Couponing

ascornell

I am interested in getting into "extreme" couponing. Has anyone ever done it before? Looking for tips on how to find coupons. I am from upstate NY.

KatieCutie05

I don't know about extreme couponing but I love coupons and I only ever buy things on sale, with a coupon or better yet both! I just get a Sunday paper every few weeks and only clip the coupons out of it that I'd ever buy. And then when it goes on sale, i will buy it, regardless if I need it. Double or triple coupons are the best time! 

mzad22

I don't extreme coupon either, but I do follow a few couponing blogs and use some of the good ideas that they post. Hip2save.com and TotallyTarget.com are my two favorites, but there are a lot out there depending on the stores you shop at. I also use mobile apps like:

Ibotta
http://ibotta.com/r/baX79A
Checkout51 http://www.checkout51.com
Shopmium http://www.shopmium.com/en
(For Shopmium if you use a referral code you get a free Lindt chocolate bar. My code is GMYYUYRU)

These are apps that you can use to get rebates on certain products that they update weekly or so. You can cash out via paypal. A nice little money maker that you can use in addition to coupons.

For online purchases I use ebates. http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=PDB4y+DN/XufBICh0v+Rnw==
This again is a rebate site for online purchases from many different companies. I've made over $350 through ebates over 2 years.

Retailmenot is a nice website to find online coupon codes as well

Then there are online coupon databases like coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, and hopster.com. These are nice because you don't have to buy a paper to get quite a few coupons.

Hope that helps! I think it is important to find a balance because there are so many resources out there. Just find which ones work the best for you.

CuriousKiddosMama

I don't extreme coupon either, but I do coupon. Get the apps mzad22 posted about and find a blog near you. If you can't southernsavers.com is always the one I recommend because she does the national chains- like Target. CVS and Walgreens. Prices and sales do occasionally change by region though, so you do need to pay attention when you go into the store. This morning I got 2 free tubes of toothpaste, 3 cheap jumbo bags of diapers and some super cheap razors. That was all at CVS.
Also, if your papers are reasonably priced, start buying 1-3 every week and figure out a way to organize the coupons for stuff you use regularly. I won't ever extreme coupon because a lot of it is for stuff I won't use (like crappy food) or whatever. One thing I will say- don't EVER clear the shelf. It's rude and makes people hate couponers. If you are going in for 50 of something because you have a coupon- call the store and put in an order. The manager will generally be okay with that, and other shoppers won't hate you. I have a lady around here who clears the shelf, so when I go in for my 1 or 2 I want, I can't get them and have to get a rain check- or just not get them. That is obnoxious.

ascornell

Update: Went grocery shopping at Target with coupons yesterday and saved $25. We spent how much we would normally but purchased more food. My husband was actually excited for his lunch options this week since we were able to purchase things we normally wouldn't. I am going to check out some of the sites you guys have recommended and hopefully save even more!

ascornell

Just got $3.50 back from Checkout 51!

Erikan73

I don't extreme either but the big thing for me is using coupons on things that won't go bad or won't go bad for a long time & then watching for items to go on sale. Things like soap, paper products, tampons, then I stock up on things that are on sale w/coupons. The one thing I have learned it to not limit shopping to one store & to get familiar with prices & reward services from the different stores you shop at. You have to remember that a product could be $1.50 at Wal-Mart but $1.75 at another store. Well if you have a $.50 coupon, Wal-Mart would be the better choise because the item would only be $1.00 then. Unless....the other store doubles couples then it makes that coupon worth $1.00 and the final cost for the item then is $.75 making the purchase at the other store a better deal. The store by me that doubles coupons also has a reward system for gas so I can save money on gas shopping there too.

splotch716

I have been extreme couponing for almost 3 years now. I initially started out of necessity due to large student loans, credit card debt, and being freshly out of college. Now I won't shop any other way. Things are different depending on where you are located. I am in Washington state.

I started by getting my newspapers at the dollar store on Saturday, for $1.00 each. I get the advanced edition of the Sunday paper.  Then I was informed by another couponer that the library gets the Sunday paper on Saturdays as well. They will let you take one per person for free. Now I get my husband to go the library every Saturday with me as well. It is conveniently located by a dollar store. Since there are only two of us at this time I only get a total of 4 newspapers. The only exception is if there is a very rare, high value coupon available. On Saturday nights I spend maybe an hour sorting, clipping, and organizing my coupons. I also spend some time going through the ads to put together a shopping list for the next week.

My absolute favorite blog/website is: thekrazycouponlady.com. I don't know where they are located but they have match ups to most stores. They give a list of stock up prices for most items which is very helpful.They also use the binder system. I highly recommend doing something similar, it is very important to be organized. They also have a list of all of the coupons available as well as links if they are online.

I have built up a stock pile to where when we go grocery shopping we only need to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, and some meat. It can be time consuming at first but once you get everything organized it is completely worth it. We usually spend less than $100 a month on groceries including most couponing trips.

hoffse

I'm kind of like Eriken where I don't extreme coupon, but I do watch for coupons+sales on things that don't really expire, and I stock up.  I also shop clearance pretty aggressively, especially with toiletries.  I'm not at all brand loyal with things like shampoo or lotion, so if it's spectacularly cheap  (and doesn't smell terrible) I will buy it.  I probably have 2 years worth of toothpaste.  And in college Costco was clearing out 100-pack boxes of tampons for $3 each... I bought over a dozen boxes.  I'm 5 years in, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit menopause before I run out....

You have to be willing to be a little shameless with it, because part of it is buying large quantities when the opportunity presents itself.  But I do try to leave some behind for other folks like PP mentioned.

Once we have more storage space I may try to get into actual extreme couponing.  There's a legit learning curve to it.

mzad22

Nice work with the checkout51 that is the easiest redemption app in my opinion. Shopmium is my second favorite.

vlagrl29

I don't extreme coupon at all.  It's really hard to find the time for it, but I do coupon and get deals when I need them.  We have an oral b electric toothbrush and we need to buy replacement heads soon.  DH saw a deal on crowdsavings where you can get a pack of 12 for $12.  Totally a steal! We got 3 packs and will be good for at least 3 years if not more on toothbrushes!

short+sassy

I am so thrifty and bargain hunting in so many ways, but not coupons.  One thing I find super weird about where I live is NONE of the grocery stores, even the major ones, will double your coupons.  And 90% of what I buy is stuff you never see coupons for anyway (meat, produce, milk, eggs, etc.).

I realize I am all kinds of unhelpful for this topic, lol, but since the subject was coupons I had to rant a bit.

brij2006

@short+sassy We have this problem too.  I do use coupons, but have found that the generic brand may be cheaper or it's a product I wouldn't have bought to begin with.

What helps me most is that I will look at the local flyers, then see if anything that's on sale in those, also has a coupon on coupons.com.  If it does, then I'll print a couple and mealplan around what was on sale and what I had coupons for.

This week Campbells Homestyle soup is on sale 2/$3.  I have a coupon for 50 cents off 2.  So I will pick up 4 cans for $5, and use them for lunch next week.

It's definitely not extreme couponing, but it saves us some between the sales and coupon. But I also refuse to use coupons on items we don't use.  Then it's just wasted money to me, because we wouldn't have bought it without the coupon.