Couponing

[Z3Dreamer]

While replying to another post, I decided that I would like to hear about coupons you get, just for asking. I don't want coupons in the flyers in the mail or weekly sales. Here is my list:

• Sign up at Amy's Kitchen for their email list. Occasionally, you will get coupons.
• Same with International Delight.
• Of course, many of the grocery stores have rewards programs that send you coupons geared to you.
• DW cannot survive without her Michael's daily coupon.
• DW can get coupons from the Benefiber website
• Set up an account at Advance Auto's website. You will get online discounts and coupons.

 

[Bigdawg]

DW and I are sort of opportunists when it comes to coupons. If we see them and they are easy then we use them. We don't go too far out of our way. We focus on the big 3 (or 4).


Housing: Get the lowest interest rate possible on mortgages.
Transpo: Take care of vehicles. 0% financing or cash. Keep vehicles a long time.
Food: Not huge on coupons but one extra meal cooked at home usually saves 75% the cost of going out.
#4, Travel: Try to use points and travel on off days.


Saving on the big 3(4) is huge compared to the small savings with couponing. Time/money.

 

[Senator]

Many places that you sign up for have free birthday meals.

Veterans get discounts at many restaurants, and even many products. I got a grill 30% off at CampChef by being a vet.

Rarely do I pay full price for anything...

 

[Amethyst]

I buy dead people's used jewelry at a consignment jeweler. And I dicker for it.

 

[audreyh1]

I just see what specials are at Costco and keep and eye out for 16 to 20% off iTunes gift cards.

Mostly we just notice when items we buy are discounted at the grocery store while we are shopping and stock up if warranted.

And sometimes I'll buy restaurant gift cards at 20% off, but we eat out little, so don't do this often.

We don't read any coupon books or fliers other than the one Costco mails us. And they don't require the physical coupon.

 

[candrew]

I buy dead people's used jewelry

I just flashed back to an admission by Haley Joel Osment's character in the movie, "The Sixth Sense".

 

[Amethyst]

To the best of my knowledge, I haven't seen the previous owners. But you never know.

I sure enjoy giving their stuff a new chance, though. The things I buy are mostly 1910's - 1960's, and even if such styles were still being made, I couldn't afford the "new" price for such things.

Really, it's more like "Toy Story." Remember how the toys whose owners have grown up, are pining for new children to play with them? A toy's mission is to be played with, and a jewel's mission is to adorn someone.

I just flashed back to an admission by Haley Joel Osment's character in the movie, "The Sixth Sense".

 

[Bamaman]

My wife went to a coupon seminar one Saturday. Then she took over the food shopping. After she filled up our pantries, I am back to doing the shopping 50%. Being a couponer is just hard work.

She is free to do couponing. Just don't tell me about every quarter saved or two for one bought because I don't care to hear about it.

 

[Amethyst]

Everything I've read about extreme couponing suggests you are right - it is time-consuming w*rk to match up the "deals" with things you actually want to buy.

. Being a couponer is just hard work.

.

 

[pacergal]

I used to coupon a lot when kids were younger. Now, I watch what's on sale from the local supermarket and plan my weekly meals around that, and I will purchase any BOGO item if it is something we use regularly. We save quite a bit from Costco and I try to plan travel around any deals I find.
I try to purchase more organic, less antibiotic filled foods and those rarely have coupons!

 

[38Chevy454]

I will use coupons when I can, for something I need or want. Mostly for grocery items, occasionally for house or garage items. Also use a lot of restaurant BOGO, or discount off an item/total type coupons when eating out. Why not? It's free easy money. I don't think the small amount of time spent for the coupons is causing any sacrifice. I view it as spending less for something, we all like to pay less when we can.

A lot of online shopping, you can search the vendor for coupon codes and get a discount. Simple couple minutes of search and save on the purchase.

 

[misshathaway]

The only ones I use are from Wegmans b/c they are electronic. They are applied to your account and you "clip" them in the Wegmans app. When you check out, if you have scanned your phone Wegmans tag, and it sees an item that matches the coupon, it gets applied. Coupons done right.

Most of the flyer coupons are for packaged stuff I don't buy. Not worth it to me.

I think the "clipping" step of the electronic coupons is silly but they must use it for target marketing.

 

[walkinwood]

If I am buying something online (other than Amazon), I'll do a quick search for the site name & "coupon" or "discount code". I'm amazed at how often I can save 10% or more, or get free shipping.

 

[kaudrey]

I use emailed coupons from Total Wine quite regularly!


Also, I use the Ibotta app (although not religiously), and Groupons for services and things.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I mostly use coupons for restaurants. We like to eat out so this has saved us $ and doesn't take a ton of time.

 

[harley]

I avoid coupons for grocery stores. There is almost never a coupon for what I want, and DW is of the "look what a great deal this was" school of shopping. To me there is no savings if it wasn't something you would have bought anyway.


I am signed up for the weekly ad at Harris Teeter. That way I know when they are having the "buy two get three free" deal on diet pepsi. I stock up. Also, for whatever reason, they tend to have the best price on shrimp when they have it on sale, so if I see that and need some I'll pick it up. But coupons? Nope.

 

[frayne]

I buy dead people's used jewelry at a consignment jeweler. And I dicker for it.

I just hurled my coffee all over the keyboard.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I use coupons and Groupons for restaurants. The only time we pay full price for dining out is when we go out with friends or a dinner group and someone else picks the place.

I get most of our groceries at 99 Cent Only and Grocery Outlet with a military discount. They don't take coupons. Most of the prices are 50 - 80% off the local retail stores and it is a lot less work than clipping individual item coupons. But using a $10 - $20 off coupon for a restaurant meal isn't too much work and there's always a good selection of restaurants we enjoy near us with half off offers.

Local prices for Groupons on sale are hard to beat. This past week I bought Groupons for two wine country winery tastings and an ethnic restaurant meal in Berkeley's gourmet ghetto when they had an extra 25% off sale.

 

[athena53]

I buy dead people's used jewelry at a consignment jeweler. And I dicker for it.

I LOVE estate jewelry. I just tell people it's been in the family for years, but I have no idea whose family.

In general I have little use for coupons- don't eat in restaurants much, buy most of my groceries at Costco (they don't take coupons) and typically the grocery coupons are for things I don't buy- mostly processed foods. I've also found that the more sophisticated systems raise the stakes/lower the rewards. Use a store coupon printed out at the cash register for 75 cents off X and the next time you use it you get a coupon for 50 cents off TWO of X. I just used a $2 coupon at Great Clips that expired in 2 months; the new one expires in one month.

I do get coupons from CVS, Walgreen's and Sherwin-Williams sent to my spamcatcher address so they're available on the rare occasions I want to shop there, and I always find a coupon on-line for some places such as JoAnn Fabrics and Michael's where they're so prevalent it's almost foolish to pay full price.

 

[kgtest]

if I buy online, often I will google the website I am about to purchase from and look to see if there is an obvious Save10% code etc.

I use a 10c coupon every time I get gas,takes me 2 seconds to snip it from the grocery receipt and an extra minute to go inside when I pay though.

Kohls has 30% that I use when buying apparel.

If we go out to spendy and trendy restaurants I try the google machine again and see if anything comes back. Often those hibachi grills will have some coupon. Just got $25 off our meal at one for a birthday coupon.

I always ask for veterans discounts since I am one. These are hit or miss often requires active duty for the deal but many museums and parks offer a discount.

Frequency rewards are another thing. If I know I'm gonna eat 10scoops of ice cream in a year...well then snagging the loyalty punch card is a no brainer as that 11th scoop is often free with the punch card! I do this for a taco joint I eat at often, 11th meal is always free. Better than nothin.

Sometimes after the local sports team wins the pizza joints have winners specials, if anything it keeps me abreast on how the local talent is doing.

The barber sometimes throws out the slow and bored $7.99 haircut sign,if its overgrown, I jump on that.

Did I miss anything else?

 

[bizlady]

On the advice of someone, I just recently googled the words "(drug name) coupon" and got a $50 coupon for one of DH prescriptions. That was well worth 60 seconds!

There is also an app called GoodRX which may be helpful for pricing prescriptions.

 

[flintnational]

The DW initiates most online purchases through EBATES. She gets 2%-7% off many purchases. This is in addition to any coupons or other discounts that may apply. EBATES sends you a check.

We booked a hotel last week and EBATES gave us 7% back. Our credit card gives us an additional 2% back.

FN

 

[ocean view]

I do online coupons for Safeway that go to my club card account. That’s about 5 minutes a week and saves 1-6% off my bill.

I also use the Target Cartwheel app for additional savings there. I don’t look ahead for specials though, I just scan what’s already on my list.

One more note about Target’s phone app - you can use it to price check the shelf price. Frequently, I will find the shelf price to be higher than that shown in the app for “in store “ prices. Sometimes the difference is 10 cents, sometimes a couple dollars. I just show the app price to the cashier and they always make the adjustment. It ticks me off that there is a difference, seems dishonest, but at least they will adjust without any complaints.

 

[kgtest]

I do online coupons for Safeway that go to my club card account. That’s about 5 minutes a week and saves 1-6% off my bill.

I also use the Target Cartwheel app for additional savings there. I don’t look ahead for specials though, I just scan what’s already on my list.

One more note about Target’s phone app - you can use it to price check the shelf price. Frequently, I will find the shelf price to be higher than that shown in the app for “in store “ prices. Sometimes the difference is 10 cents, sometimes a couple dollars. I just show the app price to the cashier and they always make the adjustment. It ticks me off that there is a difference, seems dishonest, but at least they will adjust without any complaints.

Aha! I forgot Amazon has thst little clip coupon link for extra pantry savings. That is probably the easiest couponing I've done.

A while ago they gave me some free groceries for delaying my shipping on some other things i bought under prime. I wish that would come back.

 

[Amethyst]

I've made over $100 a year with befrugal.com, but lately I've been having problems getting the credits. I'm very careful to go thru the befrugal site to get to the store site, but my last 5 purchases have not been credited. Sometimes putting in a support ticket helps, but not always, and I'm thinking the small $$ involved is not worth my time.

The DW initiates most online purchases through EBATES. She gets 2%-7% off many purchases. This is in addition to any coupons or other discounts that may apply. EBATES sends you a check.

We booked a hotel last week and EBATES gave us 7% back. Our credit card gives us an additional 2% back.

FN