Why do you coupon?

[figaromeetsmarie]

What is/are your reason(s) for couponing?

Mine is because I think it is fun to see how much money I can save! Some weeks I save a lot with coupons and other weeks not so much, but that is the fun of it to me!

 

[funnygarcia]

My own inner hunter gatherer is fulfilled with the hunt for the good deal. Lookinf thru ads, matching coupons, reading blogs, and websites before I go on the prowl. The thrill of success when I walk out with a full shopping cart and a not so empty pocket.

My couponing allows my family to live on a small income. Plus I can help others by giving away my extras. Call it good karma, I strongly believe to give is to gain much more in return. I give when I can, chances are that when things are bleak.. something eases and life is good again for my family.

 

[beansmom]

it IS exciting and i also believe in courting good Karma. It's a secure feeling looking in your pantry and seeing it full and still having a dollar in your pocket. We also share with others who are in need (and sometimes not but that's what sharing it about)...it's nice to be able to do that.

 

[annsteere]

It is true that couponing helps us live with less income.

But it is also true that if I had LOTS of money, I'd still get a kick out of finding the super bargain.

Today I was with my MIL who was craving a bit of chocolate. I asked her if she liked Butterfinger bars and she does. So, we picked up three full sized ones, gave the cashier my coupon, and the total came up 1 cent. Impressing your MIL with what a frugal shopper you are---priceless.

 

[Purseval]

We normally don't use coupons. We have in the past but found that they are usually for items we wouldn't buy anyway, the savings with coupons still don't match generics in price and the time spent didn't justify it. For instance the latest CVS ad had some razors marked down to about $3, a great deal if you buy $10 razors but not if you buy the cheapo 20-cent razors to begin with. Or the abovementioned Butterfinger bars, we don't want them even if they were free. It's not that they don't taste great they just make us fat so we pass on them. If you buy a lot of name brands then it's worth the effort.

Mine is because I think it is fun to see how much money I can save! Some weeks I save a lot with coupons and other weeks not so much, but that is the fun of it to me!

Just a little food for thought: Let's say you're in a store and you hear over the loudspeaker Manager's clearance! Widgets, normally $75 each now marked down to $9.95!!! So you go pick one up and delightedly run to the register with your purchase. How much did you save?

The answer is nothing, you spent $9.95. That's the psychology behind coupons, use the lure of a great deal to spend money you wouldn't have spent otherwise on their products.

 

[Belle5]

We normally don't use coupons. We have in the past but found that they are usually for items we wouldn't buy anyway, the savings with coupons still don't match generics in price and the time spent didn't justify it. For instance the latest CVS ad had some razors marked down to about $3, a great deal if you buy $10 razors but not if you buy the cheapo 20-cent razors to begin with. Or the abovementioned Butterfinger bars, we don't want them even if they were free. It's not that they don't taste great they just make us fat so we pass on them. If you buy a lot of name brands then it's worth the effort.


Just a little food for thought: Let's say you're in a store and you hear over the loudspeaker Manager's clearance! Widgets, normally $75 each now marked down to $9.95!!! So you go pick one up and delightedly run to the register with your purchase. How much did you save?

The answer is nothing, you spent $9.95. That's the psychology behind coupons, use the lure of a great deal to spend money you wouldn't have spent otherwise on their products.

I agree with everything you wrote! I used to be the coupon queen and found that my cart was filled up with processed junk! There aren't a lot of coupons for whole foods (sweet potatoes, uncured meats, etc.). For the time saved not using coupons--I would just rather buy off-brands and be done with it! Again, I was huge into couponing for many years...

 

[OKGirlie]

I love to coupon. I can go from a $50 total to a $15 total easily. That makes me very happy. I did it to save money in the beginning, but now I do it because it makes me feel good. I have a well stocked pantry and freezer almost all the time because I've learned to stock pile with coupons.

As for buying things I normally wouldn't-well I get what you are saying, but I only buy what I'll use. I go to the store that doubles coupons up to a dollar. Often times I take home items for free or for just pennies. For example, I have about 7 boxes of Smart Taste pasta in my pantry. Do I need 7 boxes right now? No, but I got all of them for free. They are normally marked $1.69 a box. I had lots of dollar off coupons from a few magazines subscriptions. By the way I spent no money on those magazines because my husband takes online surveys and uses the points from them to "buy" me magazines. Anyway, those dollar off coupons get doubled so really the store is paying me to take home the pasta.

So now I have pasta for the next few months.

Last fall Target had cans of veggies on sale for 45 cents a can. Target also had a coupon for $1 off 6 cans. You can stack a manufacturer coupon with a Target coupon. I also had a manufacturer coupon for $1 off 8 cans. I bought 8 cans of veggies at $3.60 -$1 Target coupon -$1 regular coupon equals $1.60 for 8 cans of veggies.

I just purchased my first Christmas gift using a coupon. My daughter wanted the new Dora DS game. It's $29.99, but Target had a $10 off coupon so I got it for $20. I would have bought it before Christmas so I might as well get it now for less money.

My husband just recently got a very nice raise. His mom asked him if I would stop bargain hunting and he told her no way and he's right. I get too much of a bargain high from my couponing/finding good sales.

 

[richmond282]

To answer the OP, I love the thrill of the hunt as well. Men hunt deer and bears, women hunt bargains!!

We normally don't use coupons. We have in the past but found that they are usually for items we wouldn't buy anyway, the savings with coupons still don't match generics in price and the time spent didn't justify it. For instance the latest CVS ad had some razors marked down to about $3, a great deal if you buy $10 razors but not if you buy the cheapo 20-cent razors to begin with. Or the abovementioned Butterfinger bars, we don't want them even if they were free. It's not that they don't taste great they just make us fat so we pass on them. If you buy a lot of name brands then it's worth the effort.


Just a little food for thought: Let's say you're in a store and you hear over the loudspeaker Manager's clearance! Widgets, normally $75 each now marked down to $9.95!!! So you go pick one up and delightedly run to the register with your purchase. How much did you save?

The answer is nothing, you spent $9.95. That's the psychology behind coupons, use the lure of a great deal to spend money you wouldn't have spent otherwise on their products.

I get your point, but disagree with your coupon philosophy. I buy items that we actually use and, YES, you can easily get name brand items for much cheaper than store brand items. I have a closet full of toiletries to prove it. For instance, yesterday I went to Walgreen's and purchased Head and Shoulders Shampoo (which is the only kind my DH will use.)

h&S shampoo #1 $4.99
H&S shampoo #2 $2.49 (Buy 1 get 1 50% off sale)
coupon for B1G1 Free -$4.99
Total= $2.49 for BOTH (or $1.25 each)

I can't buy a store brand for that cheap.

Sometime you can even end up making money by using coupons if the coupon is worth more than the item. Now granted a store is not going to give you back money, but you can use overage for something else you are purchasing. A Kroger sale senario.

My Sobe deal (and, YES, we drink these. We take them to work.)

40 Sobes $1.09 (sale price)*40= $43.60
-$4/ 8 bottles (store sale)*5= $-20.00
- B1G1 free coupon *20 (regular price $1.89 each)= $-37.80
Total for 40 Sobes= $ -14.20
So I bought 2 packages of meat too!!

You specifically mentioned razors. Another insane deal I got from Target.
10 Gilette Fusion Razors $2.48 (clearance price)* 10= $24.80
$4 off Fusion razor coupon * 10= $ -40.00
Total= $-15.20

 

[Purseval]

I get your point, but disagree with your coupon philosophy. I buy items that we actually use and, YES, you can easily get name brand items for much cheaper than store brand items.

That all sounds great but it makes you wonder how companies like Sobe, Gillette, CVS, etc. manage to stay in business with all of these people filling their cupboards with free products. The answer is not only do they stay in business they make tons of money and give out more and more coupons each year. This tends to make me believe that while your scenario sounds good the profits rolling in make a very strong case that the savings are more of an illusion than a reality. Of course you're probably the exception who has the wherewithal and discipline to make couponing an actual savings process but for every one of you there have to be thousands of people spending money they had no intention of spending if it wasn't for a coupon sucking them in.

Just as an aside:

My Sobe deal (and, YES, we drink these. We take them to work.)

40 Sobes $1.09 (sale price)*40= $43.60
-$4/ 8 bottles (store sale)*5= $-20.00
- B1G1 free coupon *20 (regular price $1.89 each)= $-37.80
Total for 40 Sobes= $ -14.20

20 Worst Drinks in America 2010

19. Worst Bottled Tea
SoBe Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

240 calories
0 g fat
61 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 4 slices Sara Lee Cherry Pie

Leave it to SoBe to take an otherwise healthy bottle of tea and inject it with enough sugar to turn it into dessert. The Pepsi-owned company’s flagship line, composed of 11 flavors with names like “Nirvana” and “Cranberry Grapefruit Elixir,” is marketed to give consumers the impression that it can cleanse the body, mind, and spirit. Don’t be fooled. Just like this bottle of green tea, all of these beverages are made with two primary ingredients: water and sugar.

 

[LovableGluttons]

Guilty here of couponing. I started just over 20 years ago as a means to cut expenses while paying into our nestegg fund. Yes, back then DH and I ate the processed junk we could easily get free with coupons until I learned how to stack for overage until that stopped in May 2003, then with just straight overage. The idea of stopping has not crossed my mind as I work really hard for my money and don't want to waste it. Now all of the fresh meat, seafood, and produce my family consumes is purchased with that overage. If the coupon overage policy changes in the future, I may give up couponing all together. I feel I did it well enough long enough that I have earned my retirement from that someday.

 

[FINFAN]

because I have to stay at a certain monthly budget, no exceptions. Using coupons allows me to be flexible . I especially appreciate and covet the coupons that are for RX perscriptions, where you receive a $20 store coupon when bringing in a new or transferred perscription. One month we had 4 of those between DH and DD, and I had a weeks worth of grocery $ using those rewards.
The trick for me is to only use coupons for products I already use and need to purchase anyway, and ONLY if the coupon brings that item lower than the store brand etc. I have to be in control of the coupons, not the other way around

 

[apnep]

...The answer is not only do they stay in business they make tons of money and give out more and more coupons each year. This tends to make me believe that while your scenario sounds good the profits rolling in make a very strong case that the savings are more of an illusion than a reality. ...Just as an aside:


20 Worst Drinks in America 2010

19. Worst Bottled Tea
SoBe Green Tea (1 bottle, 20 fl oz)

240 calories
0 g fat
61 g sugars

Maybe they make their money off all the millions of people that don't coupon. It would seem to me that the people who really know how to work couponing by stacking, stocking, and waiting for sales are a small percentage compared to the regular consumer who feel like it is a waste of time and don't know how to do it. (I want to learn how to do it!)

As for Sobe, I have no idea what that is or if I've ever seen it, but 61g of sugar...GROSS.

 

[CherylA]

I have to coupon, I can't help myself, my mom taught me when I was a kid and by the time I was 13 I was matching up the sales to the coupons, she gave it up and I just never stopped. Before I could drive she would drop me off at the grocery store so I could do the family's grocery shopping and she would pick me up when I was done. Now that I'm all grown up and have a family of my own I still coupon. Sometimes I wish I could give it up! I spend a lot of time on it. I always think to myslef that if I worked an extra 3 hours a week at my job instead of sorting/matching/spending extra time in the grocery store I would be ahead by money plus not have as many processed foods in my house. But I can't do it. The coupons call me. I see things on sale at the grocery store that I know there was a coupon for and it drives me up the wall if I don't have my coupons! It's a hobby for me. I actually find it relaxing and satisfying to clip and sort my coupons. It's some "me time" that also benefits my wallet.

 

[cassandrap83]

I coupon. It usually saves us at least $15 per grocery trip. Usually around $20-$30 in savings.

I am not flexible. I only purchase things we actually use & eat.

I agree, it is fun to match up sale prices with store coupons with mfg. coupons.

 

[Beezle2]

What is/are your reason(s) for couponing?

I used to coupon but fell out of the habit when our income went up. I'm back at it again because we have had some set backs. If I want to go to Disney next Christmas I have to find the money somewhere. I've set a $100 a week food budget for our family of 4 and anything I spend under that goes into our Disney fund. If I can save $25 a week until next year our Dining Plan will be covered.

 

[onelilspark]

I just started using coupons, off of coupons.com. We went to the store this past weekend and I had a stack of 8 coupons (all for things we buy anyway, though I bought face soap now and I probably won't need it for another month, because I had a coupon.) I also have coupons to the outlets that I started using. My boyfriend asked me, "What's with the coupons all of a sudden?" I just got tired of paying full price for things! Why not save?

And to hijak a bit (sorry OP!) where do you all find grocery coupons? I don't get a paper, should I go out and buy a local paper? When do they release coupons?

 

[ilovejack02]

I coupon. It usually saves us at least $15 per grocery trip. Usually around $20-$30 in savings.

I am not flexible. I only purchase things we actually use & eat.

I agree, it is fun to match up sale prices with store coupons with mfg. coupons.

Same in our house. Typically I save about 15 -20 on a target trip on top of shopping the sales . I very rarely have food coupons unless it is a store coupon for produce , dairy or meat and sometimes regular coupons for condiments . I use coupons for paper products, beauty products, cleaning products , stacking store and manufacture coupons and in store sale . Done this way , it usually is cheaper than store brand. Just takes a few mins to circle what I need in ad and check coupon supply.

I am not brand particular except with my hair products and razors, .... no way I'm using the cheapo .20 razors , the skin on my legs and bikini area only like Gillette ; ) but never at full price lol. Got a super deal yesterday , on 10 refills for embrace for $ 10 . Had coupon and it was a clearance bonus pack. No it wasn't "free" like some get at CVS, but I didn't have to wait to save bonus bucks and buy other things I don't need. I don't trade coupons or print much off the net, or I might could have gotten a better deal but I don't have time for that nor do I go to Target on a daily basis to check clearance sales , waste of gas imo. That will hold me for awhile, esp because I dry my razors off they tend to last longer. I don't leave them in the shower.


I tried Walgreens and CVS but quickly figured out not a deal for us.

 

[CherylA]

I just started using coupons, off of coupons.com. We went to the store this past weekend and I had a stack of 8 coupons (all for things we buy anyway, though I bought face soap now and I probably won't need it for another month, because I had a coupon.) I also have coupons to the outlets that I started using. My boyfriend asked me, "What's with the coupons all of a sudden?" I just got tired of paying full price for things! Why not save?

And to hijak a bit (sorry OP!) where do you all find grocery coupons? I don't get a paper, should I go out and buy a local paper? When do they release coupons?

Good for you! Yes you need a local Sunday paper, thats where the grocery coupons are.

 

[ilovejack02]

I just started using coupons, off of coupons.com. We went to the store this past weekend and I had a stack of 8 coupons (all for things we buy anyway, though I bought face soap now and I probably won't need it for another month, because I had a coupon.) I also have coupons to the outlets that I started using. My boyfriend asked me, "What's with the coupons all of a sudden?" I just got tired of paying full price for things! Why not save?

And to hijak a bit (sorry OP!) where do you all find grocery coupons? I don't get a paper, should I go out and buy a local paper? When do they release coupons?

Coupons come out in Sunday papers, some people buy more than one. There won't be coupons this weekend though because of labor day holiday.

 

[sydneysmom]

I use coupons religiously. BUT, I do try to buy only the products that we use. I'm definately NOT that person that gets jazzed that cat food is $1.00 for 50 and then I have a $3.00 coupon....I don't have cats!

So no, I do buy the brands we normally use but I try to hunt for coupons and use them when our Kroger is having sales. It's helped us not have to increase our food / toiletries budget when prices continue to go up. I too have a ton of Smart Taste pasta in the cupboard. It was all free. It's the brand we use, so why not stock up. It's more economical to stock up on items you use regularly when they're on sale and you have a coupon rather than just pick it up at the store anytime and it's not on sale. So no, it's not frivolous.

On average I spend $125.00 / week . That's for food / cleaning supplies / meat / toiletries / everything you can think of in that category. I'll hit Kroger when the sales are good and spend $125 ....my savings are usually $50-70 from store sales and another $15-20 in coupons. So theoretically, I've got an additional $ 65-90 in food that we got for free using sales and coupons. That adds up ! And it's money I would have spent anyway.....it's not "well it COST us ------".

For me it was very difficult to start using coupons and get into a routine of using them . Now I find that I won't buy something unless I've exhausted all resources trying to find a coupon ! I've become "THAT" person !! YIKES. Same goes if I'm shopping online...if I'm ordering something, I'll check w/ www.retailmenot.com which is an awesome website for online coupons for free shipping, etc. You can save alot of money that way too.