Coupon websites for consumer staples

[steelyman]

I did a search on the forum for the phrase in the title and found several posts but they were quite old.

Mostly I’m interested in consumer staple type products, the stuff you’d pick up at the grocery, pharmacy, Walmart/Costco and so on.

I see there is a site coupons.com and am wondering if there are other pointers members use/like.

I’ve never been a coupon clipper but I think I can still be taught a few tricks!

 

[mystang52]

I get figuratively tired trying those coupon websites, and in the end decide I'd rather not bother with the seemingly multiple steps to get one coupon. What is easier, for me, and is very quick is going on a specific product's website. Often that site offers a coupon. For example, Excedrin always has at least a dollar coupon on its site.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I usually shop at ethnic markets and outlet type stores that don't take coupons. However, some of the deal sites will pay you to print out coupons, so I just print them to a file. I recycle ink cartridges for office supply store rewards, and some them sell grocery items in the snacks section. I have DH and I signed up for store rewards programs for all the local supermarkets, and those coupons are usually worth a stop, especially combined with the week's loss leaders, $5 Friday deals and the gift cards. Plus they often have free items.

Recently I got 2 pounds of shrimp, a bag of organic tortilla chips, $50 worth of assorted nuts, 3 pounds of bananas, 5 ears of corn and 4 packages of cheese for 90 cents out of pocket.

 

[steelyman]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll can the idea of using a coupon website and instead pay more attention to store specials and the coupons that are churned out on checkout at several stores I frequent. They already know what I buy through loyalty cards so no reason to let yet-another site poke around in my shopping bag.

And... there are those senior discounts!

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Good Rx can sometimes have cheaper drugs than through insurance. Has saved me hundreds, if not thousands.

Weekly grocery specials, especially 20% off a case, combined with senior day. International Delight and Amy's Kitchen will occasionally send me a coupon for $1 off because i signed up.

I would want to hear how Daylate got all that for $.90. I believe it, just want the details.

 

[steelyman]

Good Rx can sometimes have cheaper drugs than through insurance. Has saved me hundreds, if not thousands.

I’ve recently started with a new primary care physician and noticed some material on Good RX in his office (also mention of it here), so will check it out.

I would want to hear how Daylate got all that for $.90. I believe it, just want the details.

I believe it too. After reading many of her posts, I think she could be a candidate for a new Sir AC Doyle novel: A Study In Savings.

 

[MRG]

GoodRx and Retailmenot for meds. If Goodrx doesn't have a deal Retailmenot has sometimes had one or a better deal.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

I see you are in N.C. and I have one word for you : ALDI


Why waste time and energy searching for, collecting, and organizing penny-ante coupons for a few cents here and there?

In general, you will save approx. 30-40% on most everything at ALDI and you don't need to buy mass quantities or join a club like Costco or Sam's.


https://www.google.com/search?clien...84!4f13.1;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:4

 

[steelyman]

I see you are in N.C. and I have one word for you : ALDI

Yes, I am now in NC. Formerly in IL (witness protection thing). I’m familiar with Aldi, rarely go but thanks for the memory jog.

 

[Carol1862]

Some Aldis are nicer than others. One by me is relatively new and very nice with good prices. I don’t do all my shopping there but for certain items I feel there’s a considerable savings. Mine is very close by too.

 

[gwraigty]

I found that the time spent on coupon websites trying to find a coupon for anything I'd actually buy, was a huge waste of time. I actually got sucked into using several of the coupon apps for awhile. I found myself spending more just because there was a coupon. I also don't like the trend of having to buy multiples to get any savings.

 

[Jerry1]

I have a store app (Kroger). Not only do I get the weekly ad that way, they have digital coupons. That’s about all the effort I’m going to put in for coupons. The best deal Kroger has is fuel points. Often, they run specials for 4X fuel points. So, if I buy an Amazon gift card for $250, that translates to 1,000 points which converts to a $1 off per gallon of gas. Filling up either of our vehicles is more than 20 gallons, so I save over $20. $20/$250=8% discount on my Amazon purchases. Not too shabby for a very easy transaction.

 

[mountainsoft]

The only coupons I ever use are the $10 off coupons Safeway offers. As long as we spend more than $50 (every trip), it applies to all items I'm buying. Otherwise, I just view coupons as advertisements for items I wouldn't have spent money on anyway. It doesn't make sense to spend 59 cents on a 80 cent item I wasn't planning to buy.

I do use Safeway's app to scan the "digital coupons" in the store while I'm shopping. If I'm buying the item anyway, I'll take a few seconds to scan their code and get a discount.

Most of the time you can find another brand or generic for the same price or less than the item you have a coupon for. Or wait a week and that item will be priced lower anyway.

Stores frequently run "sales" on various items. When the price drops on something I use often, I'll buy extra so I don't have to pay full price next time. For example, I often buy six or eight boxes of cereal at $2.50 so I don't have to pay the $4.50 regular price. Of course, that only makes sense if the item is not perishable and you will be buying it later anyway.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think for me the 80/20 is shopping at stores like Aldi for as much as I can. I don't have an Aldi near me but I use 99 Cents Only and Grocery Outlet as a substitute. I don't find the biggest savings to be from coupons but stockpiling the super bargains for staples and buying fresh produce at the ethnic markets or dollar store. Some of the produce at the outlet and ethnic markets is there because of lower quality but often there are organic and gourmet items that are simply overstocks, so I look for the overstocks. Also, imperfect produce is often there, like peppers that are part red and part green instead of all one color, or an odd shape. Cut up in soups, salads, and stir fries it doesn't matter anyway.

As far as the 90 cent haul, the details on how to do that kind of stuff are on the beer money sub-reddit of Reddit and slickdeals forums.

 

[COcheesehead]

Have you tried Ibotta? https://ibotta.com/how

I have made over $250 in less than year. You get instant rebates on everyday items by scanning your cash register receipt.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Have you tried Ibotta? https://ibotta.com/how

I have made over $250 in less than year. You get instant rebates on everyday items by scanning your cash register receipt.

I was wondering if that was worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[tinlizzy]

https://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=38

This was always my favorite drug/grocery store forum. Couponing is fun. Extreme couponing is a very different way of thinking altogether but also fun and a mental challenge.

 

[Amethyst]

Most couponing seems like too much work for the money. That's just a personal thought; not a criticism of those who enjoy couponing and find it valuable.

Exception: We use BJs coupons, especially now that we can just click on the web site and have the coupon automatically loaded to the membership card. Every month, they offer coupons for items we typically purchase; usually we save anywhere from 3 to 7 per cent on the bill, meaning several hundred $ a year.

 

[CaliKid]

I do not do coupons but I do use the rebate sites for much of my travel purchases and some other online purchases. I get back a few hundred a year. Ebates, Mr. Rebates, etc.

 

[karen1972]

Couponing saves us thousands every year and I usually only e-coupon so I can sit down and watch TV, click on the sites, and its loaded automatically to my customer loyalty card.

Some examples this last trip comparing to Walmart/Dollar General/Amazon, I was able to get these on sale, plus at least one coupon, often doubled up with Ibotta
El Paso Enchilada kits for $1.28 vs. $3.50-4
Nellies Free Range Eggs for $1.34 vs $3.99-$4.99
Arnolds Sandwhich Thins $1.12 vs. $3-3.50
Tide 40z HE Oxi was $1.61 vs. $5 (figuring 25 loads thats 6.4 cents a load)


1. Ibotta (its a mobile app that you either link your card or scan your receipt) Best part is its coupons AFTER the purchase so it avoids the no double coupon rules. They also have "ANY" coupons so get 25 cents of the purchase of any butter. Checkout51 does the same but tends to be more pet food, baby stuff, and junk food which I don't use any of.

2. The web site of the store usually have e-coupons these days (often they use the same service as Coupons.com, typically you can only use one but if they have things like Buy One Get One, print 1 coupon, use the e-coupon for the second.

3. I also use rebate sites like MrRebates, Ebates, Swagbucks if I am buying online, like today Swagbucks applied a $5 rebate to my Chewy order.

4. If you have a specific grocery store, I suggest you google "X deals" and see if you can link directly to a couponing site. Like I use Harris Teeter Deals, and there is a person that takes every ad, every week, cross checks prices plus coupons and then provides a spreadsheet, so you just need to go to the spreadsheet and it will show you where to get the coupons from. I know there is one for Lowes Foods also, so I imagine there are others. Its lazy couponing, someone else does all the work figuring out the deals.

I shop a lot at Aldis and ethnic stores, but still buy meat, paper, cleaning elsewhere and certain snack foods and thats where couponing comes in.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I have a store app (Kroger). Not only do I get the weekly ad that way, they have digital coupons. That’s about all the effort I’m going to put in for coupons. The best deal Kroger has is fuel points. Often, they run specials for 4X fuel points. So, if I buy an Amazon gift card for $250, that translates to 1,000 points which converts to a $1 off per gallon of gas. Filling up either of our vehicles is more than 20 gallons, so I save over $20. $20/$250=8% discount on my Amazon purchases. Not too shabby for a very easy transaction.

In addition, I use my Amex card that refunds 6% on groceries when purchasing the gift cards.

Kroger’s coupons are less and less relevant to me lately. The ones targeted at me based on my shopping history are good, but a bit creepy.

 

[Amethyst]

That's interesting. I have never gotten a rebate for travel. There is always some special exception that prevents the rebate.

I do not do coupons but I do use the rebate sites for much of my travel purchases and some other online purchases. I get back a few hundred a year. Ebates, Mr. Rebates, etc.

 

[steelyman]

I’d never heard of Ibotta before. For anyone with experience: have you seen any downsides to it?

I recently read a creepy article about some retailer apps using WiFi/Bluetooth to track your in-store location if you have location tracking enabled. That seems pretty Big Brother.

 

[jazz4cash]

Most couponing seems like too much work for the money. That's just a personal thought; not a criticism of those who enjoy couponing and find it valuable.

Exception: We use BJs coupons, especially now that we can just click on the web site and have the coupon automatically loaded to the membership card. Every month, they offer coupons for items we typically purchase; usually we save anywhere from 3 to 7 per cent on the bill, meaning several hundred $ a year.

How do the BJs coupons work? Do you have to use the app? I don’t know why we even belong to BJs since there’s only 3 of us but DW is hooked and the old fashioned paper coupons are a royal pain.

 

[GTFan]

Kroger’s coupons are less and less relevant to me lately. The ones targeted at me based on my shopping history are good, but a bit creepy.

I use Kroger's app coupons all the time, they also have weekend sale items that are way cheaper than usual (just a few items, but often popular ones). Have to have the app for those.

I'm lucky to have Kroger, Publix, Aldi and Lidl all in one place so I can cherry pick the big grocer sale/BOGO items and use Aldi/Lidl for everything else.

Tried Ibotta for a while, got tired of it. Too much bother to scan and submit/chase receipts and they have a $20 minimum cash payout, plus it's yet another app to scroll through for deals on top of looking for paper coupons, loading Kroger digital ones etc.

Everyone has a limit, time and hassle-wise.