There's several of those folks out there. Usually they call themselves "Coupon Queens" but be *very* careful before getting too enamored with their purported savings. You might be looking for the one from ABC perhaps?

I can go out and buy tv dinners with coupons, but is this what I want to eat? Also, considering a Sunday paper here costs $2, it takes five 40 coupons to just recoup the cost of the paper to say nothing of the time. Seldom do they include the cost of driving from store to store (at $2-$3/gallon plus vehicle wear) and other issues.

You can save a little with proper use of coupons. But don't expect to eat for free for the rest of your life with it.

I normally find far more savings by using store/generic brands than name brands with coupons. And way more with good rebates. But that's my experience and as always, YMMV! :)

This isn't to say there can't be some good ideas. Good luck on finding some to share! I always like to learn new things! Happy (bargain) hunting! :)

Everything I have seen in magazines was also based on stores doing double coupons savings. We have no stores who do that. Some stores will honor other store coupons, but not here.

If you have an Aldi store in your area, they are a good source of keeping the food costs down.

One of the best ways to save money is to have a good menu plan made, a complete shopping list and stick with it.

Most coupons in our paper are for name brand products and I find I save more even with the coupon if I just buy the generic.

Gloria (who got way sidetracked looking at Cynic's links)

I used to clip coupons,but I started to think about it. First, most store or generic brands save you a lot of money, and if you look for loss-leader specials, you can also save big $. Also, some stores really cut prices on food that's not-so-fresh, like yesterday's rotisserie chickens for $4 rather than $8 if you get there early in the morning. Also bruised fruits and vegetables marked real low like 39 cents. Compared to the value of coupons, I think one can do better by being conscious of what you buy. Coupons were driving me crazy. I had to find them (by reading the ads), cut out and save them, then drive to the store, then hope you can locate the correct product. One day, I looked at my organizer, and most of the coupons were expired. So now I don't bother with coupons, but I try to save grocery money in other ways. And did you ever noticed they almost never give coupons on things you use most frequently, like milk , meat, pet food?

I'm finding that if I clip coupons and wait until they are almost expired, the stuff will go on sale. I get a lot of stuff I would not normally buy this way. It lets me try it out and usually it's snack stuff so it makes a good surprise for the kids. I use it for party treats and stocking stuffers, etc.

I find a lot of food coupon stuff is junk food. For savings, I do better just buying loss leaders. For instance, canned corn and green beans is on sale this week for $.25. My kids love that stuff so I'm stocking up. Canned soft drinks are $.99/dozen. I'll buy those for car snacks on our trip this week. It's cheaper than the gas stations. Grapes are $.77/lb. We'll eat those instead of apples.

I sometimes will find good savings on toiletries if I clip coupons and try out the new stuff on sale. Walgreens has a lot of good stuff in their rebate program. I'm not normally brand loyal. I'm stocked up on toothpaste and shampoos.

You also can save a bundle of money by not buying quite so high on the food chain. Buy cheaper cuts of meat and stew or braise or pressure-cook them. Or cook more chicken. Or just make meals with beans or cheese or other sources of protein (like protein-rich pasta or nuts).

Hi everyone,

If you get friendly with a farmer (or one's a relative, etc.), you can get a whole bag of wheat, rye, barley, flax, canola, corn, etc. for not much.

Enjoy your savings.

ole joyful

The name that you are looking for is The Grocery Game. I don't have the site but I have looked at it before. They do charge to join, but if you have a friend who would like to save some money share the expense. It isn't much, I believe under $20 a month.

Kassy

kassy ms,

$20.00 a *month*??

Heck - the food co-op in the city charges $40.00 per year and they want you to help out a few hours per month.

Sam's emporium and Cost Co. want to charge me $45.00 or so a year to be a "member" there - whatever that means (and don't ask me for volunteer hours).

Run that by me again - they want *me* to pay *them* a Buck a week just for the *privilege* of walking into their store???

Whether I choose to go there (they're some distance away) that week or not - they got their buck for that week ... up front.

No - nothing like a card that they punch every week that I go into the store, so that, should I go in only once in two weeks, the card runs for two years.

Where I come from ...

... I thought that I was doing stores a favour by darkening their door.

If one of them told me that I should pay for the privilege - I'd have told them what they could do with that idea.

If you run a big enough box, I guess you can set the rules.

Have a great week, everyone - and a fine old New Year.

ole joyful

Has anyone ever tried The Grocery Game? What are its advantages?

I NEVER shop without my coupons. The local harris tetters store had triple coupons this past weekend They limit the times you can come to 2 a day and there is a limit of 20 coupons per trip that will triple. I went 2 times friday, 2 times sat, and 2 times sunday.
My totals for the 6 trips all combined is below.
BEFORE coupons and rewards card:
496.92
AFTER coupons and rewards card:
56.21
I can not see not using coupons with savings like these.
They dont do triples vvery often but the local lowes grocery does double up to .99 cents every day and I do shop there alot. I will use coupons for items that I dont use but am gonna get free or less than 25 cents and donate the product to either clients of mine who can not afford it or to the soup kitchen. The prices that is charged in the stores today are way to high and there is no way I am gonna pay more when I can use coupons and save a ton.
I also stockpile items that are on sale and I have coupons for too. Stuff that will not got bad. ( bathroom tissue, paper towels, shampoo etc)
I have probably 50 bottles of shampoo right now in the closet. If the scouts have a food drive, they will get lots of food and health and beauty items from me and they know to come to me.
I also have around 40 bottles of downey that , with a sale and coupons, I paid 11 cents a bottle.Alot of my clients cant afford downey so I give them some along. They love it and so do I!!!! The local food bank knows to call me when they are low on items and they know I will donate to them along with the soup kitchen. There was a sale on canned veggies recently 4 for 1.00. I had coupons too. I donated 11 cases of green beans, peas, pintos, corn, potatoes and such to the soup kitchen. My out of pocket spending for these 11 cases was 7.24 and I send off for a 10.00 rebate on them too.
If you use the coupons right, you will save money . If its a item you dont use and are gonna get free are close to it, why not get it and donate it to those in need.

as for the grocery game, I refuse to pay someone for info that is already on the net for free. Basically all that site does is collect the free info on the net and posts it all on one site. Then charges you for it. Man I am way to cheap for that! They also dont post their info until sunday. the sales end here on tues so If i need to get extra coupons for a sale, I dont have the time to get them. Plus. They dont post all the deals that are out there, just a few. I would rather same my money and get all the deals for free!

litlejo28602,

You can't do anything like that well around here.

o j

I moderate a deal-hunting forum that has a grocery coupon section. Many people believe coupon use is not "worthwhile" or that you need to be hardcore in order to achieve significant savings. This is not really true. Coupons and refunds are what you make of them. Is it worth your time to ask your family and friends to save their leftover coupons for you? What about asking your newspaper carrier or local gas station or grocery store for their extras? (Many newspapers only require the front page returned for unsold-paper-credit. The rest of the paper is then discarded. YMMV) Paying for a newspaper or extra papers if not the only way to get coupons. There are printable coupons available on-line. Not all chains accept them, but the major pharmacy chains do. Look in magazines, in-store on shelves, etc.

Coupons are available for free. Paying for a newspaper is not the only way to get them.
People also sell coupons (ok, they sell their time to clip and sort the coupon since coupons may be void if sold) on ebay and through coupon clipping services.

Many people do not know that there are coupons available for milk, bread, cheese, meat, etc, in other words "real food". These are called wine hangtags. They are not available everywhere, just in states where wine sales are allowed in-store where the wine representative leaves them. They may/may not be hanging on a shelf or on the neck of a wine bottle. A wine purchase is not always required, so it is up to the individual to decide whether or not removal from the bottle is ethical (no, it is not illegal. There is no state or federal law that prohibits removal of free refunds or free coupons from the neck of a bottle.) The holidays also have the beer manufacturers leave the same type of coupons on tear-pads.

Other ways to obtain staple coupons are the "with purchase" coupons. For instance, Reynoldss wrap issues a coupon that is for 50¢ off the purchase of any Reynoldss wrap. They also issue a coupon to save $1 on meat when you buy Reynoldss wrap. So, if you purchase the Reynoldss wrap you can get 50¢ off as well as $1 off that additional meat purchase. The stacking can really get crazy around the holidays when Kraft issues a ton of stove top, cool whip, etc coupons.

Huge savings are easier when double or triple coupons are available, but not exclusive to doubles and triples. Significant savings can be achieved by shopping-the-sales. A number of tips would be to stop brand loyalty (except in cases of allergies). If you have a coupon for Colgate and it is on sale, well that works as well as Crest that is full price and does not have a coupon. Try and purchase extra of a sale item to stockpile the product. The goal is to never pay full price for an item. Unless a store is very dirty or offers poor-quality goods, store loyalty should also be forgotten. Look at all your sale fliers. You might be surprised what you will find. By the same token chasing every sale at every store while dragging a three year old and running the other kids to after school activities is not likely to happen for many people.

It is admittedly difficult to constantly get free/cheap meat, produce, veges, etc. The easiest way for people to save significantly on their grocery bill is to use coupons for H&BA and cleaning products.

If coupon usage "costs" you an hour of time per week, and saves you twenty (tax free) dollars per week, it should be worth many peoples time and effort.

Statistics show that the higher the income and education level, the more likely a person encages in at least casual coupon usage.

I am not here to bash the Grocery Game, but I have to agree with Littlejo. IMO, it is crazy to pay for this information when the information is available on-line for free.

I had looked up The Grocery Game last year and have a question regarding it. Do they organize the sale flyers by item?

xamsx, I think your $20 an hour figure is pretty generous. Between tracking and culling coupons (been there, done that), going to different stores (and adding the cost of fuel to get to those stores), etc., I can easily see spending more than an hour tracking down these "bargains" (and I live within the limits of a larger city). We're hampered here by not having any chains that offer more than double-coupons (and even then they're uncommon and restricted to a certain discount amount). Friends of mine are hampered by having only a "Wally World" superstore with no real competition in town. So how does this work for "many people" in the space of an hour?

I believe it would depend upon how you valued that hour. I am referring to the additional time to takes to clip, sort and redeem coupons. I would never include travel or shopping time... you are going to shop anyway. Why would that be included in the time it takes to clip, sort and redeem coupons?

I live in a large area too. I am very fortunate to have grocery stores every few miles. Travel is never a consideration to me as I do not go out of my way to shop. Many people make a morning of it but I feel my time is better utilized when I stop in a store on my way to or from somewhere else.

Your WM example is difficult for me to respond to. I do not have a WM nearby. The closest store falls into the disgustingly dirty category, so I would not shop there. From the people I know that do shop at various Wal-Mart stores, the prices are very competitive with other area grocery stores, they do accept coupons, and even without double coupons various products there result in free with coupon usage. Remember ANY means, ANY, so a coupon for $1 off any GUM toothbrush that sells for 98¢ would make that toothbrush free. Buying trial sizes that are at or under the coupon value makes those items free (be careful when tax is involved, many states charge tax on the amount before the coupon is subtracted making those "free" trial sizes potentially costly).

I think we will have to agree to disagree, Steve o. Everyone can save money using coupons. As long as you do not run out and buy an item because you have a coupon, as long as you shop the sales, stockpile and avoid brand loyalty, coupon usage definitely can help with any familys budget with minimal time and effort. I know how many thousands of dollars I (and others) save using coupons per year. As far as all the extras in my stockpile, what products I do not distribute among family members go to a local food pantry.

We seldom get double coupon values around here.

Most of the stuff which offers coupons is high-priced stuff, usually major value-added materials, e.g. Shake & Bake - that a person can duplicate at home with basic foodstuffs at far lower cost and using very little extra time. Plus less storage space required - and many people live in apts., these days.

Hardly ever - well, seldom - seen coupon offers on generic or store-brand items, which usually are lower priced to start with.

Don't mean to rain on your parade - but it is important not to lose sight of the bottom-line, actual cost to achieve one's purposes.

Enjoy your weekend.

ole joyful

steve o. as I posted above my bottom line, actual cost for the triple coupon trips I did is.
BEFORE coupons and rewards card:
496.92
AFTER coupons and rewards card:
56.2
I buy one of each of our local papers each sunday. ( cost 2.00) I drive right by the store on the way home from work.
I clip coupons as I watch t.v at nite . ( cost to me is nothing as its entertaiment tto me)
I have send off for some rebates on items I bought in the above list from the trips . I will be received 4 different 10.00 rebates in the mail for these items that I had coupons for that I spent less than .25 cents each for them. (each of the rebates required me buy 5 different items)
total spend for each rebate is 1.25+ .39 to mail it.
There is no way I am loosing out on this game. In fact, I have what we call the rebate savings account. All rebates I have sent in for and received since June of this past yr.
We take the money out of the account each june to pay for the house we rent , ocean front , for 2 weeks each yr. So far I have not had to tap into the other savings accounts we have to pay for the 2 week beach vacation.This yr, we already have enought to pay for the place we are staying the 2 weeks and any rebates that come in from now on till we go is what we use for fun money. Nothing like a basically free 2 week vacation in a nice ocean front beach house.

Littlejo, I am intrigued that you can accomplish this. But can someone who lives in a rural area with no double or triple coupons ever offered really hope to achieve even half of your savings? I clip the coupons from my local papers as well but most of the items are for brand names of products I don't normally buy. Where else should I be looking for coupons I'd actually use?

I clip the coupons from my local papers as well but most of the items are for brand names of products I don't normally buy.

Marie26, are you loyal to all these products due to allergies? If not, you may want to consider losing brand loyalty. (See my posts above)

You can achieve great savings without double or triple coupons if you work at it. Yes, work at it. It takes some time and effort to accomplish huge savings (as opposed to $20 a week). One thing Littlejo utilizes is refunds. Let me use a current example of the Colgate Palmolive $10 refund. Link to printable form This form was also found in the Sunday inserts last week. If you purchase the required products on sale, using coupons, and receive $10 back (always make copies of refund submissions), you can achieve free toothpaste, deodorant and soap.

Knowing how to combine sales, coupons, refunds, etc is the key to achieving significant grocery savings. Someone mentioned a price book above. This is a person's way of tracking sales which move in cycles. This way, you know when a product typically goes on sale, what the lowest selling price was, and if that current "sale" price truly is a sale. This too requires effort. I personally have never used one, but they are a great benefit to many.

What I meant was that many of the items that I find coupons for are for products I would not normally buy. For instance, I very rarely buy air freshener, yet there are many coupons in the newspapers for air fresheners. There are a few items that I will only buy a specific brand and I try to stock up on those when they are on sale, such as toilet paper, ketchup and spaghetti sauce.

Is there a site that lists the rebates out there? Or must I go to the manufacturers' sites and do the research myself?

Regarding a price book, do people write the date whenever the item is on sale to find out if the sale is quarterly, yearly, etc.?

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Time is hard for me to come by, and finding out that "house brand" is cheaper than "national brand minus coupon" anyway, having to buy products I just don't like (life is too short to have to live with a toothpaste the taste of which I dislike) or which aren't healthful (the Shake-en-Bake mentioned earlier), or having to stand in two or three supermarket lines per week just isn't worth it to me. Compound that with a lack of double- and triple-coupon stores here and I guess I'll just shop the way I do. If it works for you, though, by all means, enjoy the savings. :-)

Marie26, I hear that complaint a lot! Sometimes it seems the same coupon runs week after week! This is another reason stockpiling is so helpful.... when the coupon and the sale come together, you do not have to worry about the crummy coupon weeks!

Please send me an email with your email addie and I will send you links to 3-4 grocery couponing-type forums. Hopefully one will suit your needs. :-)

Steve o I would not buy something I disliked for personal use either, even if it is free. I would certainly get it to donate though.

My problem is that you usually see coupons for convenience-type foods, which are overpriced to begin with, and laden with chemicals and preservatives. It's cheaper to bake a cake from scratch than to buy a cake mix discounted with coupons (okay, maybe not the first cake, but you won't need to buy baking powder, etc. except for the first cake for a long time), and home-cooked food always tastes better and isn't dosed with chemicals.

If our papers offered coupons for items like onions, turnips, chickens, and other whole foods, I'd use them. I have no interest in using a coupon to buy Hamburger Helper or "American cheese."

I imagine we pay less for groceries buying whole foods than those who use coupons to buy overpriced, overprocessed convenience foods.

Our grocery stores around here put out weekly sheets of store coupons. They also have them available at the service counters in the store, so if we see something and don't have the coupon for it, we can get one at the store. Saves the effort of clipping and saving coupons.

We basically hunt for "red stickers" since that is much cheaper than the coupon stuff. Our favourite grocery puts red mark down stickers on stuff when it is almost ready to go out of date or something they want to move off the shelves. If the sticker is on something we will use, we will buy a case of it if that much is available. We don't plan any menus, but we do keep a very well stocked pantry (and rotate stock, too.)

We also don't buy processed food much. If it has a picture of itself on the cover, we don't want it. It never looks like the picture, anyway. Our local bakery has whole grain no preservative breads for $1 a loaf if we get there on Tuesdays and Thursdays after the bread truck comes back with the day old bread. I also bake a lot of bread since fifty pounds of flour and sugar and three pound bags of yeast are really cheap. We got a hand crank noodle maker at a yard sale and it has been a hoot to make noodles and spagetti. Costs almost nothing if you make it yourself.

We have a local butchershop, too, which really cuts down on meat prices. Grass fed leaner beef, too. The closer you can go to the source of your food, the cheaper it is!

There are eggs from the six hens in the back yard and they eat mostly kitchen scraps and bugs. (They also are fun "yard art".) A lot of our landscaping is edible and food falls from heaven. (Bananas, mangos, avocadoes and guavas) Folks can produce quite a bit of their own food with a bit of ingenuity. Even a few fresh herbs in a window flowerpot help.

The only food I have fall from heaven is a peach tree in the side yard. I do grow tomatoes, peppers, and onions. We've joked about getting chickens. Not sure how my neighbors would like it. I don't think zoning would allow it anyway.

lizql,

Probably you'd need to keep your chicken on a leash, at least.

Questioon: How come canines must be confined within their own yeard or on a leash, but ...

... not so for cats?

Less destructive, some say?

Uh-huh?

Hope you've been having a mild winter. And are looking forward to spring.

And, true to this topic - that you're enjoying your frugal ways: (enjoying the prosperity, that is, I guess).

ole joyful

Around here, cats are included in the leash law too. Although it's a little silly, it's fair enough. The anti-cat forces are so paranoid about the cats "hypnotizing birds" and chasing the wildlife.... since to them dogs don't chase deer or the like, but I digress.

I do have to interject here though. How on earth can you not include the cost of the store trips when you're making 6 special trips to the store each week??? I hate going to a store period, but more than once every month or two makes me nauseous! But let's be real, that's excessive. Now I grant that when accepted as it being a hobby which results in a savings, OK. But not everyone can save like that. I can't save by volume spending in the grocery category.

$450/wk savings is impressive. But I don't spend 1/10th of that and frankly I doubt littlejo gets that every week, do you? And I have no idea what you're buying. I've gotten bargains and enjoy getting them. I'll use coupons when it makes sense. Again, buying a paper requires a substantial savings to offset it and if you have to drive more it costs more. I look at the cost of spending less on mileage to paying more at a closer store. Saying "I get the paper anyway" doesn't cut it either. You save more by not getting the paper. I automatically save $104/year by not getting the paper. So I'd have to have $10-20 worth of coupons coming out of there every trip to the store for it to break even for me! OK, I can drive around and collect coupons from places at 15¢/mile for gas alone. It'd take a large family to make a realistic savings in that manner. And buying store brands almost always is cheaper than name brands. If the quality isn't there, fine, don't buy it. But not all name brands are good quality either.

I understand, appreciate and respect coupon use in a frugal and practical way. But buying things that you wouldn't normally buy is not a good deal and cannot be included in the purported savings. Getting a good deal and donating is admirable, but again, it's not a savings, it's an expense. So let's call it what it is. Again, I respect that it's going to a good cause. But I'd still caution that far more and I'd even suggest it exponentially more people will spend more with frequent coupon use than with occasional, seldom or no coupon use. I think stats will bear this out, though I have no stats to show it.

Higher earners/better educated using more coupons is believable. That's the exact group that buys TV dinners, prepared box meals, and all other target profit groups. I would also suggest that their net coupon useage would be offset by making one scratch meal a week!

Funny you should mention toothpaste. I have found that I like Colgate toothpaste. I'm not normally brand-loyal on much but using the Pepsodent and other cheapies resulted in browner teeth. Colgate works well and I like it. (Crest probably would work as well) Rainbow has it on sale several times a year for 99¢/tube for the large tubes. Buying two on sale, and at a time when I'm shopping rather than a special trip is better than buying a paper, clipping a coupon, sorting it, having it with me and using it. Ideally, if I had it with and used it with the sale, it would be better, but I don't know what the value would be and face it, offsetting $100+/year to get some coupons is not a frugal practice for me. I don't enjoy the hobby so I don't use it. I commend people who do, and do it right, but let's be realistic on what's being saved. Not including a number of extra trips, postage, paper costs... well, that's only fooling yourself.

Having people save coupons, well, OK. But you're making more special trips, contrary to what many will say that they go there anyway, I don't believe it. There's still special trips. A better alternative to me is to join with those people and buy a bulk of something and split it. Make your own mini co-op. Then if one has coupons on it, it's logical for them to apply it.

I know a guy who likes doing coupons. It's a hobby and acknowledged as one since he's retired. It can rationalize some expense when budgeted to recreational fund but down deep a person has to understand that a dollar spent is not a dollar saved.

Example to ponder:
I can buy a lamp on sale for $500, with a coupon for $200 which brings the price down to $300, they can double the coupon to $400 which brings it down to $100 plus tax. Or I can replace the light bulb in the one I have for $1 for a CFL and use that. One way I spent $1. The other way I "saved" $400. Which is the bargain?

No intention at all to be a couponer basher. Just promoting common sense and approaching something with open eyes and an open mind, realizing the bottom line. I guess saving money is a different definition for each of us.

My thoughts on whether or not to use coupons...

Definitely clip your coupons while watching tv or whatever... it's no extra work.

Only use them for things you would want to buy anyway... obviously you aren't saving if you buy something extra just because you had a coupon.

There's no need to make extra trips. I don't even know where that comment came from... you're going to be going to the store to grocery shop anyway, aren't you? Go ahead and save a dollar on your toothpaste while you're at it... As to having to buy a nasty flavor, you don't, there are so many toothpaste coupons in the papers, you could get virtually any kind you want.

If your store doubles, you're extra lucky, and if they don't you're still saving money... I don't see how anybody can say you aren't.

As to stocking up, I've done it... and worked hard at it like another poster... Right now I probably have 50 small bottles of Dawn dishwashing liquid that I got for 6 cents each... I've had upwards of a hundred of them at one time and I've shared them with friends, donated them, etc. Of course I wouldn't stock up that much on a perishable food item, but buying a bottle of dish liquid is something I don't have to add to my grocery budget for a long long time... that's saving money!

My work friends and I share our coupons during lunch breaks, while telling stories of how we spent $____ on $____ worth of groceries and laughing and bragging... it's great fun for us, never feels like "work." We watch for sales for each other and pick up items for one another sometimes... it's all good, and we're all saving money!

If you can get a free GUM toothbrush, and you prefer a Butler one... why not get the free one and donate it to a local shelter... I promise you, it will be greatly appreciated!

Something else that wasn't mentioned above is watching for clearance or mark down items that you might have a coupon for... you can get a lot of things free that way... and if you can't or won't use them, I bet you know someone who can...

Covergirl and Loreal and Maybelline often put out coupons for $1.00 of any item, and many times my local pharmacy will have that stuff on clearance because there's a new packaging coming out and I can get tons of them free... the young women at our local shelter are THRILLED to get nail polish, lip sticks, etc.... that's not something they normally get.

I get the distinct feeling that some people look down on those who are serious about couponing, and I don't understand it. I can respect that tracking down the sales and organizing tons of clipped coupons might not be something every person wants to spend time on, but I wish others could understand what a great thing it is for those of us who DO wish to do it...

In several years that I've read the posts I have not seen cynic belittle anyone, so I doubt that to have been the intention.

I just heard her/him suggesting that people who claim (and believe, I think) that they are making such great savings using coupons, etc. should factor in all of the costs, e.g. buying a paper, making extra trips to store, standing in line again, or paying even a small amount for something that one won't use (and I note that the responder referred to donating something that she got free).

If one considers it a hobby, so be it. But in these times when time is precious, many would consider spending much time on such a game to be more than they wanted to lose.

As some say, "Time is money".

Since I'm retired, and have a lot of time, I guess one would conclude from that ...

... that I have a lot of money.

Not so.

But - I have more than I'd have had I followed the example of some of my non-frugal friends.

Hope you all are having a delightful weekend. Not taking yourself too seriously: - strange, isn't it, that sometimes when we take ourselves pretty seriously, others seem to take us less so?

ole joyful.

I don't watch television, I read. You can't cut coupons while reading or you'll put an eye out!

Seriously, if you have time to hunt and clip coupons and chase sales, great, it's a good hobby, but I've never seen coupons offered for healthy foods or environmentally sound products. I think folks get so caught up in the challenge of chasing nickels and dimes and end up with products that can be easily made using wholesome healthier, ingredients, or environmentally sound alternatives for the same savings. Why cut a coupon for Hamburger Helper when you could spend virtually the same amount of time making the same dish from scratch only with healthier ingredients and without all the preservatives?

Whatever I don't grow in my garden, I buy from the local farm stand and whatever I can't get there, I buy organic from the supermarket. I spend more on the organic produce but I save by making many things from scratch. I also believe by putting my hard earned dollars towards organic produce I'm helping send a message. We buy very few processed, prepackaged foods and I never buy canned vegetables and it seems that the majority of coupons are for those things. Once a month I go to Sam's Club and buy industrial size packages of paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soap, trash bags, etc. I never use air fresheners (I think they stink!), we don't drink soft drinks (full of sugar calories, and artificial stuff) we prefer water and have a reverse osmosis system in our kitchen sink, and I definitely wouldn't stock pile things I don't use personally just to give away at some point in the future. I'd rather donate my time or cash to a cause. Those things don't jam up my closets and always seem to be really appreciated (and most needed).

I think the best way to save money is to utilize your precious time on earth to the best possible advantage. If that means chasing nickels and dimes, fine, but think about what you're putting into your body and tossing out into the trash while clipping those coupons. A healthy diet and environment can be the best money saver of all.

GEEEZ PPL This thread is almost nonsense argueing over coupons and savings..... Hear me out please!

We all have our methods of saving money, we all have our idea of how to spend our money what works for you might not work for me but in the end we might have started with the same amount of money and ended up with the same or close to it.

I have known ppl who lived on a very tight budget because there was no money there to blow and they had a savings account they could almost brag about if they chose to and I've known others who made darn good money and had NO SAVINGS both lived the way they chose to live neither was exactly right or wrong.

I too have on occasion save many dollars with coupons. I too live in the country don't buy things I wouldn't normally buy without a coupon. DH does a good part of our grocery shopping on his way home from work he even clips the coupons. There is a store on his way home from work that does double coupons every day up to 50 cents. Occassionally they do triple coupons. He prolly averages saving 30.00 there a week sometimes more sometimes less depending what is on sale. But we don't hoard coupons or get coupons online either.

We are going to get the paper anyway. He's going to work anyway etc so other than a few minutes clipping he's not out anything.

I remember one time when my youngest was still in diapers and was gonna be in diapers for several more months I was at the local grocery 2 miles from my house Pampers was changing their style of diapers and the store was getting rid of the Pampers they had on the shelf for like 3.00 a pkg store happened to be doubling all the coupons that weekend no price limit. I came home got me a bigger car went back with my Pampers coupons bought a car load of Pampers and when I got done the store technically owed me money. I didn't have to buy Pampers of any kind for like 9 months. I walked away with 9 months worth of diapers for FREE I have to admit that was a once in a lifetime thing for me but I took advantage of it while the getting was good:) So I drove home to get me a bigger car it was a whole 2 miles car I went to the store in got 45 miles to the gallon and gas at that time was no a 1.50 a gallon yet.

WOW just think if we could even get gas at a 1.50 now lol

I stocked up on an item I knew I was going to use.

Beware that some very dishonest grocery stores hike prices up way high during triple coupon time. I've found that at Price Chopper they consistently do this. I refuse to even shop there any more because of this. I can understand that they still need to make a profit, but even with a tripled coupon, I could go to Target and get the items for cheaper with the regular old coupon. I have been carefully comparing prices and was shocked to see how greedy some grocery stores can be. Kinda makes you feel sick:-(

One thing about donations. Our local food bank needs "cash" to buy healthy items like milk, fresh veggies, fresh bread and protein items. Even if someone needs the use of the food bank, they will be better off if we can help with better quality food than the processed stuff from coupon buying.

During the food bank drive, we write a check. I'd prefer not to donate items I wouldn't feed my own children.

I live where food is very expensive and farmer's markets are limited. Even a case of canned corn is still cheaper at Costco than any coupon special at the local grocery store. No wine tags here. Aside from the local grocery store's newpaper ads for ocassional 2 for 1 on eggs, the national coupons are really dependent upon us buying processed, prepackaged stuff.

I guess I would love to see a couple of weeks of meal plans from those who really use coupons. I just don't see how the products work into the type of food I feed my family.

Gloria

quiltglo/Gloria,

Up in your neck of the woods ...

.. if you hang your quilts up in the sky ...

... they glow, don't they?

ole joyful

One thing about donations. Our local food bank needs "cash" to buy healthy items like milk, fresh veggies, fresh bread and protein items. Even if someone needs the use of the food bank, they will be better off if we can help with better quality food than the processed stuff from coupon buying.

The food bank I support has agreements with various vendors and producers so that they can purchase $9 worth of food for every $1 I give them. There ain't a coupon in the world that can match that multiplier! And it lets the food bank buy what they are short on or food which perishes (they handle refrigerated and frozen items as well). Money is always an appropriate donation to a food bank. So is your time, if you can spare it. :-)