How to save $5000 a year on groceries: secrets of an extreme couponer

I don't do this anymore because there aren't coupons for fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, store brand cheese, milk, yougurt (unsweetened), they are just for things I do not buy like sweet cereals, cookies, sugary granola bars and other prepackaged processed carbs.

Piper, you need an editor. I'd have taken a red pen to this mess and had you do it all over again before publishing. For shame, journalist!

I also stock up when the store has 10 for 10 and only get what I use, when I do this I buy nothing else. Pasta, frozen veggies,tuna ect

I understand the need to save. I clip coupons for many years and have saved. Lately the inserts have things I dont use and never will.The Xmas gift bags to me is a little tacky. I am only one person in my household and I wouldent use all those things in a life time. I am 60+ and know where to save a buck

For those coupon haters, who don't understand how you can save money on groceries if you don't buy overprocessed crap:
First of all, it doesn't take much time to check all deals in 3 major drugstores and a couple of grocery stores - I read coupon blogs in the morning while having breakfast and I copy-paste the deals in my shopping list. It takes half an hour tops. Once you got the shopping list, take the inserts - that you haven't cut! - and clip only the coupons you need. 15 minutes tops. After work I drop in at those stores on my way home - so I don't make special trips and waste gas. So the total time that I spend couponing AND shopping is 3 hours a week maximum.
So now to the overprocessed food issue - and for the record, I don't buy it at all - all that cereal, cookies, hot dogs and what not. But I have a budget for a week - combined for groceries and toiletries. So if I don't spend my money buying bodywash or toothpaste at a full price when we run out; or if I don't buy coffee or cheese (and we eat a lot of cheese - normal kind, not processed) - because I bought it in bulk with a coupon before (yes, there are coupons on non-processed cheese!), then that money that I saved I spend on non-processed meat and veggies and whatever. Simply put, because I didn't spend 2.99 on a tube of toothpaste this week, I can buy a box of organic blueberries for 2.99 - do you see the point? Essentially I still pay the same amount of money I used to before couponing, my budget didn't change - but now I get so much more stuff (that I buy anyway) for it.

Um, she 'saves' $5000 a year by spending 20 hours a week dealing with coupons? That is the equivalent to making $5 an hour.

$5,000 saved in a year divided by 52 weeks in a year divided by 22.5 hours clipping coupons a week yields ... *drumroll* ...

$4.27 an hour!

If you feel you're only worth $4.27 an hour, go for it.

Uhuh, and by the time someone's spent 2 hours in the checkout line with their 7 carts of groceries that have triggered numerous never-before-seen warnings and alerts on the register that all required managerial over-rides and someone's almost exasperated by all of this and how long this so-called simple transaction is taking, now the register triggers yet another never-before-seen alert that freezes it because it hit the big bad 1,500 transaction limit requiring yet another lengthy round the bend maneuver that involves splitting the entire transaction that means starting all over which will work out in someone's favor since that means doubling up coupons on the first and then again the second transaction or... The manager finally just wants to see someone gone so he (or she) lets them have their $1,000 worth of groceries for $0.68 just so they can see someone gone from their store so go on and take the stuff but don't look back or someone might see that everyone's pegging the evil eye, go on and don't come back either because that manager, the next time someone walks in that store, that manager's will follow someone's every move looking over their shoulder and breathing down their neck and overall making life very uncomfortable for that person as they try to peg them for the fraudster they strongly suspect them of being, and remember they kind of skipped all of these unpleasantries when they did the TV show.

I think I wanna marry her. I love a gal that saves money, and she's pretty cute to boot.

Uhuh, and by the time you have spent 2 hours in the checkout line with your 7 carts of groceries that have triggered numerous never-before-seen warnings and alerts on the register's computer that all required managerial over-rides and you are just about exasperated by all of this and how long this so-called simple transaction is taking, now the register triggers yet another never-before-seen alert that freezes it because it hit the big bad 1,500 transaction limit requiring yet another lengthy round the bend maneuver that involves splitting the entire transaction that means starting all over which will work out in your favor since you can double up coupons on the first and then again the second transaction or... What you were hoping for, is the manager finally just wants to see you gone so he (or she) lets you have your damn $1,000 worth of groceries for $0.68 just so he can see you gone from their store so go on and take your stuff but don't look back or you might see that everyone's got you pegged with the evil eye, go on and don't come back either because that manager, the next time you walk in that store, that manager's got you pegged and the next time you ever come in again they will follow your every move looking over your shoulder and breathing down your neck and overall making life very uncomfortable for you as they try to peg you for the fraudster they strongly suspect you of being, you just remember that, and remember they kind of skipped all of the unpleasantries when they did the TV show.

I doubt that iams dog food example was worth $3.

How much time is spent on all of this effort? Then multiply that quantity by the minimum wage to quantify your minimum labor cost.

I can imagine this process, if done incorrectly, increases consumption and waste of time, packaging, and manufacturer & consumer resources.

The extreme couponers (as shown on TLC) need to lay off, quit emptying the shelves and taking WAY more than they can use….why? Because you’re going to ruin it for everyone, manufactures and stores will have to start with tighter restrictions (remember is the manufactures goal to get their product in the hands of as many people as possible not all the product in one persons hand) and the good couponing will come to an end. Don’t ruin what could be good thing for everyone for years to come....people are so short sighted.

She spends 20-25 hours a week doing the couponing! Doesn't seem worth it, especially since she has two kids. This is not what I want to devote my free time to.

Whats the point when she has enough food to feed a small village? We are such a obsessed nation, why can't she just buy what she needs when she needs; with coupons.....those ladies on the show are really annoying. They are like food horders.....they can donate that food to people who don't have it.

This is just another way of hoarding. Not mentally healthy at all. And if you don't need it/can't eat it before it spoils, it doesn't matter how much you got in discounts--you didn't save money.

Again, coupons are for processed garbage, not fresh dairy, meats and veggies/fruits. Buying something "just because you can" means you have a compulsion. Get that checked.

I enjoy using coupons, but since I cook mainly from scratch, organic foods, my best deals are from the farmers markets and the bulk grain/flour bins at my local natural foods store. When I see a high-dollar coupon for an item that I normally use, I do stock up. For example, Reach runs these $1 off coupons on coupons.com a few times a year that you can use on the plain and Clean Burst dental floss. Each of them costs about $1 (I live in an extremely HCOL area, so they're $1.10 at Wal-Mart here, but I'd guess they retail for under $1 in most places), so when I see them, I print a whole bunch and stock up. There's a website called Couponsdealsandmore that lists all the organic coupons online that I'll use for milk and laundry detergent. Usually, if I need to buy something, I'll just check that website first. I don't bother w/ the newspaper because I wouldn't read it and, even w/ recycling, don't feel like chopping down trees just to get a couple of coupons that I may use.

I think the extreme couponing methods can be useful if you buy a lot of processed foods and non-organic-type household supplies. It's also best if you live in the Midwest or South where there are stores that have double/triple coupon days and clearance bins. Where I live, there are no double-coupon days and I've had issues w/ the cashiers at CVS claiming they don't accept internet coupons simply b/c they're too lazy to scan them (how lazy is that?!). Groceries are also at least 3x the retail prices of stores in those areas, so the impact of coupons is not as great. Regardless, I do still use them and once saved up a bunch of coupons for items I needed and got $50 worth of items at Wal-Mart for $30, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

This can only work if you live in a decent sized city with a variety of grocery stores. There are only 3 grocery stores in my town, and none of them offer double coupons or allow you to use an instore coupon with a manufacter's coupon. Our newspaper is small and has very few coupons in the Sunday paper. I've also noticed lately that a lot of coupons now require you to buy two items to get the cents off instead of one, making it even harder to get a good deal. I think the key to making this work is competition between grocery stores that offer good sales, double coupons and allow coupon stacking. Without those three perks you just cant make this work.

if they have the time to hunt down coupons and the space to hold on to tons of product i guess thats fine. but i dont. and i think its cheaper and less time consuming to buy generic then spend hours looking for coupons for overpriced items. but believe me, companies dont offer coupons so you can make money nor get free items on a regular basis. when they get wind of this trend, i think they will start making the rules stricter for coupons.