Is extreme couponing worth it?

[midwestdee]

Target is one of the few stores that will let you use one Target AND one manufacturer coupon. I like www.delish.com for on line coupons and have found most websites have the same ones each week. The posts on CVS are right on - great deals. Also, sign up with the companies that make products you use all the time. Arm & Hammer makes everything from toothpaste to cat litter and they faithfully email coupons every couple of months. I keep a "junk" email for those and for stores emails, unless it is one of the major stores I shop at. We don't have double coupon stores in the Chicagoland area (that I've heard of anyway). The extreme coupon people REALLY stretch the rules - spending the day in the store and having 3 to 6 different transactions - really? It is worth it to coupon and I carry mine in a canvas wallet type - divided into about 10 categories. Before my DD had the baby she and her husband didn't coupon and it would kill me to shop with her at Target (when I didn't have my coupons with me) and she would buy toothpaste, shampoo, etc. without a coupon. She has now seen the light and I help her by doing the clipping and passing them along for her to sort through.

 

[sorul82?]

Target is one of the few stores that will let you use one Target AND one manufacturer coupon.

I read somewhere that Target stopped allowing this. It might just be in my area though.

 

[budafam]

I've been couponing for 2 years now. Well before the tv show came out. Last year I kept track of my "savings" and it totaled over $5000 which is HUGE to me. I was getting $150 worth of groceries for a penny. I have receipts to prove it This year I have cut back quite a bit. It is time consuming but worth it if you want to save money. It just depends on how bad you want "that deal".

 

[sorul82?]

I tried to be an extreme coupon person, but I wasn't very good at it. There just aren't enough coupons for what I want/need to buy. We live out in the county, so we have one store 2 miles away, another and Wal-Mart 5 miles, and the rest are 7 or more miles in different towns.

I only buy what is on sale, especially meats. This week, boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.67/lb. Our budget is $125/week for groceries.

Based on the sale paper, I will get:

5 packs of chicken breasts
maybe 1 30 oz turkey tend that's half off at $5.99
2 gallons milk
2 loaves whitewheat BOGO
lb of Boar's Head ham
cereal
fruit
Pictsweet froz veg BOGO

That's about it. The only thing there might coupons for is the cereal.

 

[pannm]

I am a couponer and have been for several years...even before it was the 'cool thing' to do. I am not an "EXTREME COUPONER", at least not to the levels of the people on the show. I believe that is an ANTI-Couponing method in fact, because as a couponer- you aren't just looking out for yourself but trying to help others save money and get free or very cheap products as well.

I get the Sunday paper, read one or two articles, use the rest of it to wash my windows. Clip 100% of the coupons out of it, even if I know I won't use them for myself. If I get more free or SUPER cheap items than what I can use in 3-4 months, it gets donated to the local food pantry. I do have a stock pile that I paid a very small amount to stock.

I do not save 85-100% or even make money on my shopping trips, that is not my goal because it is not realistic. If others do, than that is wonderful- but it needs to be done in a way that is respectful of others and follow the law. There has only been 2-3 decent people on that entire show- the rest are hoarders...when a person has a years worth of stock or more, they don't donate anything and they clean off shelves it ruins it for EVERYONE ELSE who uses coupons.

I usually have coupons for most of the items I purchase (except for fresh fruit or meat usually, which are rare)...I combine coupons with sales and do get some really great deals and some items are free. In my local HyVee they double coupons up to 50 cents one day a week and that is the day I shop. I've not paid for many condements, toothpaste, toothbrushes, pasta sauces, salsa, tortilla shells or dental floss in I can't remember how long. When it's free, I do stock up and by the time I run out, there has been or will be a similar sale coming up again so I get more free.

Most weeks I spend 2-4 hours on couponing. I am a homemaker. Couponing is my financial contribution to my family. I save $60-$80 a week. Some months I spend more and save more, other months I hardly have to buy anything at all besides the fresh fruits and veggies, and milk...

 

[MHSweb79]

I spend about 5 to 10 hours a week clipping coupons, printing coupons, sorting, filing them, looking at ads and doing match ups. It sounds like a lot but I try to do it here and there (before the kids wake up, nap time and after they go to bed. I spend no more then 2 hours a day on it). I've found that I save between $60 to $100 a week.

I saw report on TV that followed an extreme couponer, and in the end they figured out how much she was "earning" per hour of work put into finding the coupons. It averaged out to less than $10/ hour. It looks like you are right in there.

For some people, it might be more worthwhile to find a job that pays more than $10 and invest their time in working instead. For others, especially stay-at-home moms, the $10 hour may really make a big difference. The problem is that on these extreme couponing TV shows, it makes it seem like these folks are getting $500 worth of stuff for free just by clipping a few coupons while in reality it may have taken an investment of 50 hours.

 

[midwestdee]

I just got one of the little Target "booklet" of coupons in the mail within the last 10 days and it is printed right on each coupon you can use that and one manufactuer's coupon, so it should still be the national policy. I'm in Illinois.

 

[cbate717]

I do coupon on a regular basis, not hours a day, just the Sunday paper and I get emails to print coupons every week. I live in CT-suburb of Hartford, so we have 5-6 grocery store options within a 10 mile radius. I usually browse flyers for the best deals and will sometimes go to more than one store for the best deal (one store for cereal sale, one for produce sale etc). I know not everyone has that luxury though.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I use coupons, but not "extreme." I can get some extremely good deals sometimes, and once in awhile a coupon will come along that I will buy mutiples of from a clipping service, I actually just ordered Sabra and Staceys coupons, but paying 10 cents for something that will save me $1.00 (so technically just 90 cents after cost,) is still a good deal. But I usually only get no more then two papers a week, and I find that to be plenty.

I don't get the people on Extreme Couponing and keep hundreds of bottles of random stuff they will never use, I keep at maximum two or three bottles of things like mustard, salad dressing, different varieties of pasta, etc, and that's even with getting them for free.

I would say I spend no more then an hour a week clipping coupons and making my lists. I also shop at only two stores. All the stores have similar sales, and if it's not on sale at one of my stores this week, it'll be on sale next week, or at least before the coupon expires.

Also, don't believe most of the deals you see if you watch the show, a lot of stores would not allow you to get overage for items. I don't know of a single store that will give you cash back if your total is a negative amount. But there are catalina (the coupons that print at the registers,) deals sometimes, that let me get something for cheap or free with a coupon, and then I get more money off my next order then I spent on that order. I did this with granola bars a couple weeks ago, they were on sale for $2.50, I had a 75 cent coupon that doubled, making each box $1, but for every four boxes I bought, I got catalina coupons for $5 off my next order, and I only spent $4 on the four boxes, so I "made" $1 profit, and I could put that towards something I don't see many coupons for, like fruit. (Though there are produce coupons and deals out there.)

I also won't get something I won't eat. Even if it's only ten cents, and I'm saving $2. I'm not saving anything if it's costing me ten cents and I have no use for it. I will get stuff I won't use if I can get it for free, or if it's a money maker, like the granola bars, and donate them, or if I get too many of one item, I'll donate the extra. There are some deals I "must buy" so many of one item to get the deal, and living alone, I just don't need that much food, but it's cheaper to get more.

It takes awhile to really get good at it, and I even had years of working at a grocery store to help me, and let me figure out every deal that was going on, and I'm still learning.

 

[Greenepona]

I am just getting in to really couponing and right now find… I have too many coupons. What do you all do with your spares? I have 2 envelopes full of coupons for stuff I won’t use. I’m not brand loyal, but it’s for types of products I won’t use (makeup, yogurt, baby stuff, etc). I am on a waiting list for the coupon train on here, and swapped some with my friends.

 

[marie1203]

I do not extreme coupon. I really don't like stockpiles because they take too much space. I do use coupons for items that I buy regularly and save about $100 in our grocery bill .

 

[Jerseymomof2]

To those of you who extreme coupon: how many hours a week do you spend clipping coupons/organizing coupons? Do you work full time as well? Also, if you could tell me where you LIVE, that would be awesome.

I ask because I'm thinking of exploring it, but I'm not sure it's worth it for us. We live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We live two blocks from Fairway Market (which is fantastic, lots of fresh, organic foods), which doesn't take coupons at ALL, and across the street from Trader Joe's, which takes almost no coupons. There are a few grocery stores somewhat nearby that take coupons, but their produce and meats aren't nearly as good.

Aside from hair products and makeup, we hardly ever purchase brand name.

So, if you do extreme coupon, do you think that the savings are worth the loss of quality, if you experience that?

You should see if you can catch the episode of Extreme Couponing of the guy from Z100 radio. He lives in NY (I believe Manhattan) and he does it.


I'm not sure if what I do classifies as Extreme couponing but I do spend 5-10 hrs a week planning and getting coupons. I do not order coupons from a clipping service but do print many from the internet and get extras from my neighbors. I live in NJ.

I usually get about 75% off of my order. and the least I have ever spent on an order was $0.08. That was a lot of $1 coupons and freebies. Plus some catalinas that I had from a previous order.

I don't currently work but even when I did. I did the same thing.
Our circular comes out on Thursday. I then spend thursday and friday nights getting togeather a menu for the week and researching out the coupons for cheap or freebies. and then do the shopping sunday morning.

I do have 5 closets (1 a small walk in) filled with products. That I rotate like a store. Anything I get for free (or really cheap) that is something I wouldn't use I donate to my church. They have a food kitchen and they also donate care packages to the soldiers and a local womans/childrens shelter so they pretty much take anything for one of their causes. I also donate to the animal shelter around the corner.