My "Extreme Coupon" Experience...

[benniecooper]

NYCDiane, I was attempting to agree with you and just used Poptarts as an unhealthy processed food example. For the record, Poptarts go on sale at stores in my area for 3 boxes for $5.00. Kellogg's often released coupons for them. I have often seen $.50 off a box and my stores double which would make them $.67 per box.

Anyway, I believe this thread has went way of topic and I say to the OP, good job scoring the collar for your dog. I spend many Saturdays couponing at PetSmart for my boys. You can get some great deals.

 

[Keli]

A collar for .18?! I'd be excited about that one too. I spend way too much money in store like that on my sweet animals. New collars are the worst, I'm always wanting a better or different collar or tags for my pets.

I like to coupon a little, especially on toiletries, saves me a bunch at times.

I don't understand the criticism of folks buying frozen meatballs (should I confess there are some in my fridge right now?), cream of -whatever- soup (also in my cabinets), etc. I don't look at that stuff as terribly unhealthy and if I had to guess I would think its part of the family's diet, not the entire diet. You can buy that stuff in bulk and they are saving a lot doing it that way. Most likely the fresh veggies, meat, fruit are bought weekly in small enough quantities to not catch anyone's attention. Overall there's no reason, IMHO to assume that family has a terrible diet.

 

[angierae]

A collar for .18?! I'd be excited about that one too. I spend way too much money in store like that on my sweet animals. New collars are the worst, I'm always wanting a better or different collar or tags for my pets.

I like to coupon a little, especially on toiletries, saves me a bunch at times.

I don't understand the criticism of folks buying frozen meatballs (should I confess there are some in my fridge right now?), cream of -whatever- soup (also in my cabinets), etc. I don't look at that stuff as terribly unhealthy and if I had to guess I would think its part of the family's diet, not the entire diet. You can buy that stuff in bulk and they are saving a lot doing it that way. Most likely the fresh veggies, meat, fruit are bought weekly in small enough quantities to not catch anyone's attention. Overall there's no reason, IMHO to assume that family has a terrible diet.

Exactly. If you're buying something non-perishable in bulk, it might last months and months in your house. If I buy twenty cans of soup it doesn't mean we're going to eat them all that week! I tend to stock up when things are on sale so my weekly carts might look funny to someone else but I know exactly what I'm doing.

 

[kristenrice]

Hi...OP back again...

I have to say, I love that this thread has gotten a little off course. It has really made me think about the way my family and I eat. I am definitely going to make it a point to work on getting more fresh fruits and vegetables into our diets, even if it is more expensive and inconvenient.

The collar is working out great! Our big dog likes to chew on the little dude's collar and toss him around with it so he has gone through a few already. He gets her back though...he chomps on her collar too, but my kids covered hers in duct tape so it is nice and tough.

 

[NYCDiane]

NYCDiane, I was attempting to agree with you and just used Poptarts as an unhealthy processed food example. For the record, Poptarts go on sale at stores in my area for 3 boxes for $5.00. Kellogg's often released coupons for them. I have often seen $.50 off a box and my stores double which would make them $.67 per box.

Anyway, I believe this thread has went way of topic and I say to the OP, good job scoring the collar for your dog. I spend many Saturdays couponing at PetSmart for my boys. You can get some great deals.

I knew you were agreeing with me but also thought you were throwing a dig. Sorry!

3 for $5 is a great price for Pop Tarts. By me, they're almost $3 per box. On sale, they may go 2/$5. Good deal for you with the coupons, though!

Today, I got lucky and was able to score 2 pkgs of Caroline Wild Rice mix for 8 cents.... they were on sale for 79 cents each. I had a 75 cents coupon that doubled to $1.50. Cool. Love it!!!!!


Oh, and yes, to the OP: Great job on the 18 cents dog collar!!! That is an awesome deal!

 

[NYCDiane]

Exactly! I too remember those days of sandwiches and powder milk. My Dad was out of work and this was before food stamps. Some days all I had for lunch was a ketchup sandwich. Yes, seriously. and water. We didn't get soda or koolaid and milk was for cereal and cooking only. Veggies were only what came out of the garden.

We would call those "wish sandwiches" ---- ketchup on both sides and WISH you had something in the middle!!!

Did you also get the "day old bread"? My mother would buy that and freeze it. It was already expired by a day or three and then she would freeze it for later use.

Soda?!??! The only time I ever remember having a soda was if we went to my uncle's house. He would have BBQs and he always had soda. I always wanted to drink it ALL but I could barely drink a cup of it because of the carbonation. Kool Aid, never. I wish we had a veggie garden!

I won't even get started on the hand-me-downs and the shoes with holes in the bottoms!

 

[sookie]

I don't think coupons were involved; however last week, DD24 called me and boasted about her ground beef find. I can't remember the exact figures, but I think it was less than a dollar a pound. All I thought about was..I hope it's good beef, and you're not getting my granddaughter sick.

She bought it at Kroger's, so it should be good. However; ground beef is never marked down that low, unless it's for immediate consumption. And she was going to freeze most of it.

I just wanted to point out something that happened to me a LONG time ago. I no longer do the grocery shopping because of our household schedule, but when I did, once time I found some meat that was on sell for VERY little.

I got the package of ground beef I was interested in, and took it to the person working in the meat department and asked them about it - because I was worried it was expiring or there was something wrong with it. I am weird about dates on food and always have been.

The person working at the butcher counter said that the ticketed price on the package was wrong, and thanked me for pointing it out. He did let me take what I had picked out to purchase (one of the bulk / larger packs) and did not go and re-ticket it. So essentially, they honored the price on the tag. I have a feeling they went back and re-ticketed the other items.

 

[borgthe]

Hi...OP back again...

I have to say, I love that this thread has gotten a little off course. It has really made me think about the way my family and I eat. I am definitely going to make it a point to work on getting more fresh fruits and vegetables into our diets, even if it is more expensive and inconvenient.

The collar is working out great! Our big dog likes to chew on the little dude's collar and toss him around with it so he has gone through a few already. He gets her back though...he chomps on her collar too, but my kids covered hers in duct tape so it is nice and tough.

I thought my dogs were the only ones who did that lol. My big one is constantly picking up the little one by the collar. I always yell at her to leave my dog alone. Crazy pups

 

[benniecooper]

I knew you were agreeing with me but also thought you were throwing a dig. Sorry! !

It's all good.

 

[QVCshopper]

I love using coupons. Today, I got 4 Purdue shortcuts for $1.50 each, and 4 Purdue reduced fat chicken patties for $1 each--meat for over 8 dinners for a total of $10.

Yesterday, I got 7 Progresso soups, 2 boxes of potatoes, and cinnamon buns for $8.75 plus got 64 boxtops for my kids' school (equal to $6.40). I always have coupons and buy on sale--tomorrow I'll pick up 2 four packs of YoCrunch yogurt for .50 cents each. For a family of five, it makes a big difference on our bottom line, so we can save for retirement and college.

Love free stuff, too! We get lots of freebies, and enter contests. My DH and I each won $100 gift cards in the past two weeks--his was Visa and mine was to Corner Bakery.

 

[BCmomma]

I love using coupons but I never go the the "extreme" and won't buy items "just because".

With that being said, I can tell you I've gotten many free or close to being free items with my coupons. I just have my coupons, check the store circular, compare sales with what I need and then compare that to the coupons I have. By doing that, I've saved a lot of money.

This is me, too. I make sure what I'm buying is something I NEED or will use within the next month,otherwise it is money wasted. It is possible to use coupons wisely, to use them on good products (and not just processed food crap) and to save a decent amount of money.

 

[mommyburns]

I have to post. 2 weeks ago I went to Lane Bryant and bought 3 dress shirts when the stre was running a 40percent off sale. Today I was able to return the shirts and rebut them with a new coupon that had come out and with their current shirt sale I got back $26 after the new coupon. I went back tonight to get 2 more dress shirts and I found a pair of dress pants on clearance for $10 but all clearance was 50 percent off ( scored a pair of dress pants for $5 ) when I went to check out the cashier said that for buying a pair of pants I got $20 off. So tonight I now paid $29 for 2 dress shirts and a pair of dress pants. Final totals after returns and re-buys is about $92 for 5 dress shirts and a pair of dress pants. If anyone shops at Lane Bryant you know that never happens. So excited to have anew wardrobe for the new school year.

 

[eyor44]

We would call those "wish sandwiches" ---- ketchup on both sides and WISH you had something in the middle!!!

Did you also get the "day old bread"? My mother would buy that and freeze it. It was already expired by a day or three and then she would freeze it for later use.

Soda?!??! The only time I ever remember having a soda was if we went to my uncle's house. He would have BBQs and he always had soda. I always wanted to drink it ALL but I could barely drink a cup of it because of the carbonation. Kool Aid, never. I wish we had a veggie garden!

I won't even get started on the hand-me-downs and the shoes with holes in the bottoms!

No day old bread exactly. We lived in the country and Mother would shop once a week on Friday evenings. Daddy would always meet us at the store just as Mother was ready to check out to pay. Like clock work every Friday. Anyway with 7 of us, Mother would be extras of bread and stuff and freeze it. So we got the thawed frozen bread and it was always the cheapest.

That is one thing I will not do now. I buy one loaf at a time and I buy the fluffy bread.

 

[Colleen27]

Extreme couponing is very strange to me. I am a middle class mother of two and have a college education. I just don't get buying things that cost so little whether or not you want or regularly use the items. Nothing is cheap if you didn't need it to begin with. I occasionally clip a coupon if it is on a product I need or regularly purchase. Most coupons do seem to be on toiletries, and processed food. I am always surprised at the number of people that fill their carts with crap just because it is on sale.

Amen! I do take advantage of coupons + sales on certain items, particularly things our food bank is always in need of (cereal, diapers, canned meats & stews, etc) but I save very little with coupons for my own family's needs because we don't buy the items that coupons tend to be available for. Aside from personal care items, particularly shampoo and toothpaste, and sometimes oatmeal or granola I never seem to find coupons for the things we buy.

I think I need to start watching for Petco coupons, though... My rabbits wear XS dog harnesses and leashes, but they chew more than any dog I've ever met (even my lab who chewed holes in the drywall if left alone too long!) so I periodically have to replace a harness or leash that got too chewed to feel secure.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

OP, great deal on the collar!! I use coupons once in a while when it's for something I need and can use. Most times it's for all the processed stuff I really don't eat. We mostly eat fresh fruits and vegetables and meats. I never see coupons for those. I do use coupons for cereals though!

 

[writersblock42]

It is difficult to stock up on products that go bad but you can freeze a lot of items. I got an entire basket of zucchini that was about to go bad for $1.50. Some of it did go bad by the time I used it but I was able to make a couple of loafs of zucchini bread and we had zucchini chips as well. So even though I ended up throwing out some of it, I still got a good deal. Meat can be frozen and a good one to stock up on when on sale. Every so often, these whole chicken roasters go on sale for less than a $1 a pound and I will buy a few of them.

 

[Arielle22]

My food bank is always looking for personal care items as well as food. This week I got 2 Right Guard Body Wash for $.50. It was B1G1 and $1.50/1 coupon plus I had a CVS $2/2 body wash coupon. DH doesn't use it so it went to the food bank.

You might have judged my cart at Shaws this weekend when I picked up 8 hamburger/chicken helpers and some Betty Crockers potatoes. All was $1 each. I had $.80/4 for the helpers which doubled so $4.80 for the 8 boxes. I also had $1/4 for the potatoes. All of that went to the food bank.

I find plenty of coupons for things I buy. Fall season means frozen veggie coupons. DDs love the microwave bags. There are sugar, flour and egg coupons as well.

I have a BJs membership and you can use a BJs coupon plus a manufacturer coupon. I have gotten some great deals. Pantene shampoo/conditioner is $8 for a big bottle. BJs had a $3/2 coupon that I combined with a B1G1 coupons (up to $4.99) so both bottles were $8.

DH and younger DD use Zyrtex every day. There are $7/1 coupons out and because it is 2 bottles for $38; I can use 2 coupons. It ends up $24 for 100 pills. I stockpile the Zyrtex and then don't have to buy for months until a new coupon comes out.

OP, the only thing that makes a good deal better is when it is unexpected. Congratulations on the deal.

 

[superme80]

OP awesome job!
I usually shop at Safeway. They have lots of in store coupons for fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and sometimes milk. I did splurge and buy myself a 6 pack of cherry cola Zevia. It usually goes for $5.99 for a 6 pack. I got home and realized I paid only $1.99 for the 6 pack. I was a very happy camper!

 

[Nakkira]

I needed new running shows recently. My credit card was offering mega bonus rewards (equivalent to 15%) on any purchase from Target. The shoes were marked half price and I got 2 pairs for around $60. (plus $9 worth of cash back points)
Any purchase over $50 also got $10 Kohls cash.
Two weeks later I got a coupon for $5 off ANY purchase and another worth 15% off. I needed new knickers which were on sale for 5 for $19.99.
after the coupons and the Kohls cash I got all 5 pair for $4.50.
They are normally $5-7 apiece. (we are talking the pretty, lace and such kind).