So coupons do really add up

[missionfinder]

What the heck is wrong with oatmeal and Craisens? Add some almonds (Costco/Kirkland bag, kept in the freezer) and a splash of Costco milk makes a fine breakfast.

Nothing wrong with oatmeal. Craisins, I got mixed up and was thinking of those yogurt covered raisins. Now, the dried cranberries, I love those on cereal and salad. Sorry about the mix-up

OK, good deals. But is there really enough of those to bring a $300 cart of what you really want down to $60?

Well, the tuna was one example. She received a 50 cent credit on the grocery bill for each can she bought. Almost all canned, boxed, jarred and frozen goods she waits until she can get them close to free or even better when she can earn credit on them. She'll buy enough to last months since these type of items have very long expiration dates. The credits added to the nearly free items are where the huge savings come into play. Also, we use a credit card registered with upromise.com which for some products credits 1% or more towards a college tuition fund for our boys, and that's in addition to the 1% cash-back the credit card earns at the grocery store.

For eating out, we wait until upromise runs a half off promotion for restaurants.com and then buy about $30 dollars worth. Not only do we get upromise rewards, we also get a $20 restaurant credit about $3 - $5, sometimes even better (if the restaurant allows you to buy a $50 credit for instance). The chains typically don't use umpromise because they are already well known, but lots of charming mom and pops do, and we've found some incredibly good hidden gems this way which are so much better than any of the chains like Longhorn, Outback, etc.

That's why I said most of our costs come from meats and fresh items. Even then, we won't buy them unless they are at least half off. One thing we tried to save on.... mixing powdered milk with regular milk but it tasted horrible on cereal! We have, however, found that powered milk works great in recipes and we can't taste the difference.

In the past 5 years we've gone from savers looking forward to retirement in our 50s to supersavers looking forward to retirement in our mid-40s. Mortgage paid off this year in my early 40s. 2nd home is being rented out for the cost of the mortgage. All vehicles paid off in 4-5 years ago and nothing new since then (we'll drive what we have until they aren't worth keeping then buy used again). We can literally get by as a family of 4 for under $40K per year and the rest is socked away for retirement. And... we're living far better than a $40K lifestyle would "normally" give. With my wife's new insurance we're going to be knocking off another $4800 off our annual budget in 2011. We live in a 3 bedroom brick home with 2 car garage, and full office, bricked in sun room, huge front porch, 2 acres of level land, huge shop building out back for my hobbies (hot rods, computers, carpentry), we go out to eat fairly often, and vacation regularly (except this year due to moving and a lot of business travel), plus we have pretty much all the material goods we want. There is little I pay retail for... even for gas I use $1 off $10 and $2 off $20 coupons Murphy oil. Also, other gas companies run promotions... sign up on their web sites for newletters to get them.

Not saying any of this to boast in any way. I'm just showing that it is possible to retire not only early by wisely investing or having a government pension, but one can retire extremely early from frugal living which doesn't appear frugal. Plus, it gets to be a fun game... I get great pleasure knowing I'm saving a buck.

BTW... anyone wanting a deal, Radio Shack has 5 device universal remotes (in store only, not online) which are USB programmable (doesn't say on the box but there are web sites showing how its done) for 97 cents! I'm picking up 2 today.

 

[ERD50]

missionfinder - thanks for the details, I will read more later, gotta run, but a couple quick things -

Maybe I'm thrown off by your "$300 of groceries for $60" - are you saying this is typical, or an occasion thing when you can lump a bunch of coupons together? How many times a year do you come close to that? Sure, you can stock up on sales, but it all averages out - you need to buy, on average, the same amount per week, so those sales need to be a big recurring slice of your grocery cart to make that big of an ongoing impact.

On powdered milk - I wanted to buy some for playing around with the cheese making hobby (some sites say it is actually more dependable for cheese making). I was surprised to see it seemed more expensive than the milk I can get at Costco. Where do you find it for less than fresh?

TIA - ERD50

 

[missionfinder]

ERD50,

The savings I quoted are the latest trips she took. With each passing month she's gotten better at it, so we didn't do nearly as well earlier this year as we are doing now. A year ago she was lucky to save 20%. She's starting to get very good at it and it looks like a 70-80% savings is starting to be the norm from now on.

I personally don't have the mentality for it; I'm not a good organizer and rely on my smart phone for everything, but she seems to do it very well with it without spending much time on it.

Powered milk runs about $8-9 for a box at Kroger, etc., which makes 5 gallons of liquid milk, so its about $1.70 per gallon - about half the cost of fresh milk around here. I guess its going to depend greatly on local milk prices.

 

[Gone4Good]

But a few examples of how you get $300 worth for $60 would help me to understand this.

This is the system, which pretty much boils down to stock up on stuff that's on sale and use coupons on for those items. I think this does save a ton of money, but I'd never find coupons for stuff I'd ordinarily buy, or they'd expire before the item went on sale. But this site has a "coupon database" which, if good, could really make a big difference.

 

[TromboneAl]

Not going to spent an hour of my time going back through receipts, especially since the wife does the grocery shopping and I probably couldn't make heads or tails of them.

Scan please.

 

[FUEGO]

I think the $300 for $60 statement refers to the $300 that the stuff would cost full price at a regular grocery store.

There have been some times when I paid $30 and "saved" $100. Meaning I paid $30 for $130 of groceries, roughly what the OP is claiming. But I would never actually pay $130 for the stuff that I bought - I would go to Walmart and get it for half that or less probably (ie full price at walmart).

So yeah, I may save $30-40 by judicious shopping and waiting for stuff to go on sale and stocking up, but it doesn't happen that often. Mostly buy one get one on meat, or occasionally buy 1 get 2 on something like shrimp. I end up paying maybe 20-30% less than the walmart prices, but my receipt makes it look like I am paying 50-75% less depending on what the promotion is.

A lady I work with buys a lot of processed food and junk using coupons. She tells me about the deals. Most of it is stuff that I could buy as cheaply or cheaper without coupons or don't want anyway. Single candy bars, kids products with cheaper adult alternatives, convenience foods, snacks, frozen entrees, etc. I have gotten some free stuff from her tips - a few loaves of bread, frozen pizzas that I buy anyway at walmart, etc. But these free items are usually limited in quantity and frequently not available at all because they are out of stock.

If I was working for minimum wage, I would definitely be all over these coupon deals. As it is, I can usually get by paying just a little bit more by shopping at Walmart and buying lots of store brands. Fresh meat and produce rarely has coupons, and it is typically much cheaper at Walmart vs. the grocery store. And usually very fresh because of high turnover.

 

[ERD50]

I think the $300 for $60 statement refers to the $300 that the stuff would cost full price at a regular grocery store.

There have been some times when I paid $30 and "saved" $100. Meaning I paid $30 for $130 of groceries, roughly what the OP is claiming. But I would never actually pay $130 for the stuff that I bought - I would go to Walmart and get it for half that or less probably (ie full price at walmart).

So yeah, I may save $30-40 by judicious shopping and waiting for stuff to go on sale and stocking up, but it doesn't happen that often.

Thanks, that sounds like a more realistic assessment to me.

Though if someone is really managing to routinely pay 30 cents on the dollar on the stuff I would buy that I already consider is at a reasonable price (not high margin high mark-up fluf), I'm all ears/eyes.

-ERD50

 

[FUEGO]

Thanks, that sounds like a more realistic assessment to me.

Though if someone is really managing to routinely pay 30 cents on the dollar on the stuff I would buy that I already consider is at a reasonable price (not high margin high mark-up fluf), I'm all ears/eyes.

These folks are paying 30-40 cents on the dollar for stuff you are paying 50-60 cents on the dollar by buying at cheap retail prices at target/walmart/costco.

 

[marvholly]

i do use coupons a LOT. I use VERY little in junk or processed food and almost never eat out. Actually, what little junk food I do buy (1-2x/month treat) I generally get at Aldi (cheaper + decnt quality on the items I get).

Sunday I got 4 zhu zhu pets for 6.99 TOTAL for all 4 using coupons + sale.
i bought a TON of Kraft bar, shred and cream cheese when a local store had it on sale + Kraft had a $5 on 5 pkg coupon on their web site. Got 10 pkg for $5. Did the deal once for me and once for DD.

I have bought/will buy Green Giant, Libby and Del Monte canned or frozen veggies on sale + coupons when cheaper than Aldi, generic or store brand. I have several coupons for clementines from last Sun paper. I KNOW several of my local, independent markets run sales on these at this time of year.

 

[missionfinder]

Some of ya'll are really over analyzing this.

We found prior to couponing that our food bills were higher at Walmart than Kroger and Ingles, not lower. They have a lot of "price drops" and loss leaders but overall we paid more for an average cart.

Plus the meat quality there is extremely disappointing as well as produce (I love fresh peaches, nectarines and apricots). I don't care how good the price, I will not buy meat at Walmart!

This is just my experience with them in the two states I've lived in. YMMV, as regional competition varies.

 

[ERD50]

Some of ya'll are really over analyzing this.

I don't really think so. How the heck are we supposed to figure out how to save money w/o the appropriate amount of analysis?

For example, I saw a coupon in the mail this week for a Sansa Clip+ (portable music player I was thinking of buying). $10 off - great, I asked DW to check the price in the store when she went. $44 for the 8GB model after the coupon.

Well, the 2GB model is fine for my needs (it takes a micro-SD card, so the built in memory isn't that important). Amazon has the 2GB model for $30, free shipping, no 7% sales tax, plus a 3% rewards paying with Amazon credit card.

So, if I used the coupon, did I save $10, or did I spend $17.98 too much? Is that 'over-analyzing' it, or is the difference between saving money and spending more than I need to? What do you think my wallet says at the end of the year?

Yet, something tells me that a lot of people would say they saved $10 by clipping coupons, and it just takes a little time and effort, and if you aren't doing it you are passing up all these 'great deals'.

Sure, some coupons fit just right and it makes sense to use them. I'm just skeptical that it can make up a very significant part of a budget that is already being scrutinized.

The concise version: Over-analyze it? Whadya' think we do all day?

-ERD50

 

[FUEGO]

Some of ya'll are really over analyzing this.

We found prior to couponing that our food bills were higher at Walmart than Kroger and Ingles, not lower. They have a lot of "price drops" and loss leaders but overall we paid more for an average cart.

Plus the meat quality there is extremely disappointing as well as produce (I love fresh peaches, nectarines and apricots). I don't care how good the price, I will not buy meat at Walmart!

This is just my experience with them in the two states I've lived in. YMMV, as regional competition varies.

I would have to say our local walmarts have produce and fresh meat at least equal to the grocery stores. And I get to pay the "everyday low price" instead of waiting six weeks for the cut of meat or type of fruit/veggie I want to go on sale.

I'm curious what your average monthly grocery expenditures are over the last 6 or 12 months? A significantly lower average grocery expenditure (without a reduction in quality, freshness, or variety) would indicate to me that you have a clear winning strategy with the couponing. I'm serious - if I could trim our $450/month food bill in half, it might be worth spending a couple hours a week if I can maintain quality, freshness and variety.

 

[missionfinder]

The concise version: Over-analyze it? Whadya' think we do all day?

-ERD50

Basically, the bottom line is our food budget is a fraction of what it used to be. Its not just a comparison of what we could have paid retail at place X verses what we are now paying at place X. We both look at total costs when purchasing, not just who has a sale unless it actually saves us over what we could get it for elsewhere cheaper.

Wife was excited today. She stopped by Kmart and purchased 6 pairs of pajamas for our 2 sons who have outgrown what they have now. She waited until there was a deep discount special, and used Kmart rewards from a previous special for a combined total of $0.

BTW... also a big user of Amazon. We shop there so much that we're Prime members because we end up saving far more than the annual Prime member fee. Its really nice to get something huge like a lawn tractor dethatcher in 2 days with no shipping. Often Amazon is hard to beat, especially through their partners, but I always make sure I can't find it lower elsewhere.

BTW... anyone interested in a free $50 gift card from Jeep?

 

[FUEGO]

Basically, the bottom line is our food budget is a fraction of what it used to be. Its not just a comparison of what we could have paid retail at place X verses what we are now paying at place X. We both look at total costs when purchasing, not just who has a sale unless it actually saves us over what we could get it for elsewhere cheaper.

What is the fraction, roughly speaking? 3/4? 1/2? 7/8? And was this going from willy nilly shopping without planning to careful coupon clipping and deal hunting? Or from generally frugal shopping to frugal shopping with coupons and paying attention to sales cycles?

+1 on the amazon.com. We buy tons of stuff from there. Frequently using their subscribe and save and coupon codes to get stuff much cheaper than from brick and mortar stores. And they don't charge sales tax, so that means everything is 8% off.

 

[ERD50]

What FUEGO said, and also:

BTW... also a big user of Amazon. We shop there so much that we're Prime members because we end up saving far more than the annual Prime member fee. Its really nice to get something huge like a lawn tractor dethatcher in 2 days with no shipping. Often Amazon is hard to beat, especially through their partners, but I always make sure I can't find it lower elsewhere.

I signed up for the free trial period of Amazon Prime and then dropped it before any charges were due. I'm curious why you think this is worth paying for. I almost always get the free shipping (missed it only once that I can recall, when DD needed a book very soon, but that was ~ $1) - the items are either over $25, or I add something from my list that I keep for that purpose, stuff I need/want but am in no rush for.

I've got it down to a bit of a science. Hit $25 for the free shipping, and then place a separate order for the next $25 worth, etc. I found a problem if you lump them all, and if they are coming from the same warehouse, they will hold up your other items until they all are filled. But separate, or separate warehouses (splitting the orders decreases the odds of two things in one order being from the same warehouse) helps reduce shipping delays. Most stuff arrives n 2-5 days, sometimes the next day, even with free shipping.

I also check around and like you, rarely do I find a better deal outside Amazon, but if I do and it is a reliable place, I go for it. Buy.com is probably my #2 source.

-ERD50

 

[RonBoyd]

I'm curious why you think this is worth paying for. I almost always get the free shipping <and on and on>

That is also my procedure(s)... word for word.

 

[TromboneAl]

After buying things at garage sales for a dollar or two (98% off), "20% off" or "30% off" doesn't really mean anything to me. Very often, of course, the "20% off" is a discount from an inflated cost.

 

[drmueller]

I took a look at that Southern Savers site--excellent layout! Anyone know of a similar site for other regions of the country?

I started on this coupon kick February 2010 and will never go back. It's kind of addictive, to be frank.

I have so much free (or less than free) name brand stuff (toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, soap, shampoo, food). It's really amazing what you can get. Today, at Walgreens, I got Hallmark wrapping paper and tissue paper for $3.60 and got a coupon for $5 off of my next purchase.

I agree with the above poster that the blogs are the best to use. I don't have the time to figure out these deals, but a quick look at a few blogs once or twice a day can get you some great deals. Below are two of the main blogs I look at.

www.commonsensewithmoney.com
www.hip2save.com

 

[ERD50]

I started on this coupon kick February 2010 and will never go back. It's kind of addictive, to be frank.
...

I agree with the above poster that the blogs are the best to use. I don't have the time to figure out these deals, but a quick look at a few blogs once or twice a day can get you some great deals. Below are two of the main blogs I look at.

www.commonsensewithmoney.com
www.hip2save.com

Thanks for the links. I spent about 10 minutes over there, and I suppose if you check these each day you might occasionally find stuff that aligns with what you might normally buy. But I didn't see anything that interested me with my quick glance. I'm still skeptical that these savings could be any significant part of the money I spend. I suspect that these do exactly what the companies hope - create an impulse buy for something you might not have bought anyway. Yes, if you're careful you can probably find some true deals from time to time.

Related to an earlier post, I happened to stumble upon a blog about what a great deal Amazon Prime is. It didn't make sense to me, it was largely false 'savings'. Some lady gave an example of how she got a heating pad for her cat, and the two day shipping was 'free' with Amazon Prime, and she needed it fast because it was getting cold. What, she didn't know winter was coming? Why not order it a week or two ago, so you have it on time (again, my Amazon free shipping is normally 2-5 days)? So many comments that you really save by the time you pay for expedited shipping 3 or 4 times. Plan ahead - how often do you really need something in 2 days versus a chance it might take 3-4-5 days?

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

Why not order it a week or two ago, so you have it on time (again, my Amazon free shipping is normally 2-5 days)? So many comments that you really save by the time you pay for expedited shipping 3 or 4 times. Plan ahead - how often do you really need something in 2 days versus a chance it might take 3-4-5 days?

It may not be a need, but it's definitely a want sometimes. Normally I can't afford the 2 day shipping and go for the free 3-5 day shipping. But when I ordered my Kindle, I signed up for Amazon Prime and got it in 2 days. That was wonderful. I had to cancel it within the allowed timeframe, though, because the fee is too much for me. They let you do that (probably hoping that people forget to cancel), but I think you can only re-join once a year or something like that.

Some people normally order a huge amount of stuff from Amazon and choose to pay for the 2 day shipping simply because they want it. For those people it might be a savings. I do agree with you, though, that the best way to save money is to order less, and wait patiently for the free 3-5 day shipping.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I really admire people like missionfinder's spouse who is so good at using coupons, and who obviously enjoys it and who saves money while doing something she enjoys! Everything I enjoy doing seems to cost us money so kudos to Mrs. Missionfinder from me.

I look through the Sunday coupons for two products that I buy regularly that are specific national brands and if I find them, those $2 coupons make my day. Back when we tried to use more coupons, when the kids were little, we were miserable failures at it, but I can handle 2 coupons .

 

[drmueller]

Thanks for the links. I spent about 10 minutes over there, and I suppose if you check these each day you might occasionally find stuff that aligns with what you might normally buy. But I didn't see anything that interested me with my quick glance. I'm still skeptical that these savings could be any significant part of the money I spend. I suspect that these do exactly what the companies hope - create an impulse buy for something you might not have bought anyway. Yes, if you're careful you can probably find some true deals from time to time.

Related to an earlier post, I happened to stumble upon a blog about what a great deal Amazon Prime is. It didn't make sense to me, it was largely false 'savings'. Some lady gave an example of how she got a heating pad for her cat, and the two day shipping was 'free' with Amazon Prime, and she needed it fast because it was getting cold. What, she didn't know winter was coming? Why not order it a week or two ago, so you have it on time (again, my Amazon free shipping is normally 2-5 days)? So many comments that you really save by the time you pay for expedited shipping 3 or 4 times. Plan ahead - how often do you really need something in 2 days versus a chance it might take 3-4-5 days?

-ERD50

Yeah, I mean I probably act on 1% of the deals you see on these blogs. Some weeks there are a lot, some weeks (like the past 3-4) are slow. I will say that from my calculations, I have cut my grocery/toiletry/home accent budget to 25% of what I was spending. I don't buy a ton of stuff, but things like razors, shampoo, deodorant, etc. can add up and I literally don't purchase it anymore unless it is free.

Like you said, it depends what you're looking for, however the things I mentioned above everyone (hopefully ) purchases and uses. To me, it's worth it to spend 30-45 minutes a week (total) for these deals. I will say, however, that for people without self control this could lead to a ridiculous amount of spending as was mentioned in a post above. For FIRE members, this is far less common than in the general public.

 

[RonBoyd]

Here is an incredible list of LBYM Resources:

ShoppingBots and Online Shopping Resources 2011

(Also available as a 44-page PDF document.)

For example, I learned of SpendFish.

 

[TromboneAl]

I learned about CellFire.com from HeyItsFree.com. You load the coupons onto your grocery card, and the amounts are automatically subtracted from your total.

Cellfire Coupon Guide - Hey, It's Free!

However, I tried it, and there were no coupons available for my area.

 

[TromboneAl]

And Groupon.com is interesting.