Clipping coupons: A waste of time?

You people are crazy. From my experience, coupons are a total waste of time and effort. I value my free time, and if I need something I buy it. Note, I buy what I NEED and not what I simply want. If you stick to this philosophy, you'll be fine. Don't buy things to impress your friends, stay simple and humble, and money will not be an issue.

In the past year I have not paid more than 25 cents for the following items due to coupons. toothpaste, deodorant, toothbrushes, body wash, dish detergent, butter, coffee creamer, yogurt, and a few more that don't come to mind. In fact some of these items I am banned from buying cause we have a nice surplus. Did this happen right away, absolutely not. It took time to first clip coupons, organize them and match them against sale prices. But once you get into a routine, maybe I spend 2-3 hours a week on coupons. This year I started keeping better tract of my receipts and I am realizing the following savings: approximately 40-50% at grocery store and about 60-70% at drugstores. So yes it does take time but the rewards can be handsome..

I mainly shop at Fry's MarketPlace (Kroger in other parts of the country). On their clubcard website, you can load coupons onto your card. I do it weekly, takes a few minutes, but then my coupons are already on the card for things I usually get anyway. Then I bring paper coupons and if I remember and add to the savings. Also plan your trips during the sales, while you shouldn't deviate from the list, its okay to break your list up to sync with sale and get enough of the item to last til the next sale cycle or shelf life. Sale cycles might seem random, but they're not. I say buy two this week on sale, rather than one next week when its not on sale. With the exception of perishables, most items won't be any fresher next week, why pay more.

I always clip coupons...today my total grocery bill was $318.00 (we are a family of 6 - 4 kids with 2 teenage boys and friends most days) after clipping coupons which my store offers double up to $1. and using the store rewards card my total bill came out to $196.00. I saved 30%++...which to me is great. Here is an example: Right Guard deodorant was on sale for 88 cents... the sale price alone is great but I had a coupon for buy one get one so I actually got 2 for 88 cents!! Now maybe we didn't need deodorant right now but in 2 weeks we will and I won't have to spend $3.00 each for them.
For my family clipping coupons is well worth the time and effort.

I buy fruit and vegetables at the local farmers market every Saturday. The produce is fresh and locally grown and you can barter and get really great deals. Unfortunately I live in a cold weather midwestern state so the local farmers market closes up in October.

Coupons can save a LOT of money. The grocery and drugstore coupons only make sense if it's an item you would normally buy, or somethng new you want to try at a discounted price. However, you can save a LOT of money by using department store and specialty store coupons. Using coupons that come monthly in my mailbox, I can get $3.00 off my kids' haircuts. For 2 kids, this is $6.00 I would otherwise pay every few months. Coupons for 20-30% off come regularly for local dept. stores. Sometimes they're for one item, sometimes for a whole order. When used on sale items, this can mean big savings. Using a coupon, I recently saved 20% on a new dishwasher that was already on sale for $150 the regular price. Certain specialty stores regularly send coupons for free items - no purchase required, to get me into the store in the hopes that I'll purchase other items. I don't, but still get the free item - with no sales tax.

There is one store in particular that I wait to shop in until I get their $5 off a $25 purchase. This is where I get my sneakers and certain clothing items for my husband because they always have the best quality and price. I may need to get new sneakers, but I always wait until the coupon comes to get them.

I save a ton of money with coupons! Especially if I am able to wait until the products are also on sale, you can get stuff for almost nothing!!!!

I save money using coupons all the time. $10 a week off of your grocery bill is a lot of money, especially when you are living on a budget...Too me it's worth it.

The problem with coupons is that I've only found them for processed food, usually name-brand (which 9/10 of the time is more expensive than generic brands anyway). I don't eat very much processed food. When I do, I find that generics still save more money.

For example, I've seen coupons such as "Save $1 on 2" for spaghetti sauce. The name brand would go for $2 a jar, while a generic would go for $1. If you buy 2 of the name brand with the coupon, it'll cost $3, while 2 of the generic will cost $2. Even if the coupon is doubled, it's the same price as the generic, only you had to waste a whole bunch of time to get that.

The best deal you can get though is what many grocery employees call the "cart of doom" - the last step before they throw it away. There, you can find produce that's a bit iffy, dented cans, ripped labels, or day-old bread. Shop there, and you can find enough food to feed an army for less than $50.

Can clipping coupons save you money? How can anyone say it doesn't? Would you walk by and not pick up a $5.00 bill just laying on the ground? I save A LOT every week using coupons, online offers, credit card dividend offers, etc. It may not seem to be a large amount at the time, but add it up over the years, and it will. That's the reason my husband and I don't live pay check to paycheck.

I used coupons for awhile and found I did save money on the bottom line of the grocery bill. BUT I spent that money on a lot of paper, a lot of ink and bought a lot of stuff just because it was a good deal. I now have some canned foods in my cabinet that are about 6 months old. Not to mention time to find, print and cut out all those coupons. Then the time to go to all those different stores to use the coupons, then the time it took to register for all those cards, coupons, and discount cards offered by the chain stores which you have to have in order to get the discounts. Now every chain store in the south knows when we had diarrhea, our monthly cycles, and how much toilet paper our family uses. NO THANKS! Why can't the stores reduce the price of the product in all markets because we are in a down economy instead of making you work to wind up spending $1.50 extra on the product you originally set out to save $1.00 on in the first place. Not to mention the stress and the extra hour it takes in the grocery store to make sure you have your act together when you got to the register. I have a friend that coupons shops and drives an hour and half to save $5?????And she has a ton of food she will probable never use.

Some stores, such as Walmart, do not accept coupons that you print out.

agreed that you just arent doing it "right" if you cant save more than 1.00. and the first week, you arent going to save a ton, because you need a good coupon inventory to get in the coupon rythm. I usually start by getting out the publix flyer that comes the day before the sale for the week. I check out everything carefully, check my pantry for "holes" and focus on the BOGO's that publix is so great for. If you shop bogo and use a coup-youre going to be shocked at how cheap you can make things. Youll find a rythem to the sales and know when to use a coup and when to hold it for a sale. You need to know the coup rules too, you can use 2 coups on BOGO, you can use a store coup and manufacturers on the same item etc etc. Once you know the tricks and rules, and get a coupon stockpile, you will never want to leave the house without them! i know all stores dont offer double coups or bogo, but there are ways to save, and its on things you would use! who doesnt buy cereal, spaghetti sauce, snacks, pasta, etc? I cant stand if i have to buy something without a coup, and also i often find coups for discounts in the meat and produce area's when i spend a few dollars on another item. I used to be of the mind that coups werent worth it, and they seemed to be for things that were more expensive than the store brand, but i finally just figured out what i was doing wrong, and im a believer now! i regularly get shampoo, razors, lotions etc for free, just using coupons and checking my favorite sites for tips. I use iheartpublix, iheartcvs, and couponmom, which give you lists of stuff you can get cheap/free and the coups to use on them, links to print them, etc. Dont say you dont have time, everyone has a few minutes to save money. I regularly save 20.00 or more just by buying on sale. You wrote that you dont want sales to dictate what you eat, but thats how you save-and once you have a well stocked pantry, you can still buy on sale and use at a later date, when you are in the mood.

THE FAMILY IS GONE AND I DON'T SHOP MUCH ANYMORE. I HAVE BECOME LAZY WHEN IT COMES TO COUPONS. BUT LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I WAS SAVING WITH COUPONS YEARS AGO. YES IT DOES TAKE TIME TO CLIP COUPONS BUT IT IS WORTH IT. WITH THE SAVINGS I WAS ABLE TO TAKE THREE SKI TRIPS TO ASPEN, ONE TRIP TO HAWAII AND ONE TRIP TO SANTA FE OR NEW YORK ,ETC. PER YEAR. THAT'S NOT TO BAD IN MY BOOK.
TO START WITH YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHOP. YOU DO THE SHOPPING AND DON'T LET THE KIDS TELL YOU WHAT TO BUY. YOU BUY THE BEST CUTS OF MEAT
THAT IS ON SALE FOR THE WEEK AND BUY EXTRA AND FREEZE IT. PRODUCE IS CHEAP AND IT IS GOOD FOR YOU.
I COULD WRITE A BOOK BUT THIS IS NOT THE PLACE.
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FUTURE VACATIONS WITH YOR SAVINGS.

Coupons are tricky, I agree it usually takes more time than the money you save. I almost always use the coupons that come with products I already buy and sometimes the ones I get in emails or on a product website. And I also shop store sales and store brands. But for picky eaters and choosey shoppers it is hard to use coupons. I don't want to eat processed foods, I like fresh vegetables and healthy foods. I think most 'couponers' end up with stuff they don't need, highly processed foods or the latest (usually more expensive) cleaning products.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ARTICLE! I literally just left a Family Dollar and forgot to give the clerk my 10% coupon (now that's a no brainer coupon) and lost out on $6 savings. I was so frustrated that I loaded my three children ages 4, 2, and 1 back into the car and return items and repurchased them and other stuff to get my savings. It feels so good to hear someone else say what I've been thinking all my adult life...it just doesn't seem to work for me AT ALL. But I'm still open to trying...at least for now.

I use a site called frugalfairhope.com which matches the store's weekly circular with available coupons. There are other such sites out there depending on where you live. It is in matching the sales to the coupons (both online and in the sunday paper) that I have truly shaved my grocery bill by about half.

One of the things I do is combine my grocery list with my budget. I list what I want to buy, where to get it the cheapest and how much I expect to pay. If I have a coupon for what I'm shopping for, I add a "c" next to the item to remind me that I have a coupon. As I check off each item on my list, I pull the coupon and leave leave it sticking out of my wallet so when it comes time to pay, there are the coupons. Also, if your store has a frequent shopper card, you might want to consider getting and using it. For example: Kmart has a frequent shopping card where you earn points for how much you spend. You can accumulate these points until you want to use them which then turns them into money off your bill. Also, depending on how much you spend, you can get Kmart coupons for extra savings including $$ off when spending X Amount - the amount Varies. I also agree with Mel C - BJ's is the best of all the Warehouse stores. Yes, Costco allows coupon use, but only their coupons. Between BJ's Coupons and Manufacture Coupons, I typically save $15-$20 every time I shop there - and that's just in grocery savings.

If you don't have time to spend looking for coupons or clipping coupons, there are some places that will send coupon codes to your cell phone. I wish there were more of those, but that may be coming in the future, hopefully.

Coupon clipping is part of the game, and you can win if you know a few of their tricks. To score big: Clip the coupons you like, hang onto them until product goes on sale and shop where coupons are doubled. A coupon organizer helps.

You are not doing it right. Here is an example. I only pay around $10 for my baby's Similac formula. I am talking about 23.2 oz canister that retails for $20-25. That's what coupons are letting me do. I do not pay more than $3.50 per jumbo pack of diapers (usually I pay less, $3.50 is my limit). That retails for $9-11. I am not on any WIC program either. Earn too much for that. Coupons will save you a lot of money. I do not pay for razors, shampoo, bodywash, toothpaste, etc. I get it free with coupons. You have to track deals and know what coupons are out there. There are a lot of sites out there that can help you. They bring info together to help you manage your coupons. hotcouponworld.com is a pretty good one. I save anywhere from $200 to $400 on groceries a month using coupons. Not to mention, I have saved 66% on diapers over the time I will be using them and 50% minumim on formula over the time I will be using it (yes, I have a stockpile). Formula alone can cost over $1200 for the first year. And yes, you can still save even if you have picky eaters in your house. Using coupons does not mean you have to change your habits. If anything, using coupons allows you to try different products that you would otherwise not try. We are using name brand products for free or pennies. If all you want to spend on coupons is 10 minutes per week, you will not get anywhere and it is not for you.