COUPONS, COUPONS AND MORE COUPONS!

are you addicted to coupons,
do you save a lot each grocery shopping trip?
pass on your tricks, tips and organzational skills.

i am a novice and i have been watching extreme couponing on netflix.
i want to try and pass on some of the skills that i pick up from the show.

anything you would like to know please just ask,
maybe we can help each other save a lot more than we already are saving?
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♥great coupons♥

♥great coupon sites♥
on facebook~~FrugalGirls

♥let the couponing ensue♥

I actually don't use coupons. I work at a grocery store so I get a lot of people there who do use them. A lot of times they grab the wrong item for the coupon so it is kind of a pain.
One of my family friends is what you'd call 'an extreme couponer.' She has TONS of coupons and a whole room full of soda and snacks that she gets on sale. I think coupons can be sort of addictive in some cases. Otherwise just going from store to store looking for bargains seems like it could be a lot of fun (if you had that kind of time.)

We sometimes use coupons but the store we go to have extreme sales! A bottle of soda costs 50 cents (2 liter!). A box of rice is $1, a galon of milk is only $3, yogurt you can get for 50 cents or less, meat is even cheaper I can get a 3 pack of chicken for $3 instead of other stores where you pay $8. It's cheaper that wallmart too! Also you don't need to sign up for any cards and every time you check out you get coupons for what you have bought so your next purchase is even cheaper! The stores are called Hanaford~ I love Hanaford stores!

I'm always SO impressed by extreme couponing?! Just, watching them walk out with such a load of things and only having to pay a buck for it, it's just so amazing?! I think it's a good thing that it exists, for those people who have it tight. You can try to save on everything, but food, electricity and water are some of the basic things we need, and they get so expensive if you're not careful about it.

Those sound like some major deals, MinakoAxule! :o Like whoa!
I can imagine that it's hard for people who work at the grocery stores, though?

While I understand the reasoning behind having to buy things in bulk in order to get the discounts, that's usually the thing that keeps me from going for it. Stores in Belgium don't do the coupon thing very often - it's getting to be more common, but only in the last 2-3 years or so - so it's kind of a shame not being able to benefit from it when you can. We do have a Walmart-esque store here, that constantly lets you buy things cheaper if you buy in bulk, but honestly I don't have the storage space.
Instead, what I -do- use is work with savings cards. A lot of our stores have special deals, with which you can win points, that you can afterwards exchange for "the item of the month". My sister saved up for an entire new set of pots and pans, a quality set too, by doing that. It's to ensure customer loyalty, and in itself I do actually like the concept a lot (even if you oftentimes feel pressured into buying more than you really needed to get, just in order to get the points you need).

There's this group on facebook called FrugalGirls, I think, and they often have special actions & coupon tips for online stores, too. Might be worth giving a look at. :D

There are loads of stores that you sign up for a coupon card that you get their sales, save points up for getting items, but it's bad for those who just want to go there once to pick up something. Everyone else has to pay full price. Most the time the sale price for those stores are the regular price at the store I go to. So I no longer go to those card stores. Sure I don't get those 'free' items but I save so much on my food which is better than getting free stuff that I don't need as much as cheaper food!

Oh yeah, it's a lot better!
No point in paying more simply in order to get some random free item, you know?
The cheapest stores here are Aldi or Lidl, most of the time, and I do shop at them for regular groceries. They have no-brand items for the most part, so that also makes a huge difference.

I love Hanaford's store brand items they are like the brand names but a WHOLE lot cheaper!! Some times they even have items other brand's don't have like big box of granola for only $2~!!!

...why do we not have a Hanaford's? WHY?! ;-;

But no, truth be told, there are a lot of things that I prefer from the store brand, over the branded items. Plus, most of the time it's even the same. I worked at a vegetable processing factory one summer, and they made like... bags of chopped up carrots and lettuce and things like that, you know? And the only thing that was seemingly different about the things, was that one day you were stuffing bags with a more high-end brand logo on them, and the other day you were stuffing bags with a low-end brand logo on it.
A lot of the time you're just paying for the brandname, anyway, and not for improved quality or what not.

So, do you get coupons just in the mail, or do you have to request them, or what? :o

I love coupons. My friend gave me a coupon for a free coffee from the library cafe the other day. Best gift ever.

I don't do extreme couponing or anything though. It's not a bad idea if you're only getting coupons for stuff you were planning on buying anyway. If you are compulsively buying stuff just because it's on sale or you have a coupon, you're probably not actually saving money.

I usually don't use a lot of coupons except on certain things, like cleaners, some new thing I want to try, or the few things I buy a lot of. I find going to a warehouse store to get a lot of my everyday items to be cheaper and easier to get then having to look all over for a coupon that would only save a few cents on. If people can use coupons and only pay a few bucks for items they WILL use, then that's wonderful.

At the store they print right on out when you pay so you can use them for your next purchase~! If you buy a lot of store brand items sometimes you get money off your next purchase no matter what you buy~! Then some of your money goes to the local schools too without you paying any more they just donate their profits to the school of your choice~!

I just love hannaford~ I get my meds there too! Also if the insurance fails on you without warning sometimes the pharmacy spots you for one month. I had that happen one time that my insurance canceled on me without notifying me and my pharmacist told me I could take the medicine with no cost. They also know my by my whole name~! It's sooooo nice~ Also if you need something they don't have they will get it from CVS no cost to you~! They even call my doctor for me if I need refills~!

Try that at CVS and they would have you arrested lol! They don't even take my insurance so I don't go there anymore.

We don't really have coupons in Australia. Not to the extent of America anyway. They're pretty rare because supermarkets usually just put things on sale themselves if that makes sense?
I've watched Extreme Couponing.. and LOVED IT! It's amazing how they can get like $500 for like, $2.50 or sometimes the supermarket has to pay them which is absolutely crazy but it obviously has it's downside because half of the people on there are like hoarders which is a bit sad and they are clearing out the shelf of things that other people may actually need and they might not be able to afford anything else without that coupon. It has both it's upside and downside. Luckily extreme couponer's are rare?

Yeah I find it unfair when people will hoard it all. There have been sales of an item I want and it's all gone or I have one coupon for something I want and someone else has bought all of that one thing because they got multiple of the one coupon I had...

I work at a department store that honers coupons even if the customer "left it at home". It's normally a percent off..like a 15, 20 or 30% the entire purchase type coupon. We get a lot of customers that lie about even having a coupon to begin with. I had one guy tell me he had one that only our credit card holder customers got and I told him the purchase had to be on our credit card and he didn't even have a credit card with us so I told him he can't get the discount with out it. It's like, if you're going to lie at least don't make it obvious. XD

I use coupons if they're good coupons. I shop clearance and refuse to pay over a certain amount for certain products if I know I can get it cheaper. Sometimes the coupons are not that great of a deal so it really depends. I've learned to be really cheap because I went through a really rough patch where I had nothing pretty much and literately had $50 for three months to live off of years back and the habits just stuck with me. In general I rarely pay full price for anything coupons or not.

Originally Posted by mzw

I actually don't use coupons. I work at a grocery store so I get a lot of people there who do use them. A lot of times they grab the wrong item for the coupon so it is kind of a pain.
One of my family friends is what you'd call 'an extreme couponer.' She has TONS of coupons and a whole room full of soda and snacks that she gets on sale. I think coupons can be sort of addictive in some cases. Otherwise just going from store to store looking for bargains seems like it could be a lot of fun (if you had that kind of time.)

a snack stockpile, i love it!
i can see how it would be a pain if you were working at the grocery store, though.

Ooh my... I like that santa coupon. *saves then prints out a thousand*

I use coupons very casually. I don't seek them out but if I notice them or someone gives one to me I'll use them. Normally my mom finds some good ones then hands them out to people she knows will use them.

Originally Posted by MinakoAxule

We sometimes use coupons but the store we go to have extreme sales! A bottle of soda costs 50 cents (2 liter!). A box of rice is $1, a galon of milk is only $3, yogurt you can get for 50 cents or less, meat is even cheaper I can get a 3 pack of chicken for $3 instead of other stores where you pay $8. It's cheaper that wallmart too! Also you don't need to sign up for any cards and every time you check out you get coupons for what you have bought so your next purchase is even cheaper! The stores are called Hanaford~ I love Hanaford stores!

i need to find a Hanaford store!
those are really good prices, Mina!

I love Hanaford it's just the best store ever created!! They are more popular here than wallmart! Plus their meat is fresh and cheaper~!!!!! I can get 2 haddock fillets pre seasoned by the butcher for around $2~ Full Haddock is about $5 a pound on sale weeks. Some salmon if I catch it on sale is around $5 one time it was $3!! I just love their fresh meat~ They have everything you can imagine~ Lam, pork, chicken, all sorts of beef, fish, and turkey. It's a poor person's paradise!

Originally Posted by ReiyukaE

I'm always SO impressed by extreme couponing?! Just, watching them walk out with such a load of things and only having to pay a buck for it, it's just so amazing?! I think it's a good thing that it exists, for those people who have it tight. You can try to save on everything, but food, electricity and water are some of the basic things we need, and they get so expensive if you're not careful about it.

Those sound like some major deals, MinakoAxule! :o Like whoa!
I can imagine that it's hard for people who work at the grocery stores, though?

While I understand the reasoning behind having to buy things in bulk in order to get the discounts, that's usually the thing that keeps me from going for it. Stores in Belgium don't do the coupon thing very often - it's getting to be more common, but only in the last 2-3 years or so - so it's kind of a shame not being able to benefit from it when you can. We do have a Walmart-esque store here, that constantly lets you buy things cheaper if you buy in bulk, but honestly I don't have the storage space.
Instead, what I -do- use is work with savings cards. A lot of our stores have special deals, with which you can win points, that you can afterwards exchange for "the item of the month". My sister saved up for an entire new set of pots and pans, a quality set too, by doing that. It's to ensure customer loyalty, and in itself I do actually like the concept a lot (even if you oftentimes feel pressured into buying more than you really needed to get, just in order to get the points you need).

There's this group on facebook called FrugalGirls, I think, and they often have special actions & coupon tips for online stores, too. Might be worth giving a look at. :D

thank you, i'll give 'frugalgirls' a look
i just want to start doing the best i can do each shopping trip.
i was amazed at how much they bought and paid so little for on 'extreme couponing'

I've seen extreme couponing, and honestly I feel like if you're going to spend that much time cutting and organizing coupons, you might as well get a full time job and pay full price. It seems like you'd have the same amount of dollars per hour!

I sometimes use coupons, but I don't really seek them out or anything.

In some locations there aren't any jobs full time or part time to have
I'm just looking for some assistance in doing better with using coupons

Hannaford sounds like a cool store, but there isn't one anywhere around this area.
Our super cheap discount store is called Aldi. They have things a lot cheaper than Walmart even, though the 3 lb frozen bag of chicken is still $6, which is still a dollar or two cheaper than Walmart's atm.
The only thing for them, they only take cash, debit, or EBT cards. No credit or checks. It is great for our family, cause we use EBT. They also do not take any coupons, so I have not been using any coupons recently because we have not been shopping at any other store.
Before we started going to Aldi, when we lived in a different area of the state, I used coupons to help get some discounts from Ingles (cause I worked there for a time). There policy was that they would double coupons at the 50 cent or lower value if the customer purchased a minimum of $10, otherwise it was only the face-value of the coupon.
One time I was able to get got a 3-pack popcorn for just 9 cents a box! (With the other groceries in my cart equaling over the $10 minimum). A few other times, toothpaste was on sale for a $1 a box, so with the coupons doubling, I got it for free! Those were the only greatest deals I have gotten with coupons to this day.
I had never gotten anything to the point of Extreme Couponing, though it would be wonderful if I could.