always in the paper -- my husband buys just the Sunday Trib. I have gone online to look for coupons for items that I purchase frequently, but even those are getting to be few and far between. Plus, many are now saying you have to buy a certain size and they aren't to be doubled or tripled. We don't have any stores that double or trip in our town, so it doesn't effect us, but I'm thinking because of the Extreme Couponing the companies are getting pickier.

[dancinmama]

Today I'll be going to Kohl's. They have all sheet sets on sale at 40-50% off. On top of that I will use a 30% off coupon and a $10 off any purchase of $20 or more coupon to get my sheets at a deep discount.

[rob62521]

Ah, Kohls! Love the place!

In other news, here's an story saying stores are making coupons harder to use:
Yahoo! Finance - Financially Fit