Grocery purchases and coupon

[shoe]

I can usually count on saving between 40 and 50% each shopping trip with coupons. It takes alot of time and effort and the desire really has to be there. It order to truly save the most, you must be able to get multiples of the same coupons. I do this by visiting my recycle center and taking the inserts that others have discarded. When I'm done cutting out the ones I will use, I take them back to the center. I also trade coupons with like-minded friends. Last week my local store had Hebrew National franks on sale 2/$5. It's the only brand I buy so I collected 8 coupons for 75c each. My store doubles up to 99c so the coupons were each worth $1.50. To make the deal even sweeter, my store was offering a$3 off your next visit when you bought 4 packs. Each pack ended up costing me 25c.

There is a whole underground of people trading information about this very topic. Last week I read on a website that Barilla pasta was giving free coupons for doing a 40 minute survey about pasta and sauce. For my trouble, I recieved 12 coupons for a free box of Barilla Plus pasta (whole grain) and 12 coupons for free Barilla pasta sauce. For anyone interested, Hot Coupon World and The Grocery Game are too such websites.

[AltaRed]

Must say I do not look for, or use, coupons. I buy what products I want to buy because I like them. I don't compromise. But I do check the supermarket flyers briefly each week to see if what I want/need is on sale that week and get some to stuff into the pantry or fridge as the case may be. I also use the store 'affinity cards' to capture the 'savings' for house brands that I choose to buy. That is always worth 5-15% of total bill.

FWIW, house and generic brands are not always the same quality as the 'brand names' products (at least in Canada). Definitely see the difference in, for example, frozen vegtables.

[Fireup2020]

Coupons are great for toiletries - which I purchase based on sales & cupons. I use coupons for movie passes, entertainment, etc.

[VoyT]

Most stores here still double coupons up to 50 cents ... so I can still get good deals when I match them to sales.
Most of my coupons are for things like personal-care stuff, paper products, cleaning stuff. Though I have scored on some small food items .. like 8oz of sour cream for 35 cents and a couple of bottles of BBQ sauce for 29 cents each.
Cereal coupons I don't bother with unless it's Malt-O-Meal. Those combined with sales can occasionaly bring the price down to less than $1 a bag. Otherwise I buy store brands or go to Aldi.

Oh yeah, organizing. I bought one of those accordian-style organizers at the dollar store. My biggest problem is remembering to bring the darn thing home...

[Sue J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl That's good. We call it "expired meat" ("see if they have any expired meat for dinner") but I like "rotten" better.

My store prices meats so high that I rarely buy it unless it's marked down because it's too close to the "sell by" date. I've gotten some great bargains and I've never had anything that wasn't perfectly usable.

As for coupons, I don't use many, but I like the ones that print out at the checkout. They are more likely to be things that I really use, or sometimes an incentive to try another brand. We don't get a newspaper, so no coupon clipping for me.

Another thumbs up for using a Foodsaver. When I see steaks marked down twice because it's too close to their date, I buy a few and vacuum pack them for freezing. I cut out the price sticker and put it inside the bag so that I can see what I paid when I finally use it.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl That's good. We call it "expired meat" ("see if they have any expired meat for dinner") but I like "rotten" better.

My mother used to refer to it as the 'used meat' section.

[yelnad]

I use coupons mostly for toothpaste, personal and cleaning products. Most of them are free or less than 50c each after the doubling. I have a stock that will last me quite awhile.

If you keep an eye on the coupons in the paper, they usually do match the sales in the supermarkets. I use them if it's something I would normally buy and the coupons make it cheaper than the generic. Unless it's a store that doubles, this doesn't usually happen.

[Dreamer]

I go through spells where I will use coupons and then I don't for awhile. I have not used any for a spell, but I just received a $10.00 off coupon for Iam's Cat Food. I believed that I called them with a question, when the pet food scare was going on, and I don't remember, but they must have asked me for my name and address. Also, I clipped 2 coupons out of the Sunday paper for $5.00 off any Iam's Cat Food that was 4 lbs or larger. Since we have 5 cats in the house and use Iam's food, I will put these coupons to good use at Petco (after buying 10 bags of cat food you get 1 bag free, with using their card). I usually pay around $31.00 or $32.00 for a large bag, including tax. I buy most of our fresh produce and fruits at Aldi's and go to Wal-Marts, Sam's Club or Kroger's for anything that isn't available at Aldi's. I use the store card at Kroger's. I plan on checking out the Farmer's Market more this year also. Lately, I have been buying my cereal, Kashi Go Lean, at Big Lots for $1.99 a box. They did not have it the last time I went, but did have Healthy Promise Whole Grain Slim 'n Trim cereal that looked similar to the Go Lean, so I decided to try it. It is very good also and has 12g protein (7g of Soy Protein), 15 g of fiber, 1 g of fat and 160 calories in 1 cup. I have a bowl of it every morning with blueberries in it. Delicious and it was $2.00 a box.

[Dreamer]

Forgot to say that I have never bought the rotten meat. I have always been afraid to buy it. I have been tempted, but just could not do it. Have you always had good experiences with it? Also, I like Barilla's Whole Grain pasta a lot. It has the Omega 3 in it. Did you really mean that it was a 40 minute survey that you had to complete or was it perhaps a 4 minute survey? I would complete a 4 minute survey for a free box, but not a 40 minute survey.

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamer Forgot to say that I have never bought the rotten meat. I have always been afraid to buy it. I have been tempted, but just could not do it. Have you always had good experiences with it?

We shop the 'rotten meat' case on a regular basis, and have always had good experiences. A couple weeks ago I got 50 count bags of shrimp for less than 2 bucks! The bags in the 'new meat' case were going for $5.99 a bag. The ones we got were delicious! 3 bags of 'rotten' for the price of 1 bag of 'new'....and you couldn't tell the difference!

[bbbamI]

Nope...I've never had a problem with marked down meat. You just have to make sure and freeze or cook the meat the day you buy it. All meats must be treated in this manner except for (beef) steaks and roasts. Steaks and roasts can be left in the refrigerator for days without freezing (but not hamburger). They will start to turn brown as time goes by. This breakdown will cause the beef to be extremely tender. You may have heard of aged beef...well that's what it is when it's brown...it's really rotten. You pay a big price for it at restaurants.

I know the veggie eaters are probably about to gag right now. Sorry.

I do call it rotten meat and have for years...however I don't use the term around company. I think they would turn green.

[bright eyed]

note to self, bring own meat to bbq's at bbbam's house...

[CyclingInvestor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamer Forgot to say that I have never bought the rotten meat. I have always been afraid to buy it. I have been tempted, but just could not do it. Have you always had good experiences with it?

I am a regular shopper at the expired meat section - burger, steaks, stuffed chicken,etc.
I always get it if it is available - old habits are hard to break. I have never had a problem
with it.

I often use up burger from the fridge over 3-4 days after I buy it - never a problem
either. However, I only eat it raw the first day or two - after that it is fried. Frozen
beef never tastes as good as non-frozen.

[bbbamI]

bright eyed.....that's hysterical!

I haven't lost a friend yet! but ya never know.....bwahahahaha

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI bright eyed.....that's hysterical! I haven't lost a friend yet! but ya never know.....bwahahahaha

do your friends read this board?

[Dreamer]

Thanks guys. I will try buying this rotten meat. However, I am not going to call it rotten meat. I will make sure that I am going to cook it for that night's dinner.

[mickeyd]

I also have been a fan of rotten meat for a while. The main problem is timing. It seems that the stuff is scarfed up by savvy shoppers in quick order so you need to be there when they bring it out and dump it in the case to get the best choices.

Never had a problem with either quality or taste of the product though the color may not be just so, but color adds nothing to the flavor, or so I'm told.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd I also have been a fan of rotten meat for a while. The main problem is timing. It seems that the stuff is scarfed up by savvy shoppers in quick order so you need to be there when they bring it out and dump it in the case to get the best choices. Never had a problem with either quality or taste of the product though the color may not be just so, but color adds nothing to the flavor, or so I'm told.

About 10AM in the local stores. It's like vultures gathering.

[bbbamI]

Sorry Chinaco that this thread has ended up in the rotten meat section.

My store puts the meat out on Mondays and Thursdays. When I get to the grocery store, I get tickled at myself in that I think "ok everybody get out of my way!"

In regards to mickeyd's comment about the color, the butchers put dye in/on the beef to make it more appealing to the customer. Have you ever bought hamburger meat, it's red on the outside but you find it's kind of brown on the inside? Nothing wrong with it, but they wanted to sell the product at full price and know you like that "fresh" look.

That's why I can buy steaks at less than half price just because there is a little brown area that you can see. I then help them age in the refrigerator for a few days for a melt in your mouth steak.

[bright eyed]

is there a time-limit on the rotten-ness - or as long as they are selling it - it should be edible? i've heard/thought the pre-marinated are particularly old so they slop on the spices to cover up some more?!