Coupons: yay or nay?

Belinda, over at Ninja Poodles, had a fantastic post about couponing this week.  She saved a bunch of money, over $142, on her last trip.  What an amazing incredible thing.  I'd love to be able to do this.  LOVE it.

But, I can't seem to actually get with the program.  The most I think I've ever saved it $30.

I've tried the coupon folders, the envelope, the binder.  I've tried making lists, organized by aisles and sections of the store.  No matter what I try, I still can't seem to get over the $30 hump.

Lately, I don't even try.  Sure, when the Sunday paper comes out, I pull the coupon sections and cut out what I think I'll use. I have a big stack of them, and yet, when I go to the store, I end up with very few things in my cart that actually qualify for coupons.  Most of the coupons I see are for prepared, convenience and/or frozen foods.  Also, I seem to be unable to shop the circulars, and take multiple trips to different stores.  In fact, this week I made the cardinal sin of doing "big" shopping at a store that wasn't Wal-Mart, just because it was a Saturday and there was no way in the world you'd catch me in there.  Especially with six kids.  Boy, did I learn my lesson with that one!  I bought $300 worth of stuff, and the sick part of it is that the same food would have cost $230 or so at Wal-Mart.  Now I'm grumpy, since I didn't even bring any coupons with me.

I'm determined, though, after seeing what Belinda did, to get back on the coupon/thrifty shopping value system.  I've got to do it.  I need help doing it.  If you've been successful at cutting your food budget, share your tips with me.  If you routinely save a ton with coupons, tell me how.  Tell me your secrets. Tell me what works for you, keeping in mind the following criteria:

• I do not have time to shop at more than one store.  I can't go to this store for cereal, and another for bread, and a third for milk.  Not only do I not have time for it, I lack the willpower to get in, get what I need, and get out.  I never leave with what I came for, but instead have five or six bags of stuff that I "remembered" that we need.
• I try to avoid a lot of processed stuff.  We do tons of fruits, milk, cheeses, breads, ice cream, yadda yadda.  I rarely buy chips, or cake mixes, or stuff like that.  I'm trying to cook most of our stuff from scratch.  I know that Riley does better without processed stuff, and I'm certain that it will help the other kids as well.

This week, I'm going to try to use up every single thing that we have in the freezer and pantry.  I need to get it down to bare, and then I'm going to try to get the most for the least at my next big trip.

Leave me your great thoughts in my comments, or put it on your own blog.  Let's try to keep the money from the stores and in our own pockets!!

Comments

[baggage]

No advice, but I'll be waiting to hear what other people say! I don't think our Sunday paper even has coupons.

[Elaine]

I never buy the stuff they have the coupons for, so it's kinda a moot point. Will be interested in what others have to say though.

[Melanie]

I only clip coupons for things we use -- or something I want to try if the coupon is big enough. I save the most by having Wal-mart match the ads from other stores. I take all the ads that come out Wednesday, make my list, and go through the ads making note of best prices from whatever store, and if I have a coupon for an item on the list. I make my list in Excel so I can sort price-matched items at the top, and then all coupon items. I don't shop when it's busy. I put all my price-match items out on the belt first and go through my list and ask them to price match. They usually have no problem, but if they do, since I can name the store they're matching, that's usually the end of it. I used to carry the ads with me, but only needed them a couple time, but usually they have the ads as well. I have also found that they have already changed the prices to match other stores' fliers. They price-match exact items only (so milk doesn't usually work) and they don't match BOGO offers. I will shop at a different store for BOGO milk these days since we go through 2 gallons a week, but I usually ask DH to do that because he only buys what I ask for while I tend to see 2 bags worth of stuff I didn't know I needed. Sorry so long - and since you shop at Wal-Mart you might already do this?

[Jessie]

Dont clip coupons for $1 when you buy three boxes. Unless you do double coupons, its not worth it. Look at the quantity, because yes, $1 off of cereal is cool, but not when you have to buy more than you planned to get that dolar.

[Belinda]

I have EXACTLY the same criteria as you! I am ONLY going to go to Kroger. So I ONLY look at the Kroger circular. And right there is where couponing had ALWAYS failed me before I read Attilla The Mom's 4-part series. I did not even KNOW the importance of the circular. But you see, I learned. I learned, when Kroger had Crest toothpaste on sale for $1 each, and I had a fistfull of "$1 OFF CREST" coupons!! And also when a similar circular/coupon serendipity caused me to go home with TEN 6-packs of Motts Organic applesauce (Bella's fave) and TEN 4-packs of Dole's natural fruit cups (another Bella fave)...all for FREE! FREE, I tell you!

And those coupon-clipping services? YES. Use them. Spend $4 or whatever it is, to get 30 coupons for things that you will not only use, but that are ON SALE IN YOUR CIRCULAR! You have a week to get them delivered, and I've yet to have them take more than 2 days to arrive in the mail.

As for only getting prepared, unhealthy foods...I didn't come home with any snacky-type food, and the only "junkish" products I got were two Red Baron pizzas (FREE because of circular/coupon/surprise IN-STORE coupon) and two bags of Totino's pizza rolls, which I would normally never buy and probably won't again, but again, they COST NOTHING and my skinny skinny kid loved them.

Go for it. But don't go by me--go by ATM and her freaking "YOU SAVED 99% TODAY" receipts!

[the womom]

My mom clips coupons for me because I don't buy newspapers. We use them mostly for things like shampoo, papertowels, disposable diapers and shaving cream. The food all seems to be crap.

We will also clip them to give to a homeless shelter or petfood coupons to give to the animal shelter.

I like to get my 4 year old cutting and looking at the money "saved." If she wants something crappy like Danimals, she needs to find a coupon for it in grandma's newspaper pile.

I just had a budget meeting with dh last night and we're going to do $200/food and $100/supplies. We only have a family of four though.
I'll let you know how I do.

[Katie]

I just started doing the coupon/ad shopping again (I plan to blog about it soon!). I was really good back in Ohio but since moving to Maryland, the different stores and higher prices threw me out of whack.

We don't eat processed foods much either so you need to look for the cleaning/household/health products coupons. Of course store brand is cheaper, most of the time even if you have a coupon. The trick is to find the coupon's brand on sale and then stock up.

Plan your weekly meals around the fresh stuff that is on sale. It's potatoes and grapes here this week so that's going to be a big part of our veggies/fruits (I'll buy more of those and lesser of non-sale foods for variety). It probably evens out but at least I'm not paying full price for everything.

I do find I save more money if I shop two stores. That way you are almost always guaranteed that one place will have the thing you need on sale. Like I bought pork chops on sale ($1.79 lb) at one store while chicken breasts ($1.88 lb, that's the lowest it goes here, I miss Ohio) were on sale at the other. And then stock up for 2 or 3 weeks until a store will have them on sale again. It sounds expensive at first but if you can keep up the buying only on sale and never at full price, you really save tons of money plus always have a stocked house.

Now space for all the stuff... I'm still working on that one!

[Suzanne]

I will confess. I am a coupon-aholic. I make my weekly menu around the coupon items. I also use www.grocerygame.com (which is not a scam, it saves me ON AVERAGE $20 per week, usually more). They give you in advance what's going to be on sale...it rocks!

Also I use coupons in my homeschooling so kids can help me find the product based on the picture on the coupon.

Suz
http://suzannebalvanz.blogspot.com/

[Christina]

OK, here is how I feed our family of 5 on a food budget (including eating out once a month) of $400 for the month. I usually come in cheaper than that, and I hardly ever use coupons.

First, this book The Complete Tigthwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn has changed the way I look at food and money for all sorts of things. I don't do everything she does to save, but by finding the things that work for our family I have gone from spending $1000/month on food and eating out to much, much less. I found mine at the library first, fell in love with the ideas and bought a copy online for reference.

We rarely buy convenience foods. I focus on the basics and make almost everything that we eat. Now I know that sounds time-consuming but as a SAHM who wants to remain a SAHM I find it worth my time to bake bread, make all our own desserts and make good use of my crockpots (yes, I have two of them) for our food needs. I shop mainly at Walmart because they have all the basics for cheaper, that's just the way it is around my area. But figure out what your pantry basics are and find the one store that usually has those items cheapest and you won't spend lots of time going to different stores for items.

My pantry basics are (not a complete list, but what I can remember at the moment):
all purpose flour,
whole wheat flour,
soy flour (cheapest source of protein around)
wheat germ,
cornmeal,
chocolate chips,
baker's chocolate,
oats (both quick cooking and old fashioned),
whole wheat pasta,
rice,
some dry beans
meats in the freezer like ground beef, chicken and pork, almost all purchased with store coupons, you know when the date is coming up and they have to sell the meat, it goes right in my freezer to use whenever
I also have a turkey in the freezer from Easter that was on clearance after the holiday which will be used for a turkey dinner and then soup and turkey broth the next day
also this is my first year to grow a few vegetables so we are eating our own tomatoes, carrots and fresh basil (things that we use a lot)

Hope this doesn't sound like too much, but our 3rd was a big surprise which really put a big shock into our budget and old way of doing things. We needed a big change and we saved thousands of dollars in his first year by changing our ways. Plus our garbage output has reduced greatly because we're not buying lots of convenience foods. Now, my splurge when I don't want to make dinner is to make a couple frozen pizzas (that of course were on sale).

[Pave.Gurl]

I am a big fan of the warehouse clubs for meats and bulk items (TP, sugar, flour, cereal/ oatmeal, and so on), and I stuff my freezer full. I have my veggies delivered from a local organic grower every other week (which may or may not be an option - my household is just me and my husband-type-man and a slew of critters).

I tried the coupon thing, but I never found that the coupons I got were useful - they're all premade waffles and sugary cereals and whatnot.

I go to the warehouse about once every six months and buy $700 of meat, TP, etc - and then I am done. I go the grocery store only when I need something I: didn't get in my produce order, don't normally keep on hand but need for a recipe, occassional dairy items (sour cream, mostly), or something I have run out of (rarely).

I've cut my budget from about $300/ month (for two people! GAH!) to about $130 this way - and that includes cat litter and 60lbs. of dog food!

[Ashley]

Did you know that Walmart will honor other stores ads?!?!? That helps so that you don't have to go from store to store for sales...

[Chris]

We have one grocery store here. The closest one after that is 25 miles away. Our local store is a chain and will honor other store's ads up to 30 miles away. Which is great. See if your store will do that (Wal-Mart will), but make sure you have the ad with you for proof.

I make a menu. Since I have been off work this summer, I have been pretty lazy about it. I think I am spending about $40 to $50 more without a menu. So for me it does make a difference.

I am not a big fan of prepared foods either. Though, when you can get a good coupon and there is a good sale on the item, it can be worth it. Example: Lipton Rice Sides are normally $1.19 at my store. About every two months a coupon for .75 off for three comes around. Usually about the same time the store puts it on sale for six for $5. With the coupon, I can get them for .70 apiece. Not too bad, I think. And it is nice item for a quick meal.

[And Baby Makes Four]

Your post reminded me that I once wrote a magazine article (never published) about how to go from two incomes to one. Since it was just sitting there doing nothing on my hard drive, I stuck it up on my blog, just for you. It includes a lot of grocery shopping tips (scroll down).

http://wanderglow.blogspot.com/2006/08/you-can-afford-to-quit-your-job.html

Hope it helps!

[karin]

I have to ask you if you've seen the WalMart movie? (http://www.walmartmovie.com/) – it really is a must see for any socially conscious person. It was such an eye-opener.

[Stephanie]

I signed up for www.thegrocerygame.com They go through the sale paper and the coupons and tell you which ones to use which weeks to get the best deals. Then you stock up on stuff when it's cheap so you don't have to pay full price for it next time you need it. It's great! I went shopping the other day and spent $56. I saved $87. It has definitely paid for itself, and it saves me all the work (well except for cutting the coupons out).

[mothergoosemouse]

Ditto on coordinating between what's in the circular and what coupons you have - that is HUGE.

I go to King Sooper (aka Kroger) and Target and that's it. I wait to buy some items until they are on sale - just this morning Kyle complained that we had no blueberries or strawberries, and I told him it's because they weren't on special this week. Eat what was on special instead! Same with meats - when they run a special on T-bone steaks or pork loin, I stock up. I learned to shop this way as a child when we would go to the commissary on base.

And I definitely use coupons. That's the only reason we have the Sunday paper subscription - the coupons.

[liz]

I buy most of our staples at Costco (flour, sugar, rice, etc) and keep them in huge air-tight containers if necessary or just stack the boxes of cans down in the basement. Everything gets sharpied with the date purchased. I usually buy meat and salmon from Costco, too. I cut up the salmon into single serving portions and bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes, then bag in ziplocks and freeze (date the bags). I do the Costco run about once every 3 - 6 months.

I also never ever make one lasagne or baked shells or shepherds pie - I cook three or four, they freeze well and the ingredients are cheaper in bulk.

At the regular stores, I buy generic and I buy whatever is in season. Corn is 6/$1.00 now. Roast it in the oven at 500 degrees for 45 minutes with the husk and silk still on it. Buy (and cook) more than you're going to eat that night and cut the kernels off the cob and freeze them.

[Elizabeth]

I ditto the grocery game! Go to the site and read the rules, that in itself will make you a more informed couponer/buyer. Once you "get" the rules, do the trial period. You get to "ramp up" at less than full price and you really can quit if you don't like it and only pay a dollar. As for the piles of coupons, I write the date really big on the front of each pack and drop them in an accordion file. Then, when I want to buy something on the grocery game list, it says which week it was in and I just cut out the ones I'm actually going to use.

They do of course include a lot of things I will never buy, but they also list the best deals each week in produce, meats, and cleaning supplies/TP/etc. that you'll buy anyway.

Get your dairy at the warehouse club if you have a membership. Another great thing about the grocery game is that you'll get weaned off Wal-Mart and won't have to deal with the many temptations.

[Kate]

I have been using the grocerygame.com since this past summer, and while I have saved some money, its not all that its promised to be. First, I live in an area that does not do doubling. Second, often the online coupons are not available hours after the list is published. Third at least once a week (this last week way more) the on-sale item that I took the time to hunt down the coupon for, was NOT on sale. I save an average of $10 per week using the list and clipping coupons (about $35 just by using the store-card) It IS a saving, but free stuff is rare. lets see, since this summer I got free dog chews and rice vinegar...woo... hoo. Perhaps its my area, but the savings is not what I had hoped.

[Mike]

I usualy visit CouponAlbum for shopping because it provides best offers and great discounts, coupons. Recently, i purchased many things from here and got 56% off and free shipping on this. Just check it out!!