OT - Any extreme couponers in our midst?
I am not looking to start a stockpile or anything but I've been perusing the web for tips on how to mose effectively use coupons. I usually just buy stuff generic but I see there are ways to use coupons to your advantage.
Anyway, any tips, particularly good success stories or whatever are welcome!
This summer my goal is to save up and hold onto $500. Which doesn't SEEM that hard but...yeah...for my household it will be a challenge. I plan to do like the Duggars say: buy used and save the difference! And a whole bunch of other stuff.
Anyway, what coupon wisdom do you have for me???
Anyway, any tips, particularly good success stories or whatever are welcome!
This summer my goal is to save up and hold onto $500. Which doesn't SEEM that hard but...yeah...for my household it will be a challenge. I plan to do like the Duggars say: buy used and save the difference! And a whole bunch of other stuff.
Anyway, what coupon wisdom do you have for me???
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
The larger items are not usually a better deal...but they want you to think they are. Find other couponers near you & swap coupons. Ones that you might toss are gold to others & vice versa.
Compare store sale flyers fir the best deal to match up with your coupons.
Utilize extra bucks/up rewards etc at drug stores.
Compare store sale flyers fir the best deal to match up with your coupons.
Utilize extra bucks/up rewards etc at drug stores.
RNY 5/22/12 27.5.bs lost pre-op
Make a list of products you like to buy, brands you wish you could find coupons for. Then email those companies, tell them you love their product or want to try it or whatever, and ask if they can send you some coupons.
That's by far the best tip I have. I get coupons for items I actually want, often really good ones. Purina sent me coupons for four FREE cans of Friskies cat food.
That's by far the best tip I have. I get coupons for items I actually want, often really good ones. Purina sent me coupons for four FREE cans of Friskies cat food.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I'm not extreme, because I never get a zero balance... but there are certain things I will never pay a penny for. And I do have a stockpile of certain items.
I buy 4 papers if the coupons are good, and clip them. I also print coupons online from several sources (google printable coupons). I keep them in a 3 ring zipper binder with a strap and baseball card sleeves.
It takes me roughly half an hour to an hour to clip, file, and discard expired coupons.
Every week I browse all nearby store ads online for sale prices. I mentally match good deals to coupons for even better deals. I use the websites "add to list" feature to save items I want to buy and print the list when I'm done. I have 12 local stores I check - this does not take long because it's all online. I all check AllYou's grocery ad feature because they find sales I haven't seen. They also have an "add to list" feature that I use.
I pull out all the coupons that I mentally matched up and put them in a zippered pencil pouch at the front of my binder. Then I take all my store shopping lists and my binder to WalMart (I have no local stores that double coupons or I would shop there for their deals) and pick out everything I want. I keep an eye out for good deals/sales/clearances that I can match with coupons.
When I get to the register I put all regular priced items in the front of the belt, then all price matched items last. That gives me time to get everything on the belt while she rings up regular priced stuff so I can be ready to price match. You don't need the ad with you, but sometimes they ask so I show them the shopping lists I printed from the stores.
I have a stockpile of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hairspray, shaving cream, razors, toilet paper, lipbalm, ky (this made me $1 for each one I bought!), fabric softener, laundry soap, dishwasher tablets, liquid dishsoap, bar soap, body spray... all these items I paid little or nothing for. The toilet paper, laundry soap, fabric softener and dishwasher tablets were probably $1.50 each or less. The dishsoap was 25 cents. Shampoo and conditioners $1 or less (Pantene, Dove, Herbal Essence, Head and Shoulders). Everything else was free.
By stockpile I mean I have rubbermade totes full of razors, deodorant and toothpaste, and every bathroom and laundry room cabinet and shelf is stocked FULL of items.
I stock up on spaghetti sauce, cereal, tea, koolade, pasta, etc when it is pennies with coupons. I am down to my last 2 free jars of Ragu.
I price match all meat and only buy what is on sale. I never pay more than $5/pound for t-bones and chicken breast is usually $1.69/pound at most. Ground beef (extra lean) I wait until it's $1.99/pound and stock up. Pork chops are usually 99 cents/pound. Vegetables are the same way. Every item is usually on sale for a rock bottom price somewhere. I pay 50 cents for cantaloupe. 25 cents for cucumbers, avocado, etc. Watermelon is usually 1.99 somewhere. I buy according to what's on sale and price match everything.
I stock my pantry for my kids in the summer according to what's on sale and what I have coupons for!
I save HUNDREDS each trip with price matching and coupons.
I buy 4 papers if the coupons are good, and clip them. I also print coupons online from several sources (google printable coupons). I keep them in a 3 ring zipper binder with a strap and baseball card sleeves.
It takes me roughly half an hour to an hour to clip, file, and discard expired coupons.
Every week I browse all nearby store ads online for sale prices. I mentally match good deals to coupons for even better deals. I use the websites "add to list" feature to save items I want to buy and print the list when I'm done. I have 12 local stores I check - this does not take long because it's all online. I all check AllYou's grocery ad feature because they find sales I haven't seen. They also have an "add to list" feature that I use.
I pull out all the coupons that I mentally matched up and put them in a zippered pencil pouch at the front of my binder. Then I take all my store shopping lists and my binder to WalMart (I have no local stores that double coupons or I would shop there for their deals) and pick out everything I want. I keep an eye out for good deals/sales/clearances that I can match with coupons.
When I get to the register I put all regular priced items in the front of the belt, then all price matched items last. That gives me time to get everything on the belt while she rings up regular priced stuff so I can be ready to price match. You don't need the ad with you, but sometimes they ask so I show them the shopping lists I printed from the stores.
I have a stockpile of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hairspray, shaving cream, razors, toilet paper, lipbalm, ky (this made me $1 for each one I bought!), fabric softener, laundry soap, dishwasher tablets, liquid dishsoap, bar soap, body spray... all these items I paid little or nothing for. The toilet paper, laundry soap, fabric softener and dishwasher tablets were probably $1.50 each or less. The dishsoap was 25 cents. Shampoo and conditioners $1 or less (Pantene, Dove, Herbal Essence, Head and Shoulders). Everything else was free.
By stockpile I mean I have rubbermade totes full of razors, deodorant and toothpaste, and every bathroom and laundry room cabinet and shelf is stocked FULL of items.
I stock up on spaghetti sauce, cereal, tea, koolade, pasta, etc when it is pennies with coupons. I am down to my last 2 free jars of Ragu.
I price match all meat and only buy what is on sale. I never pay more than $5/pound for t-bones and chicken breast is usually $1.69/pound at most. Ground beef (extra lean) I wait until it's $1.99/pound and stock up. Pork chops are usually 99 cents/pound. Vegetables are the same way. Every item is usually on sale for a rock bottom price somewhere. I pay 50 cents for cantaloupe. 25 cents for cucumbers, avocado, etc. Watermelon is usually 1.99 somewhere. I buy according to what's on sale and price match everything.
I stock my pantry for my kids in the summer according to what's on sale and what I have coupons for!
I save HUNDREDS each trip with price matching and coupons.
Heather
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
And if I'm in a store for unplanned purchases I use an app called Shop Savvy to scan the barcode for nearby prices. I also use AllYou's mobile website to search nearby grocery store sales for the product.
http://www.allyou.com/static/weekly-circulars/
http://www.allyou.com/static/weekly-circulars/
Heather
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
I am a EXTREME COUPONER and proud of it. I saved 10,000 in the past year April to April on groceries. My biggest score was 317.00 I ended up paying 11.00. The cashier and people around me were cheering it was so funny. I don't stockpile 700 things of toilet paper or anything like that I make a menu for our family I grew up knowing M was pot roast S was burgers. So I do that with my family make a weekly menu we try to stick to it. So I know what I need for 6 months at a time. I purchase in bulk like that. That trip I got about 25 tubes of toothpaste we have 4 bathrooms and use at least 2 a week with my family of 6 so that isn't even a years supply. It looks like alot but it isn't really.
I use the following
http://www.weusecoupons.com this is where all of the TLC people came from for the show Extreme Couponing it is run by Nathan who was the 1st guy who made a castle out of cereal boxes. They do coupon match ups and have a coupon database so you can look for items you use to see if they have coupons for them. If not do like Kelly said and email the company.
http://www.southernsavers.org she is based out of NC but she will do the Baltimore area stores like HT and I believe she does Safeway too.
Also if you have facebook like the coupon pages they will post deals and I swear I run to the store. I once had Walmart pay me 3.10 and to leave the store LOL. I bought toothpaste deodorant and they do overage so my coupons had overage of 3.10 they paid me to shop gotta love that!
I do get 60 of each insert a week and share them with my friends and family. I also donate any expired coupons to the military as they can use coupons at the PX for up to 6 months past the expiration date. I do belong to a coupon swap but have found I don't need to swap with the 60 inserts I get so I don't go anymore unless my friends don't want the inserts and I just drop them off at the swap.
Good Luck I love saving money on groceries. Since we started couponing we have taken more vacations and stay in suites not a room with 2 beds and the kids squish into a bed sidesways LOL. We also buy name brand items. I used to buy the cheap no name detergent but I have become a Tide and All type of girl and stock up when it is 1.99 or less. I buy detergent at that price usually 12 at a time.
Check out that we use coupons site they have a stockpile section where you can get ideas for items you can stockpile with. Also you can see the sales for the week in advance in the stores. They give you coupon match ups and also give you shopping trip ideas.
Finally produce I have found the cheapest still to be Aldi. But my meat at Harris Teeter they take other stores coupons so when I shop at Rite Aid, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS or Food Lion and I get register rewards, or store dollar off coupons I use them at Harris Teeter for meat and produce. I find that they have the best meat in our area so I don't see many meat coupons so I use those coupons from the other stores. It works out great.
Good Luck,
Michelle
I use the following
http://www.weusecoupons.com this is where all of the TLC people came from for the show Extreme Couponing it is run by Nathan who was the 1st guy who made a castle out of cereal boxes. They do coupon match ups and have a coupon database so you can look for items you use to see if they have coupons for them. If not do like Kelly said and email the company.
http://www.southernsavers.org she is based out of NC but she will do the Baltimore area stores like HT and I believe she does Safeway too.
Also if you have facebook like the coupon pages they will post deals and I swear I run to the store. I once had Walmart pay me 3.10 and to leave the store LOL. I bought toothpaste deodorant and they do overage so my coupons had overage of 3.10 they paid me to shop gotta love that!
I do get 60 of each insert a week and share them with my friends and family. I also donate any expired coupons to the military as they can use coupons at the PX for up to 6 months past the expiration date. I do belong to a coupon swap but have found I don't need to swap with the 60 inserts I get so I don't go anymore unless my friends don't want the inserts and I just drop them off at the swap.
Good Luck I love saving money on groceries. Since we started couponing we have taken more vacations and stay in suites not a room with 2 beds and the kids squish into a bed sidesways LOL. We also buy name brand items. I used to buy the cheap no name detergent but I have become a Tide and All type of girl and stock up when it is 1.99 or less. I buy detergent at that price usually 12 at a time.
Check out that we use coupons site they have a stockpile section where you can get ideas for items you can stockpile with. Also you can see the sales for the week in advance in the stores. They give you coupon match ups and also give you shopping trip ideas.
Finally produce I have found the cheapest still to be Aldi. But my meat at Harris Teeter they take other stores coupons so when I shop at Rite Aid, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS or Food Lion and I get register rewards, or store dollar off coupons I use them at Harris Teeter for meat and produce. I find that they have the best meat in our area so I don't see many meat coupons so I use those coupons from the other stores. It works out great.
Good Luck,
Michelle
Michelle
Did the happy dance onto the Loser's Bench March 18, 2013!
Visit my blog at http://skinnyundermyfat.blogspot.com/
I made friends with my mailman LOL He drops me the inserts weekly. My husband is a mailman but not on our route and I am friends with our mail man. He gets excess on his route and just throws them out when I heard that I said give them to me!
I do also throw papers nightly but the weekends I only get 2-3 extra papers so that is just a few inserts. I don't buy the paper and after awhile I learned just buy one and go to the coupon swaps. That was before I got the hook up with my mailman.
I joke he is like my dealer and I wait for him every Tuesday like a addict!
I do also throw papers nightly but the weekends I only get 2-3 extra papers so that is just a few inserts. I don't buy the paper and after awhile I learned just buy one and go to the coupon swaps. That was before I got the hook up with my mailman.
I joke he is like my dealer and I wait for him every Tuesday like a addict!
Michelle
Did the happy dance onto the Loser's Bench March 18, 2013!
Visit my blog at http://skinnyundermyfat.blogspot.com/
*slowly raises hand*
I don't even have a family to shop for but I coupon for myself and friends and the savings adds up. I swap coupons with 5-6 coworkers so most weeks the coupons that I want (which it works out are usually the ones they don't want) I end up with 5-6 of them.
I then do coupon matching using a few blogs (coupon divas is the best because the sales she post match our area in DC/MD/VA). So I make a "list" for each of the stores I stop in to frequently (CVS, Target, Giant, Harris Teeter) of the best deals based on what I need. I don't stock pile anything except personal hygiene/toiletry items (body wash, deodorant, toothpaste) and a lot of times I end up giving stuff away to friends and family or donating stuff to homeless shelters and women's shelters when I just have way too much to use.
My best "haul" was in Harris Teeter during triple coupon week a few weeks back (basically, any coupon up to $1 was tripled. so a 75 cent coupon was $2.25 and a $1 was $3). $400 worth of groceries and other stuff for $50. My pantry is stacked for the next 6 months easily.
In addition to coupons for groceries, I coupon for other things as well...makeup, clothes, shoes, and just about any service you can think of. I try not to pay full price for anything.
I don't even have a family to shop for but I coupon for myself and friends and the savings adds up. I swap coupons with 5-6 coworkers so most weeks the coupons that I want (which it works out are usually the ones they don't want) I end up with 5-6 of them.
I then do coupon matching using a few blogs (coupon divas is the best because the sales she post match our area in DC/MD/VA). So I make a "list" for each of the stores I stop in to frequently (CVS, Target, Giant, Harris Teeter) of the best deals based on what I need. I don't stock pile anything except personal hygiene/toiletry items (body wash, deodorant, toothpaste) and a lot of times I end up giving stuff away to friends and family or donating stuff to homeless shelters and women's shelters when I just have way too much to use.
My best "haul" was in Harris Teeter during triple coupon week a few weeks back (basically, any coupon up to $1 was tripled. so a 75 cent coupon was $2.25 and a $1 was $3). $400 worth of groceries and other stuff for $50. My pantry is stacked for the next 6 months easily.
In addition to coupons for groceries, I coupon for other things as well...makeup, clothes, shoes, and just about any service you can think of. I try not to pay full price for anything.
HW & SW: 363 Surgery date: 8/22/11 
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