Clipping coupons

[megcellent]

I am new to coupon clipping but it has been very beneficial, as my local grocery doubles coupons up to .75 everyday. In the past two weeks I have saved my family a little over 20 bucks - that will yeild me an average of about $40 a month. However, there are always coupons left that I don't need to use or wouldn't use ... is there anything else I can do with them?

I have seen a thread on here where people signed up for a coupon chain or something like that. But the time I read parts of the thread it seemed that the chain was being broken - I can't imagine one person taking on the challenge of keeping up with the chain and its breaks - so, hats off to that OP. At the time I had just decided to begin clipping coupons so I did not join for fear that I would be the reason for one of the breaks in the chain - ya know, since I was a newbie and all. Now, I can't even find that thread.

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Meg, what you were looking for is the coupon TRAIN thread. Search for that and it should come up.

However, you may be better off joining a regional thread. They tend to last longer and work better overall for all members because mailing times are about even. It gets more complicated (and therefore more frustrating) when you have train members all over the US, and have to wait a lengthy amount of time to get your next envelope.

A couple of good sites for signing up for and learning more about trains would be http://www.terismessageboard.com/ or http://www.dealagogo.com/index.php .

After a while, though, you start to feel like it is okay to throw away those coupons you don't use. I felt the same way when I first started--I had to clip them all and use them all or find someone else who could use them. Now, I only clip what I know I'll use or what looks like a really good coupon on something I might use, and leave the rest.

Have fun with it!!

BK

 

[Clancycat]

I love using coupons. On average, I save about 50% by using them. The secret to *BIG* savings is to match up your coupons with sales and stock up when those items are at their rock bottom price.

You might want to check out thegrocerygame.com website, there is lots of good info about couponing on their message boards. They also print a list that you can subscribe to for $10 for 8wks, that helps you match up sales in your area w/ coupons.

 

[megcellent]

Thanks so much ... I know I should just not worry about them, but I guess I just want to share the savings with others. Cheezy, I know. I will look into regional trains - it seems very interesting.

Clancycat - have you ever used the grocerygame.com? Is it worth the $10? It seems like a good concept ...

 

[Chickysmom]

If you don't want to join a train, and feel bad about tossing unwanted/unneeded coupons....how about just leaving them with their respective items at the store while you are out shopping? It would make for a nice surprise for the next person shopping for an item and finding a coupon!

 

[Newfie2000]

If you don't want to join a train, and feel bad about tossing unwanted/unneeded coupons....how about just leaving them with their respective items at the store while you are out shopping? It would make for a nice surprise for the next person shopping for an item and finding a coupon!

Great idea! I have had this happen to me many times... and what a nice feeling to walk away from a product knowing a perfect stranger saved you money! I have even had this happen to me at Best Buy while buying a video game - $10.00 savings... yippee! Another neat experience has been to go into a movie rental place and find varius coupons laying around the store - though I think that one might be "staged" by the store!

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Meg, I did the grocery game for the 4 week trial, for a store that was in NH because there are no GG stores in Maine as of yet. Overall--I wasn't that impressed, just because the pricing was so enormously different than what was on the list. Apparently that is a common problem for this particular store, which has locations all along the east coast. Another problem with the list was that I had different coupon values than the list maker had. I cancelled after the trial because A. it is too far for me to drive every week and B. it ended up being as much work with the list because of the differences.

However, I know there are a lot of people who love the list and do very well by it. IMO, its greatest value is in the unadvertised specials. And it is probably very useful for people who just don't have the time or inclination to figure out the deals for themselves. I can totally see how it would be worth it in that case. Personally, I enjoy figuring out the deals, but that may be because I have a couple of friends I do it with, so it becomes a bit of a game/contest to see which of us can find the best deals the fastest when the flyer comes out.

 

[Chicago526]

My problem is that there are never coupons for things I buy! I go through the Sunday paper, sissors in hand and maybe clip 2 coupons! I buy a lot of store brand or off brand products, and the coupons I do see are for 10 cents off or something stupid like that. Hardly worth my time.

My grocery store does have a little coupon printer that prints coupons when you check out for things that you purchased or are related to things you have purchased, and those are neat, I'm always getting coupons for $1 or $2 off Lean Cusines when I buy 5, and sometimes I've gotten other great deals, too. Also, when I joined Costco (warehouse club) I got a huge packet of coupons for siging up, turns out I was able to use quite a few of them. My first trip there I used a ton of them and saved $17! I'm not anti-coupon, it's just they don't seem to work for me very often!