Coupons saved her $600.00 on 1 shopping trip. WOW!

[kuntrygirl]

I have heard about people who find, collect, clip and use so many coupons that they can almost get their groceries for FREE. Well, I saw a program on TV last night that featured 3 people who used coupons when grocery shopping. I was amazed at how much food they purchased, how many coupons they used and how much money they saved. One lady saved 98% off of her shopping trip. She paid less than $3.00 for $600.00 worth of groceries. I was amazed when I saw this. I use coupons but surely not at that level of "couponing". The showed exactly what these people do to save all of this money but it looks like a full time 8 hour a day job. One of the ladies had her young son dumpster diving with her. I thought that was a little bit overboard. Their basements/garages look like fall out shelters that are fully stocked with canned goods, sodas, pasta, canned vegetables, deodorant, shampoo, etc. I am happy when I can save $20.00 at the grocery store but 98% saving is unheard of.

Is there anyone on this forum that uses coupons on that level and saves that much money using coupons?

 

[cackydoodledoo]

I have attended several couponing classes and plan to start using them more but not to that degree. To get the savings that these people are getting takes a LOT of work and TONS or planning. Plus you have to drive around to all the different stores that have the deals. For me that is not feasible. My only choices that are relatively close are Safeway and Walmart. Otherwise it's a 30 minute drive to town to go anywhere else. I don't have the time nor care to do that. I would rather spend a little more for an item than waste an hour and a couple of gallons of gas just to save a buck or two!!!! If you clip coupons and organize them and watch the sale flyers you can get some pretty good deals. You can also stock up on items you use a lot when they have a really good deal. I wouldn't get so much that you have worry about your neighbors reporting you for hoarding but get what you can store!

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't use coupons to anywhere near that level! That's amazing.

I find most coupons are for items I don't use, cost more than if I bought a store brand, or are just not good for you. I really don't need 30 cans of cream corn, 40 cans of tuna, or 40 bottles of high fructose laden soft drinks or 100 boxes of cereal that is to expire in 8 months.

My view is pretty tainted though. I have a food hoarder/general hoarder of an uncle who has 2-3 rooms of canned/bottled goods, and two freezers of frozen foods. Almost everything is dented/almost expired/spoiled and he still eats it. There are gallons of expired milk, that he has frozen... that he will pull out and drink. UGH. I'm surprised he has not yet died from spoiled food, and him being alive assures me that if the world was to end, the human body can survive on eating garbage....

Of course, there is a difference in stock piling things you actually eat in a organized manner, and hoarding, so I do see the rationale behind keeping 3-4 months of food in a ROTATING fashion so you don't just let things to to waste in the back of a pantry and either have to eat expired food or throw it out. We have about 50-100 lbs of rice at any given time because that is a staple food. I figure, you didn't save any money if you didn't need it or even use it in the first place.

 

[Laurajean]

A few years back I got into couponing big time. I bought a coupon organizing system, did research, learned tricks on doubling and tripling coupons on sale items, where to shop, when to shop, clipped coupons like crazy being careful to only use coupons on products I buy anyway, etc. And YES, I saved a ton. I would amaze the cashier with the discounts I would get. Having said that, I took a massive amount of effort and time. It was extremely time consuming and I had to drive to multiple stores for various savings, etc. In the end, I decided the savings was not worth the amount of time I had to invest to save the money. Preparing to shop was just way too much of an "event".

Now I just stick to generic items when possible, and try to stock up on sale items. I rarely even bother with coupons anymore, unless it's a really good one.

 

[WriterofWords]

I saw that,, most of those people suffer from OCD, there is no way I would ask my son or a pregnant woman to dumpster dive! I have a job, I can't spend 8 to 10 hours a day looking for coupons, begging my friends for them, downloading and printing them too?? I couldn't afford the ink to print all the ones some of those do. Also with gas prices the way they are, I would save more with $5 bucks in coupons and not spend $30 or more in gas to go from store to store. My class uses coupons for math when we are working with decimals and percents and one of our questions is this:

If you have a 25% off coupon for Folger's Coffee which costs $9.99, how much will you save? If you buy the store brand at $6.99, which is the better deal? How much is the difference?

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
wow we could be twins!! I did the same thing-I preparred for the "big" shopping trip once a month. coupons in hand....my bill would be around 600$ and it cost me around 175-200$ I did this for about 1 1/2 years. Loved it but in time it did get very time consuming--took me hours upon hours to find the coupons-buy the papers to get them -clip -sort and oraganize per aisle in store-3-4 hours at store and the unpacking was huge haha. We all loved the deals and I was so proud. I think it took me over 3 years to use up all the soaps -deoderants-toothpastes cleaners-shampoos etc...We do miss not having the abundance of that stuff. Seriously thinking about doing it again as times are getting tough out there. Reason I stopped was the store I shopped at went from accepting 6 coupons DOUBLED-up to 10$ each to 2 coupons up to 3$ each no more doubling-and that pretty much stopped me in my tracks....wasnt worth the gas to get there anymore:-(

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
My math sucks but the store brand saves money.

 

[SallyF]

Quote:
Aw, there ya go... bein' a teacher again and using logic on us!! (Good Point!)

 

[WriterofWords]

LOL sorry, I can't help it! That's how I teach math, with real life problems or situations. I've always used coupons if I have something I really want and there is a coupon available but I don't go out of my way to look for them. I have a class I teach parents about shopping for many with very little and how to stretch money. Boy do they get a surprise when they find out they haven't been saving money using some coupons, they've been spending more!

 

[silkiechicken]

And sometimes it is funny, but buying the "family size" or "bulk" sometimes costs more per lb/ounces compared to a smaller size on sale. Planning ahead goes a long way.