Just wondering, I got a bunch today and I am gonna try and see how much I really save.

I'm a regular coupon user.

i LOVE coupons!!!!! my husband thinks i am nut!!!! they are all organized

I love coupons too, but sometimes it's still cheaper to just get generic!!

It frustrates me. I'll only do it if it's a REALLY good deal. Most places I shop though don't use coupons.

I clip coupons all the time. After going to the supermarket the money that i saved by using coupons i'll put in a jar like say i save $3.50 using coupons i'll take $3.50 out of my purse and put it in a jar then later on when the jar is full i'll take it to the bank and deposit it into my savings account.

I like to clip coupons. I tend to only clip those for things that I know I will buy. I subscribe to the weekend papers just for the coupons.

And lots of websites for products will send you coupons if you add yourself to their mailing lists. :)

Jenn

I would if i was not so lazy lol

Coupons are great...i am a avid clipper myself. often times you will find that your coupons can be used the following week or two on stuff on sale at the grocery store. also, check out other retailers like walmart/target/kmart, you can use your coupons there too for stuff thats on sale (snack items, etc)

Wonderful idea LovemyJD!!!

I used to love to shop at Jitney Jungle (when we had one!) - every few weeks they would have triple coupon day! They'd triple up to $1.00 off! There were times they nearly had to pay me for shopping there!

Now that they are gone - we don't even have a store that doubles them! Geez - I miss Jitney!!!

Yep I clip the ones I know I'll use out of Sundays paper every Sunday!

i dont really clip them but i get the ones that print out of the register and shoprite and that come with things you buy and i never end up using them because i always leave them at home or forget....

Well I am cashier at A&P and I always see people using coupons and saving CRAZY amounts of money on their orders!! I don't clip coupons...b/c well, I'm too lazy lol! But one thing I see that I think is SOO dumb (just IMO)...is when people buy things JUST b/c they have a coupon for them!! Happy Clippin' ladies:)

Always. Coupons are free money from the company. Then again, I don't have a lot of money to throw out the window so I am very careful. An "aquaintance" of my sister gets food stamps. She spends the money on name brand products, never looks for sales and NEVER clips coupons. She told me, "Hell, I didn't work for the money. Why should I care?". Typical, pathetic trash.
I look for sales, then use my coupons on the sale items. Where I shop, they double the coupons. I have saved over 80% on my entire grocery bill.

I figure, why give the store the money when it can be in my own pocket?

Yes, I spend several hours a week "working" on my coupons. Clipping, organizing, matching sales to them, etc. I am a member of several on line boards that tell me where to go to get items near free or free. I currently have about 35 things of deodarant that I purchased free and 24 things of cat litter that I purchased free. There are some things I refuse to pay money for. I tell my daughter that that is that much more than we can use for weekend trips to visit her hubby!

I DO use coupons and am guilty of buying something cause I have a coupon for it. I see it this way..............I can try some items for free or almost free, if I don't like them I didn't spend much on them if anything at all. I also get free stuff with my coupons and give it to folks that I know will use it. I am putting aside some things to send to Iraq, the needy etc. I have a store I shop at the offers double dollars, I went shopping this past week and saved 70 bucks off my 220 dollar bill.

i'm so addicted to "reading" the ads in the sunday paper that i had to order it. i think it was $26 for six months. so i decided to start using the coupons, just for things i would normally buy, and once i saved that $26, i've paid for my newspapers.

I use coupons every week. I usually save about $20.00 a week!

Only for like cat food and stuff that is really price....TP, laundry detergent. I love coupons.

I buy the Sunday paper just for the coupons, some supermarkets double the coupons up to .99 and at the end of the shopping you can really save lots of $.

The Sunday papers out here in the boonies don't have much, so I use couponsurfer.com and other online coupon sites. But ask at your store if they take them...I've had a couple stores say no since they are printed from the puter.

Guilty as charged. Isn't that what Sunday papers are for?

I use coupons but only on things I would have bought anyway. A lot of times I can find the brand name items for cheaper than generic ones simply because of the coupons. People give me a hard time, but I've saved over $30 in one trip to the grocery store. That's a whole other trip! Or taking my daughter to the movies! We need that dough.

I used to never, but I do now. The triple coupons at Albertsons motivated me :-).

My grandmother used to cut out every one and mail the ones she didn't want to us - my father was too 'good' for coupons. She would always say 'if there were dollar bills in there to cut out, you'd cut them out!'

Not, really but I need to, everything is getting very expensive these days. With four boys at home and myself things really get hectic. I use them sometimes and I don't always find coupons for the things I use. Any suggestions are there any websites we can get coupons from???

I recently joined coupons.com. They have had some good ones for the products I use. Plus if you are a member of mypoints.com, you get points for each one you use. If you aren't a member of mypoints.com let me know, I'll send you an invite. You can earn gift cards pretty easily.

how does mypoints.com work???

how does mypoints.com work???

They send you emails, you click the link to go to a website. You get 5 points everytime you do that. I order my address labels from Vista Print, I get 300 points everytime I do that. You can go on their website to see who is offering what for points if you shop on the internet. I really like it. I've racked up alot of points. I'm close to 4,200 again actually.

Use to a few years ago... I was a coupon NUT.. I spent hours cutting, sorting and searching for sales. It got old BUT now I feel so bad when I do shop without them, Thinking of all the money I could save.. :( I need to start again. :) Time to breakout that coupon binder. :D

Isn't that what Sunday papers are for?

That's what I'm talking about. I'll get up at 7am to get my coupons on Sunday. I hate spending money...period, so if I can save it then I will!

Coupons = :thumbsup:

LOL all the cashiers in all the stores around here know me well, many on first name LMAO... I get multiple copies of the coupons, take 6 hours each week to plan out trips to the stores, couple my coupons with the sales, etc... I normally don't pay more than $10 for $400-500 worth of groceries... with Frankie gone right now, and 2 pre/teen kids I gotta do what I can... I have spreadsheets documenting normal pricing and stores, and I even used to host a seminar about couponing. I made a big packet and went thru it and taught many how to "shop smart" and use their "common CENTS" lol! They call me the coupon queen around here... shoot I have even done "contract shopping" for others INCLUDING the managers at some of my local stores! LOL I love coupons and Frankie used to just shake his head in amazement! Thought about selling my seminar pack online for 1/2 the price I charged for the entire seminar...

coupon queen, Lord we all could use your knowledge. I just no how to cut them out. Then i forget and leave them at home. I try to just buy what i need.

I actually made up a saying and everyone who knows me, knows it well LMAO... "If it's free, its good enough for me" LOL... Luckily I am starting a catering business and ppl tell me I should be a professional chef, so I can make something out of virtually everything I buy... but with all the online recipe sites and such, anyone could do it!:D

Coupon tip: if you don't have one for something on your grocery list, google it and see if there's a printable. I'm sure WIB has more and better ideas, but I just noticed this one.

WIB: I need your counsel. I am horrid at doing this. I don't know why, it's not rocket science, but I just can't seem to get it together!

I was determined to make myself start using them, I saw an opportunity with a product I like being on sale AND I had coupons, AND they are tripling them. I couldn't find them, lol. I went on a rampage until I did.

The monetary amount was not worth all the trouble, but it was the principle that I have to start treating them like $1 bills and keep up with them!

I don't know if this is the practice in other areas, but when I worked in a public library down in New Jersey, we had several shoe-box size boxes, and library patrons would drop off any coupons they didn't use, and go through the boxes and retrieve coupons they could use. Many people don't have pets, for example, and I used to get loads of cat food/products coupons that way.

I think if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd still clip coupons. I hate paying full price for anything if I don't have to. The stores in my area are often reluctant to accept coupons printed from the computer, however. That still seems to be too "new" for them. I wish they'd catch up with the times.

I decided this week that I had to get a little tighter with my money when I did my groceries so last weekend I had the little scissors going with the coupons. I had a handful of them when we walked into the store and didn't use a single one because the generic brand was still cheaper. We'll probably give it another try though next week because the kids had so much fun looking for the coupons that we would use and calculating how much money we would save.

I just like to clip coupons for cleaning supplies. Good cleaning supplies are better for me. I don't want to scrub harder or redo a job. HATE HOUSEWORK!

Yes, I do. I am a member of thegrocerygame.com
It is a very cheap membership, and it will save you both time and money.

LOL all the cashiers in all the stores around here know me well, many on first name LMAO... I get multiple copies of the coupons, take 6 hours each week to plan out trips to the stores, couple my coupons with the sales, etc... I normally don't pay more than $10 for $400-500 worth of groceries... with Frankie gone right now, and 2 pre/teen kids I gotta do what I can... I have spreadsheets documenting normal pricing and stores, and I even used to host a seminar about couponing. I made a big packet and went thru it and taught many how to "shop smart" and use their "common CENTS" lol! They call me the coupon queen around here... shoot I have even done "contract shopping" for others INCLUDING the managers at some of my local stores! LOL I love coupons and Frankie used to just shake his head in amazement! Thought about selling my seminar pack online for 1/2 the price I charged for the entire seminar...

Did I read this right...$10 for $400-$500 worth of groceries??? How in the world is that possible?:confused:

Did I read this right...$10 for $400-$500 worth of groceries??? How in the world is that possible?:confused:

Yes you read that right... actually the total was $480 and change before and $5.53 when I walked out.

I had a coupon for everything, plus my store triples and doubles coupons, PLUS I hit the 10 for $10 sale, etc. I do this all the time. I even used to teach a seminar about it.

My recent trip to petsmart was a huge deal too! I loved it. The total after my card but before my coupons was $447.60 and I walked out paying only $34.09 after my coupons!

I spend obscene amounts of time planning a trip, gathering coupons, comparing prices, etc... a 1 day shopathon I plan for like 6-8hrs I would guess... I always leave out with no more than $100, and normally come back with at LEAST 50-60% of it still in cash. It takes organization, time, and dedication... but with the price of everything these days, I have to make it work! I've included some pictures from my all day shopping runs!

WOW! Please let me know how you do it! What websites are good for coupons? I have 3 teenagers and it's so hard. With gas prices, we all need to save the money!
Please let me in on any tips!

I clip coupons and I print them offline. Its actually a very enjoyable experience!

ok! woman in black. i need to know the secret for petsmart for sure and the grocery store. i am struggling to feed all my animals. my critter bill is at least $300 a month. please tell me!!!!

ok! woman in black. i need to know the secret for petsmart for sure and the grocery store. i am struggling to feed all my animals. my critter bill is at least $300 a month. please tell me!!!!

OK... I'm not sure what kind of animal you have but here are some Petsmart tips (I have cats)...

1. Collect multiple coupons and make sure to ALWAYS check the sales ad. Combine coupons with sales for double value.

2. Join all the pet programs and save your weight circles and UPC's etc. Purina pro club sends you $6 checks that each one is good on a bag of 14lbs or larger food and you can still use a regular coupon on that same bag!

3. Make sure you have the petperks card so you get the additional savings, plus periodically they send you coupons and deals too.

4. If things are Buy 1 Get 1 Free, you are still purchasing 2 items, so you can still use 2 coupons!

5. Petsmart emails customers $ off purchase coupons you can print and use at their stores... ranges from $5 off a $25 purchase to like $15 off a $50 or more (these are the common ones).

6. SOME (not all) Petsmarts WILL take expired coupons if it is less than 2 weeks from the expiration date (MAKE SURE TO ASK FIRST BEFORE YOU BUY).

7. (CAT TIP:) Cat treats make for a good dry filler... and they are fairly cheap too! You can get $ off treat coupons and B1G1F coupons for cat treats... if you get a bunch of the little treat bags, you can mix it in with a small 3lb. bag of dry food and it makes alot more (has to be the crunchy treats though!)

8. Be a courtesy couponer: If you have coupons where things are b1g1f or completely free, then make sure to have the correct price written down on your shopping list or a scratch paper so you can help the cashier speed up your checkout. They tend to appreciate helpful shoppers and give you less hassle about couponing!

9. There are tons of companies that have completely free items coupons out there... Fresh step, Purina, etc. both through their company and in the newspaper. Always be on the lookout for those!

10. Buy small, save big! Take for example... there is currently a coupon for a free 16oz (1lb) bag of Purina Healthful life cat food (expires 6-16-08), well that's not a big bag right? Well how about if you have 20 copies of that coupon? All the sudden you have 20 pounds of free food! OK you think but I have no room to store that many little bags... easy. Its worth the money to invest in a food container. You can get a plain rubbermaid tub with a lid, garbage can, but I personally like the rolling (yes with wheels) dog food container that holds 50 pounds of food! Of course I use it for cat foods. I paid $22.99 at Target for it and its clear with a snaptop lid. Dump all your small stuff in this container so its in one place. You can then slide it in a corner, under a counter, or even right in the pantry and then just wheel it out of the way when you walk in! I think I got like 18 or 19 of the 3lb bags of cat food in there. (I put a picture of it here) Also when you do that, invest in a dog food scoop (its a big scoop and I got mine at Walmart for about $1.50. Another example is The Goodlife Recipe cat food just had a $3 off ANY bag cat food... well our Walmart carries the 3lb. bag for $3.82... so I paid 82 cents per bag!

LOL now you see why I hosted a seminar on this stuff? It takes work and most people need the "secrets" if you will... hmmm... maybe I should start doing it again LOL! Anyways, hope some of these tips helped! :thumbsup:

thanks, i can hardly find the coupons for the food i buy. i have the petsperk card and know my prices at 3 main stores. i love to shop with the coupons they give. i did recently save $50 and that made my bill small for once with one of their coupons. and yes, i buy tubs to store some since if i buy bulk it costs less. we have 14 cats, 5 dogs, 2 rabbits, 3 rats, 2 mice, and 1 hamster at the moment. oh yeah, and tree frogs right now.

thanks, i can hardly find the coupons for the food i buy. i have the petsperk card and know my prices at 3 main stores. i love to shop with the coupons they give. i did recently save $50 and that made my bill small for once with one of their coupons. and yes, i buy tubs to store some since if i buy bulk it costs less. we have 14 cats, 5 dogs, 2 rabbits, 3 rats, 2 mice, and 1 hamster at the moment. oh yeah, and tree frogs right now.

What type of food(s) do you use, maybe I can help you locate some? Also did you know that alot of the times, specialty stores (like Petsmart) will honor competitor coupons? For the cats and dogs I would definitely enroll in the pro plan club. Also check your local feed stores that may sell cat & dog food as well... some of the ones here accept coupons, so yours might as well!

I LOVE coupons. Especially when trying something new. I LIKE to think that I have saved some money...

I LOVE COUPONS (i know it makes me look sound like an old lady)i live in NC, and all the Lowes grocery stores have double coupon day everyday-for up to .99 of the face value of the coupon, so YES i totally clip coupons. i try to pay attention to the prices of the things that i buy the most like milk, favorite cereal, detergent, whatever, b/c some stores have higher prices, and i want to use the coupon where im actually gonna save the most money. Also, i try do a little meal planning before i shop (i am NOT organized enough to plan like i should) but with an idea of how busy my week is and what i realistically think i will actually cook b/c buying food that needs to be cooked and letting it go bad before i do, is a waste of money, and then what's the point of the coupon? By using coupons, and doing a little comparison shopping, i knock,on average, about $20 off my weekly grocery bill, but i have saved as much as $39 off a grocery bill that was just over $100. Its definitely worth the extra effort if you are on a tight budget, the store doesn't need my pennies as much as i do.

i usually buy friskies delights and purina dog chow (affordabe). i will look at the web site for purina pro. i get on mysavings.com and walmart.com for all the free samples and coupons i can. we use to have a homeland which doubled but now we don't have any that i know of. i am going to have to do more investigating. thanks again.

i have found that petsmart exquisite cat litter has gone up to 12.99 for a 40# box and walmart has their special kitty scoopable box for $5.76 for 26# so it a much better deal.

i usually buy friskies delights and purina dog chow (affordabe). i will look at the web site for purina pro. i get on mysavings.com and walmart.com for all the free samples and coupons i can. we use to have a homeland which doubled but now we don't have any that i know of. i am going to have to do more investigating. thanks again.

i have found that petsmart exquisite cat litter has gone up to 12.99 for a 40# box and walmart has their special kitty scoopable box for $5.76 for 26# so it a much better deal.

ok Petsmart has a deal right now if you buy 30 friskies or fancy feast, you get a free gift bag and a coupon for $5 off any $5 or more purina purchase. And check into fresh step... their rewards program is if you save the pawpoints, you can redeem them for a coupon for a free litter.

Yes. I also find coupons online. And I have those membership cards (free) for the few grocery stores in my town so that I'm always getting the lowest prices.

I'll find any way to lower prices. I'm about as cheap as they come and always feel ripped off, lol

I am so addicted to coupons that I had to start supplying the church food bank with a bag or two each week. I have a store that doubles dollar coupons and I just can't stop. Seems lot's of stuff is free or almost free. It's a Kroger store so they run a lot of the buy so many items listed get $XX off your order. Sometimes those Items are free after coupons and then you get $xx in other stuff free. I find a lot of help at www.hotcouponworld.com (http://prisontalk.com/forums/www.hotcouponworld.com)
I have also been guilty of ordering from a coupon clipping service but it keeps my pantry's and freezers stocked.

I'm finding that fewer coupons come with the Sunday newspapers, and this has cut down on my couponing. There's probably better value for the advertisers to advertise online, and the user prints their own. One favorite supermarket of mine doesn't take printed Internet coupons, unfortunately.

Heck yeah I clip some coupons lemme tell ya...lol. Every Sunday there are tons in the paper, and those $1 off coupons really add up on stuff like paper towels and toilet paper, and those free Glade Plug-In's coupons, oh yeah, I love the coupons!

Heck yeah I clip some coupons lemme tell ya...lol. Every Sunday there are tons in the paper, and those $1 off coupons really add up on stuff like paper towels and toilet paper, and those free Glade Plug-In's coupons, oh yeah, I love the coupons!
That's how it used to be. I wonder why you're seeing more coupons than I am.

Every Thursday the new supermarket circular comes in the mail, so I sit down and match up the sale items with coupons they double. I save lots of dough, and even get some items free. :D

To much work lol!!!

I'm sitting here right now doing the big clip, and I have another general coupon complaint: too many of them specify you gotta buy two, or three of the product. Forget it! That dilutes the value of the coupon.

Would some one tell me where to go to find coupons? I do not find them any more as much as there use to be out there.

Most of the time coupons are going to be in a heavily circulated Sunday paper. (Except on holidays) You can also register on the P&G(Proctor and Gamble) website for samples and coupons. It is sometimes cheaper to just buy generic unless there is a specific product you use regularly. It is usually best to only clip coupons for items that you would normally use or you may end up spending more money on buying things just because you have a coupon.

Voted YES, but do not do it as often as I'd like. It's so much work!.

Q: Do you clip coupons? A: YES!

Just wanted to share my excitement with grocery shopping yesterday. I went to one grocery store who accepts internet coupons and saved $10 in coupons and then I went to another grocery store that has their own coupons too and saved $39!!!!!

Here are a few sites where I get coupons from:

http://shortcuts.com/partner/index.jsp

http://coupons.smartsource.com

Thanks for sharing the links.

Has anyone noticed that the coupons are changing?!? I am an AVID coupon clipper and I have noticed that it used to be $1.00 off ONE item is now $1.00 off TWO items!!! :blah:

Also, at Walgreens and Target you can use THEIR coupons WITH a manufacturers coupon!! :thumbsup:

I don't usually try to keep up with coupons. For one, I forget which items I have coupons for, and/or I forget to use them, when I do have them! And secondly, it's such a chore to find anything in my purse, already, why add one more thing I've got to rummage in my purse for, at the check out stand??

I've seen little "coupon wallets" which I think are kind of cool, and might help with the "finding them" issue, maybe I'd be more into them, if I were more organized? But as it stands now, my purse is a "bottomless pit", and items that enter it, may never be seen again! (ok, slight exaggeration, but I think some of you girls may know what I mean?)

What I usually do is just read the flyers the local stores send in the mail, and look for sales in those. Only on rare occasions, (for really exceptional sales), do I use a coupon.

What I like to look for on the net, are coupons for completely free items and free samples. Those I will use, in a heartbeat!

(I actually maintain a little web blog that posts lists of free online items every month, but guess I can't post the link here...I really wish the rules about posting links here, would change!)

Always have. As a matter of fact, got my hubby 2 paper subs. and when he sees any, he will clip it out and mail it to me. I have always saved a ton of money with my coupons. Takes more time to shop, but unfortunately I have more time than money- :cool:

I subscribe to Huggies and they send me coupons in the mail. Good thing about that is that the Babies R' Us here in PA accepts ALL manufacturers coupons per item so most times if I have enough to pay for an entire pack of pampers I will use all of the coupons for that ONE item.

I also go on Walmart.com and get free samples. Don't forget about that.

But yes, I do use coupons but I think there's an art to it. If you're not familiar with the art you'll end up spending unnecessarily just because you have a coupon.

THe most important thing is to use the coupon ONLY when an item is on sale.

Yes, these days I try and pinch a penny as far as I can and coupons have really helped. However, they only help if they are for products that you would normal buy or use and you really have to compare and price items when using a couponing. Sometimes, even with using a coupon an item maybe more than another brand without a coupon.

I also, try and combine sales with a coupon to get the best possible price for an item.

I cut them and never use them.....go figure!