Coupons? Have gone to the birds!!

[LovesTimone]

I have been couponing for over 25 years, and the coupons coming out now are terrible. and there is nothing on line or direct you to facebook... What... I don't have a face book not do I want one. Why should I have to like something to get a coupon. How do I know I like it if I can't get a coupon to try it??? It's just silly, and I don't have time for all that.

The last 2 sunday papers, there was maybe 3 or 4 coupons that I can use in them. not even worth the cost of the paper. Any one else over this.

Any suggestion were to get coupons so that you don't have to download some printer, the last time I did it gave my computer a virus and it was so messed up that it was cheaper to buy a new one. So any suggestion would be great.

Thanks for listening to me vent

 

[DOREEN1779]

Our area in Jersey has been terrible! I also got a nasty virus and had to replace my hard drive, the guy I brought it to also mentioned a coupon site in the computer that was the culprit. No more coupon sites for me( I just wanted to use that picture).

 

[kimmyann]

I subscribed to the newspaper just to start couponing. I'm much better off just buying generic, even with double coupons. I also noticed that many coupons now have Do Not Double on them. Needless to say, I'm not bothering with it anymore.

 

[mamilovesdisney]

You can buy coupons from a clipping service. Just pick one with no minimum order. Also, email the company for product you want to try... U might get coupond that way too.

 

[Sparkly]

I bet that's because of the extreme couponers. If it's any consolation, over here we don't really get any good coupons either. If they are, it's for stuff we don't buy anyway.

 

[Disneefun]

They have been crap here, too, lately. Making matters worse, my store changed their policy. They used to double everything under .75, even those that said, "Do not double." They just ate the money for customer service's sake. I once had a cashier get one that wouldn't double but which was within their rules/limits and she sniffed and said, "That's not our policy to not double." And she overrode it and doubled it. No more. Now if it says do not double, they don't.

Plus, they dropped their limit from anything .75 and under would double to .55 and under.

It stinks and at this point I think I'll save more by cancelling the paper subscription than I do with coupons anymore. This time last year I was already seeing a lot of the back to school deals on cereal, etc. and not so far this year.

Like you, I don't do facebook, don't want to, and I'm not going to expose my computer to one of those printers. Forget it.

 

[shortbun]

i literally came to the Budget board to ask for advice on couponing. sigh

 

[Julie*]

Some of the best deals that I find these days are at the drugstores and not the grocery stores. You just have to make sure you spend the "bucks" that you get or else it's not a good deal.
FB is a great resource for coupons so you may want to open an account under a name that people won't find you and then subscribe to blogs of couponers. They do the work for you. Plus, the FB coupons do not require you to download printing software like most of the coupons sites which means you won't get a virus.
The other place I have luck is by going right to the grocery stores website and downloading their weekly coupons. I don't know where you live but I am in Vermont and Hannaford always has fruit/veggie coupons for discounts. Those tend to be what I buy for the week.

Julie

 

[ilovepete]

I actually prefer the online/facebook coupons because then I don't have to buy the paper.

However, I used to be able to get ALL of our groceries for super cheap. Now it seems there aren't as many great deals anymore! Sure, there are some, but it isn't like it used to be. I've been thinking this the past few weeks. Our grocery bill has been creeping up it seems.

 

[lttlmc3]

I get really tired of the facebook coupons. I don't like printing coupons at all really. It uses up a ton of ink and that just adds to the cost. So annoying!

 

[Nayan]

I was never really a heavy coupon user, but at least weekly i used to get 2 or 3 that I could use. Now? Forget it. I also had to trash one of my hard drives because of the coupon printer. It really stinks. Thanks a lot extreme coupon users .

 

[RooRach0906]

My grocery store does a lot of ecoupons and new items are normally $1 off one... You can load them to your customer card either online on their site or their app on your phone they also send me coupons in the mail twice a month... You can only use them in their store but almost every month I get a coupon for a free product.

 

[PatchPixie]

I really only use store specific coupons - not manufacturer ones. Target sends them right to my phone and they are often for their "generic" brands (which I typically buy anyway...) And, of course, I use email coupons from Michael's, Cinemark, etc...

 

[alyssa810]

savingstar.com is another decent site for non-printable coupons. You register your store shopping cards and choose which coupons you want to use. The savings is credited back to you via paypal or a deposit to your bank account, on an amazon gift card, or to American Forests.

There are also a couple of coupon trades on the boards that you could join. Different parts of the country get different coupons, and you swap with a buddy in another part of the country. A lot of times you might get better deals...it might be worth looking into if you're looking for more variety.

 

[Keepee]

Here in NC the coupons are looking pitiful too

 

[DisneyMom5]

I use Savings Angel to find deals and coupons. http://savingsangel.com/amember/go.php?r=33896

It's not everybody's thing, because there is a monthly membership fee, but it saves me time, and, when I use it, saves me more money than I pay.
I think they have free trials, if anyone is interested in checking it out.
They now have a price watcher feature that you can use to notify you if something specific goes on sale, and you pick what percentage off you want.
They have a great community board also that is really helpful for figuring things out.

You can buy coupons from a clipping service. Just pick one with no minimum order. Also, email the company for product you want to try... U might get coupond that way too.

Caution: It's illegal to sell coupons, and some sites that have coupons for a "clipping" fee are being targeted by law enforcement. It's not worth the risk.

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here
Just back from my shopping trip,

At Kroger - I did get 10 for 10 on DelMonte canned veggie's and I had 1.00 off of five and I had 2 so I got them for 80 cent each which isn't bad but the last time they offered this I got them for around 30 cent each. also Hamburger Helper for my DD 10 for 10 and I had .75 cent off of 3 so I saved 2.25 so I got them under 80 cent each, which was fair, but before I was getting them for free or 25 cent a box.

Publix, I got the best deal I got was neosporin and bandaids, I got 3 tubes of neo, and 3 boxes of bandaids, for 3.00 for all not bad, I had store and mgr's coupons that I combined. today is the last day for this sale. I had to get rainchecks for the bogo on shick razors as they have not had any all week at either of the Publix's I shop at. Visine for 1.00 a bottle, again combining store coupon and mgr's.

I really have noticed my food bill going up. The best deals for me lately have been at Publix. I don't normally shop at stores like walgreens or CVS, as I really don't understand how there in store coupons work???

 

[melancholywings]

I took a break and am trying to jump back into. It was a bit of a shock when I saw the new 'sales' prices compared to what I was paying last year.

We've started buying locally - local butcher and a farmers market and are saving money that way. The meat is slightly more expensive than the store - but it's not pumped with water so it takes a lot less to feed my family.

 

[starwood]

I noticed that the majority of the coupons now are off 2 or 3 and not one anymore. I don't have room to buy more than one at a time and if I do get more than one for snacks they get eaten faster.

 

[whoopsiedoodle]

It takes a TON of time to coupon and I rely heavily on websites like fabulesslyfrugal and livingonacoupon. They are both local to my area (The FabGals have actually been on the Today show and in the New York paper). I have noticed that prices are going up and coupons are going down but if you spend extra time viewing the websites and matching sales with coupons and double coupons (Albertsons in our area has Twice the Value coupons every couple of weeks where they double coupons up to $1!) you can still get some great deals. I routinely spend only $.80 for a gallon of milk and never more than $1.00 for name brand cereal (usually closer to $.50). It helps that I have lots of storage space and can stock up when a great sale hits. Also, when a sale is coming that I know I need extra coupons for I scour ebay for them. It is not illegal to pay a person for their time and shipping for coupons. I also hit up my friends to print off extras if they come from a site like coupons.com.