Unleash the Savings: Tips and Tricks for Extreme Couponing

[Tropicalburstqt2]

I'd like to try the new trend of extreme couponing, so I'm hoping my fellow cheffers wouldn't mind giving me hints on where they get find good deals, websites they use, & coupons they find.

Anyone else out there extreme couponing?

 

[Chefgirl2]

I love that show, and I'm taking a class (free) on couponing next Wednesday night. If I get anything that blows me away I'll post

 

[Jennie4PC]

You definitly have to live in an area that doubles coupons to get those great deals. Where I live we rarely get double coupons. You can buy coupons off ebay and it really isnt bad. I am kicking myself for not buying ronzoni Pasta coupons. It was buy 20 of them for 4.50 and we had a sale here that was when you buy 10 you get them for .49 The coupons were save $1.00 on 2 so I would have been able to get 15 boxes of pasta for free.
I go to couponmom.com and print coupons off of there

 

[chef131doreen]

I love that show too its great , I would love to shop like that , well maybe not as much but I feel like I am in the store shopping for food every day That Moms coupon site looks good I am going to try that on ,
The Extreme coupon lady on Jamie I think is her nam is a Pampered Chef consultant from NC

 

[Amyskitchen2]

http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com

 

[Tropicalburstqt2]

Thanks everyone! I've found Becentsable ? Saving you money, time, and resources.

 

[Shelly Flanagan]

Thanks for the links ladies.

 

[Tropicalburstqt2]

Here's some more links- Extreme Savings with Diva Desirae & WeUseCoupons.com

 

[gailz2]

I taped and saw one of those shows recently and it was incredible. I do the whole coupon thing from time to time, but seem to go in phases with it--life seems to "happen" and get me out of the habit for awhile. I, too, have purchased coupons from ebay with great success. There is a lot of money to be saved.

 

[KaryCam]

I really enjoy couponing. I live in an area where they do not double coupons (darn) but still do pretty well, saving about 50% off my totals.
I must say that I am not a fan so far of the tv show. It portrays some of the people as greedy - taking all of an item off the shelf or a husband saying to his wife, isn't 30 enough, "no," 45?, "no, 60!" And then the husband saying,"but I don't even like mustard!" and it was a 2-person family.
There's also a fuss now about one of the women on there not using her coupons correctly and it's documented she teaches a class on how to fraudulently use coupons.
Plus, many other examples.
All these things give the average couponer a bad name.
There are stores that are changing their coupon policies now and manufactuers are changing their coupons too. I noticed a new coupon of mine that said that you could only use 4 of the same coupon during one transaction.

I did like seeing the families that are teaching their children through couponing.
Couponing and saving money is fun. We also have a couponing group at church for sharing info and trading coupons you don't want.
Another good website to try is Frugal Coupon Living ? - Extreme Couponing done Responsibly. Former Home of Frugal Coupon Mom as seen on Dr Phil. ? Stretching Your Pennies, Saving Your Dollars

 

[NooraK]

I do couponing, though I wouldn't call myself extreme. You can click over to my blog for pictures and totals of some of my shopping trips.I agree with Karynne. I have not watched the show, but from what I've read on blogs I don't think I'd want to (except for morbid curiosity). I recently came across a really good article about why the show isn't realistic:The Truth About Extreme Couponing - Personal Finance Advice It also links over to another blog that talks about what Karynne mentioned regarding the fraudulent use of coupons (and why you shouldn't do it!).

 

[Hunter Mom]

I had to wonder who would ever use those quanitities of food before it went bad. Or 1000 containers of deodorant. Not to mention, who would ever spend that kind of time.

 

[Tropicalburstqt2]

Thought you all might like this link- http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/

 

[lt1jane]

we were talking about that show at work. Someone mentioned that those people are boarderline hoarders to which I agreed. My boss looked at me and told me I have no room to talk, I just bought a ½ a pig and a ¼ cow. The difference is, I will not be storing any of that meat under my son's bed and we will consume it over the next year. I won't need to buy pork or beef for the next year or so and I won't buy any just because it's on sale. I have what I need and I bought it for a great price. When I need more, I will order another one. That is not hoarding as I will be almost out before I buy another one.

 

[gailz2]

we were talking about that show at work. Someone mentioned that those people are boarderline hoarders to which I agreed. My boss looked at me and told me I have no room to talk, I just bought a ½ a pig and a ¼ cow. The difference is, I will not be storing any of that meat under my son's bed and we will consume it over the next year. I won't need to buy pork or beef for the next year or so and I won't buy any just because it's on sale. I have what I need and I bought it for a great price. When I need more, I will order another one. That is not hoarding as I will be almost out before I buy another one.

I consider that economizing, not hoarding. I would like to see episodes of the extreme couponing encouraging donations to food banks, etc. instead of being wasteful by just creating your own store at home. Some of the attitudes on the episode I watched were that they were going to outsmart the stores type of thinking. Not very nice to take advantage of someone else, I'd say. Those stores are owned by other people.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

we were talking about that show at work. Someone mentioned that those people are boarderline hoarders to which I agreed. My boss looked at me and told me I have no room to talk, I just bought a ½ a pig and a ¼ cow. The difference is, I will not be storing any of that meat under my son's bed and we will consume it over the next year. I won't need to buy pork or beef for the next year or so and I won't buy any just because it's on sale. I have what I need and I bought it for a great price. When I need more, I will order another one. That is not hoarding as I will be almost out before I buy another one.

I would consider what you did as being along the same lines as preserving, freezing, and canning produce from your garden. (or someone's garden, anyway.) You are "putting by" for a season...and you have a specific time in mind when you will need to do the same thing again. That is way different than someone HOARDING every single item on a store shelf for themselves. Extreme Couponers make me angry when I go to the store, and I see them with a cart full of a single item, and then I try to buy ONE of the same item and the shelves are empty. :grumpy: I can't buy ONE bottle of ketchup, or one package of napkins, because some HOARDER has emptied out the shelf. Then, with my luck, I get stuck behind one of them in the checkout lane, while they are arguing with the cashier over every single stupid deduction. Grrrrr.....:grumpy::grumpy::grumpyand yes - that has all happened to me. I try to steer clear of the extreme couponers as much as possible. There is a huge difference between trying to get the best deal on something your family needs for that shopping cycle, and hoarding everything for yourself, ending up with enough mustard to last a lifetime.)Fortunately, we buy mostly whole foods, and I do most of my shopping at places other than the big box grocery stores, so I don't have to deal with them often.

 

[chef131doreen]

With a 16 year old son that is 5'7 and 210 Football player that wants to eat all the time I am going to try this not so Extreme though. I spend way too much money on food ext.

Today I put my binder together , watched the crazy coupon ladies video on how to do it with baseball card sleeves . That was probably the most work once that is done adding the coupond will be easy
Now this Sunday I am going to buy 2 newspapers and go from there .

 

[babywings76]

I don't get into the whole coupon thing. The only coupons I see are for items I wouldn't normally buy. And a lot of them are still more expensive than buying the store brand and what's on sale naturally. I'm not organized enough or have enough patience to go through and clip and save and then remember to use them. I try to plan my meals based on what I already have in the cupboards or what is on sale or whatever else I feel like making. I then write down those recipes for the week and hit the store. I have friends who travel to several different stores depending on what types of food items they are buying, but I don't even like to do that, especially with gas prices so high. I may shop at Costco for stocking up on cheeses and flash frozen chicken breasts (cheaper than the sale prices at my local stores), but it's dangerous shopping there because other tempting things just jump into the cart and I'll blow a lot of money.

 

[NooraK]

Amanda - you don't really need to clip coupons to save the most. When I go to the store the huge majority of my savings are from sale priced items, not the coupons. There are plenty of websites that you can print a list from (check out the BeCentsable link above). The key is to know what is a good price for the items you buy. Often, stores will advertise items in their flyers as being on sale when they really aren't. Sales on any given item usually go in 6-8 week cycles, so you stock up on the item when it's on sale, but only to last you and your family about 6-8 weeks.

 

[lt1jane]

My mom was one of those people who went to several stores to get all the good sales. The first time I went grocery shopping for my first apartment of my own (no roommates) I did that. It took me all day, and I was in a small city. That was enough for me. I decided that my time is valuable too and that needed to become part of the equation. After that, I would check the ads for the sales, decide which ad had the most items I wanted at prices I liked, and I would shop there.

Yes, I'm sure I paid more for a few of the items I bought, but I figure when you add my time savings in, it all comes out in the wash.

 

[winklermom]

I haven't had a chance to see any of the "Extreme Couponing" shows on TLC since we don't currently have that channel. I would like to see it, simply out of pure curiosity.

I do coupon, however, I don't consider myself "extreme." There are several sites that I frequent online that helps me to match up the coupons that I have with sales at different stores. One of my favorites is Southern Savers. I also like to check out Budget101 and get tips from her as well.

I'm not one who can go and purchase $600 worth of groceries for $6.00, but I sure wish that I could be that good! LOL! To date, the best that I've been able to do is save $107 in a day's shopping trip. I've also been able to go to Walgreens and end up paying them $6 and some change and them giving me a $10 Register Reward that you use just like cash on your next trip!! They paid me to buy their stuff! WooHoo!

It does take some time to plan out your trip but I usually use my Sunday afternoon for doing this. For me, it's relaxing, although I realize that it's not for everyone.

 

[chefsteph07]

About 3 yrs ago, I couponed for 6 mo or so, got some GREAT deals! I stocked up on toothpaste, shampoo, deoderant, laundry detergent,etc. I took advantage of when they had "buy one get one free" sales and then took coupons for those items and saved alot of money. I stopped doing it after those 6 mo though because I was being overrun w/ these items, I had enough to last me literally 2 yrs!!! I am out of my stock though, and have been thinking of doing it again...I really didn't do it on "food" items, I don't have alot of room in my cupboards to store a big excess, but I did have room for toiletries and things like that, and not having to worry about buying those, which I think can sometimes put a dent in your budget because for me it seems I run out of those things at the same time, so I was buying $50 worth of toiletries along w/ my regular groceries, it started to put a dent in the budget.

I will go to 2 stores for food shopping. One is a discount store and the other is our regular hometown store for meats and produce, which I only buy when they are on sale. When meat is on sale, I will stock up, I found that I had enough ground meat in my freezer to last 5 months so that was nice!!!

 

[winklermom]

I usually go to three stores on a typical shopping day. Walgreens, Walmart (to make them price match some of the other grocery stores ads) and Kroger (they double coupons up to $.50). Now that have somewhat of a "system" it doesn't take as long for the actual shopping. The planning still takes a while but as I said earlier, I enjoy it.

 

[PCLaurel]

I did what ChefSteph mentions above - I stockpiled for a short time on the toiletries only, not food. It came in very handy when I lost my job. We had enough toothpaste, shampoo, etc to last months. Most of that stockpile has been depleted, so I need to work on building it up again. On a day-to-day basis I coupon, not to the extreme extent but I do use a binder w/ baseball card pages. It's much easier for me to use them if I can see them. If I have to shuffle through some other kind of system, I'm much less likely to know what coupons I have let alone actually use them. Trust me - I've tried I typically shop with price targets in mind, and this goes for both foods and toiletries. For example, in my area, I know that good "stock up" price for boneless, skinless chicken breast is $1.99 / lb. Wegman's has stated that they will be selling their chicken at that price for the rest of the year, as part of a campaign to lower food prices on 40 of the most commonly bought items, so I know I will be able to get that price for quite a while whenever I want. For boneless pork loins, my stock up price is also $1.99 per pound. I also know that pork is always on sale at the end of December - beginning of January for sure because people like to serve pork & sauerkraut here to ring in the new year. I also know that my grocery store butcher will cut a whole loin into separate roasts or boneless chops for me for free - this is true of most grocery stores. I can get ~4 roasts or 16 chops from a whole loin.For toiletries, I can usually get toothpaste for both of us and razors for my hubby for free by combining coupons with the CVS Extra Bucks program. I can get the razors I prefer for cheap, but usually not free. I aim to spend no more than $2 per standard size bottle for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Free is great, but I also like to know what the "good" price is for the brands we like. My stock up price on laundry detergent is around $2 per 32-load bottle - usually, this means Arm & Hammer brand, but that's what we like so I'm OK with that. I find this helps me save money consistently for those times when I just need a couple things, rather than a time when I am specifically trying to stock up. Because we knew there was a chance I would lose my job, my hubby was perfectly OK with having an extra set of shelves in our bedroom for the toiletry stockpile, but that is not at all the norm. Our toiletries now fit appropriately on a shelf in the linen closet and their respective drawers in the bathroom It also made sense for us to do this stockpiling more with the toiletries than with food because we have less storage space for food and because I can cook some pretty darn cheap meals rather consistently.

 

[Jennie4PC]

I am one to stockile on food not like the couponers though. If cereal is on sale I will buy it. 2 weeks ago genral mills had buy 10 boxes for $4 get a 5 dollar gc back for next purchase. (They let me use it on same transaction) Well with coupons and the gc I got each box of cereal for .75 I couldnt pass up that deal. I will buy food that will last. And that we eat. I just rotate my food regularly

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I too think some of the behavior on that show borders on hoarding. I like it when they buy those ingredients and give them to a food bank or donate them to the troops.I also agree that it's good to stock up on toiletries, non-perishable food and things that you can freeze, like chicken breast (often I get it for less than $2 a pound, I prefer fresh, not pre-frozen with sodium and sugar added) and pork loins.My store has e-coupons that you can load onto your card and combine with regular coupons. Last night I had a 50 cent coupon on Dawn and Pampers Baby Wipes (which we use for other purposes.) They had e-coupons for the same amount. And since the store doubles the regular coupons (not the e-coupons) I got $1.50 off each. I went to the store last night, bought those items and a gallon of milk and paid $5. And the dawn and wipes weren't even on sale. I'm not organized enough to wait until they are.I work for a newspaper so I can get multiples of coupons any time I need them. I don't do this very often, except when they have high value coupons on things I use all the time. One time I had a Purex coupon on the sheets that go from washer to dryer. I ended up getting 4 of these. They are enough to last me about a year. Since the sheets were on sale for $3.99 and I had a $3 coupon, I paid 99 cents each for them.