I’ve tried couponing a few times, and while sometimes it feels great to score a deal, I’ve noticed that the offers are usually for products I wouldn’t normally buy. That makes me wonder if I’m actually saving money or just being tricked into spending on extras. On the flip side, when it lines up with something I already planned to purchase, it really does feel like free money. Do you think couponing is a real long-term saver, or is it smarter to just focus on buying less overall?
Do you ever actually use coupons, or is it not worth the time?
byu/JaairoTheCow inFrugal
Posted by JaairoTheCow
40 Comments
If you live in the states yes you have coupons and it’s worth it, Canada not so much but there’s a few apps that have discounts.
Not for groceries and similar cheap things. Yes for tools.
Don’t buy stuff you won’t use.
And sometimes it’s not a good deal, sometimes it is
I primarily shop at Safeway and use their online coupons. At first it’s a lot of junk but gradually they became more tailored to my uses. The app allows me to scan those in-store flash coupons. Also you acquire points per dollar spent, which you can use for reduced prices on gas or for dollars off on your text trip. I get 20.00 off every couple of months, so yes, definitely worth it!
I use a combo of Rakuten and Honey when buying stuff online just to see if I can get any additional savings or cash back. Not sure if that counts. Other than that generally don’t use coupons other than that oddball grocery coupon once or twice a year.
coupons are usually for brands and brands usually cost more so I rarely use for groceries.
I spend two minutes a week picking out the coupons I’ll actually use and putting them in my wallet for when I’m at the grocery store. If it saves me a dollar, that comes out to an effective rate of $30 per hour, which is easily worth my time.
When I was a kid I remember my mom getting tons of them in the mail…now you have to go online and hunt them down and print it out…which isn’t a good savings when you’re using your paper and ink to do so. They need to start sending them back in the mail or make an app for each store where you can select the coupons and they ring up automatically when you check out. I know some places kinda have that system but everyone should do it.
I was using many more coupons when I worked in a grocery store as a cashier. I used to see all the tricks of the crazy coupon ladies and use them myself. Now that out I’m out that life, I lost the art, and I’m not willing to put in the time. It’s kind of like a hobby, it takes more time than it’s prob worth
I do actually spend less with coupons than was I before, but I also am buying new and different products– flavors or brands of things I wouldn’t ordinarily buy, and 9/10 times I enjoy those products so it’s pretty low risk I find.
Digital coupons, yes.
All the time.
Ace Hardware is more expensive than Home Depot, but much closer to where I live. And you can score deals or at least even the playing field if you use their coupons. Often it’s $7 off $20, or 50% off 1 item under $20. Some of these come in the mail. Others are through their rewards program.
Harbor Freight can have good deals on good enough to damn nice tools if you pay attention to sales and coupons. We’re slowly remodeling our house so this is handy.
Home Depot, rarely has coupons that apply to what I need. But they still do the moving coupon when you change your address with USPS. Which saved us $200 with some planning.
Kroger is where we typically shop for groceries, so we play the digital coupon game, and occasionally get them in the mail too. Though it’s bee a while since we’ve received the high value $10 off ~$100 purchase. We also use their fuel points to fill both our vehicles on the same transaction at $1 off/gallon.
We usually get a coupon mailer monthly with maybe 100 coupons from around town. The best ones are BOGO on brewery beers. Some are percentage off tabs at restaurants. Others are discounts on services we use like knife sharpening.
Anyway, I’m often on the hunt for a good coupon.
Around 2006 I tried fairly extreme couponing. Lessons learned:
-Walmart works hard to prevent it. They limited the number of coupons per transaction to eight.
-The coupons never made any product cost less than the store brand. In most cases the store brand is just as good.
-Space to store my extreme couponing purchases is at a premium. I’d rather have a neat house. Also, see above.
Now I shop at salvage stores. Most of the time I find what I need there for much cheaper than any coupon can offer.
I do digital coupons too.
I recently tried to redeem a paper coupon at Walmart (I shop for others). First I tried the pharmacy register; the reader wouldn’t process it. They sent me to customer service, where they worked on it for about fifteen minutes before it finally worked. They do hate coupons to the point that they don’t have machines that read them.
Years ago I tried, but it wasn’t worth the aggravation
I scan the item I’m about to purchase in the store app and clip any digital coupons.
I did when I could access sunday newspaper for free.
My local grocery store mails me coupons for things I routinely buy, so I use them. I wouldn’t go searching a paper for random coupons, but for the things I’m picking up every week or two and I don’t have to do any work to find the coupon, sure. Sometimes there’s also coupons in with them that’s like $10 off when you spend $100.
Use coupon from Kroger all the time, sometimes I got free eggs.
Couponing saves us hundreds per year. I primarily coupon household and personal care items, but sometimes groceries. I have found that having a small stock pile is almost necessary, I try to keep 6 months to a year’s worth of household items and then don’t buy again unless it’s free and/or I need it to make a deal work until it drops to a certain level. I find Dollar General is the easiest to start at. I’d suggest checking out Torok Coupon Hunter on the different social media platforms if you want help getting started. Some of the deals are amazing, some aren’t necessary for my household.
I use adds and coupons all the time.
A few stores I have learned their add and sales so we’ll I’m certain when to buy a product.
IE. One market, higher end, has ahi tuna. Third week every other month.
I go first thing in morning, butcher slices into steaks.
I freeze and use some each week.
Savings 40
Percent.
Just an example. But for me learning to shop the adds is beneficial
I used to do this to the extreme. I’d check 3 different stores, compare each brand, use the rebate apps like ibotta, split transactions up to double dip on coupons. Now, I don’t bother usually. If I see something on sale I’ll stock up but otherwise I just buy what I need when I need it.
It got to the point where I didn’t have time to do all of that so I would end up skipping meals because I had no food in the house. Which is better: going to bed hungry because I worked a double and didnt have time to spend five hours making sure I pay the minimum possible for food, or potentially spending $2 a month more on groceries but having plenty to eat?
It’s very rare that I find a coupon for something I’d actually buy, so no, not really.
I coupon at CVS for personal care (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, toothpaste, sunscreen, makeup, deodorant, feminine products), dish soap and laundry detergent. They also regularly run deals on brand name cereals and snacks that work out to a dollar or less per box. Tons of people post deals weekly on social media so I just take 15 min per week to plan out what I need that is cheap/free with coupons plus rebates. I have consistently gotten 80-90% off using this approach which allows me to give freely to family and friends, and donate more to charities. Just this week I donated a bunch of toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and feminine care to our school district which held a stuff a bus event to supply kids in need within our schools. Its definitely worth the time!
We have Walmart and two other grocery stores that both owned by the same chain. The two grocery stores are not in competition. There are no coupons and our shrinking local paper no longer prints commercial coupons.
I used to be an avid coupon person, but the clipping, sorting, and redemption for products we were going to buy anyway didn’t net us minimum wage for the time it took. Most newspaper coupons were for products we don’t buy. Store brand for most products is just as good or better and cost less. Cascade Platinum, Dawn, and Fritos are the only brand products I buy.
I’ve got coupon apps for at least 3 grocery stores. It comes in handy. Online coupon codes that you can look up before pulling the trigger on a purchase can sometimes save you a decent amount of money. Picking from alleys and buying used items from garage sales and ebay also save a lot of money.
Only with products I already buy, and as much as possible in conjunction with an existing sale. Coupons on the product i have on my grocery list, point card rewards, paper coupons available in store – but don’t use it right away, often goes on sale before the expiry date.
I look occasionally, if I see one for something I normally buy I’ll use it. Also, if I see one for something I might like to try, but not at full price, I’ll also usually use it. I figure it’s a good way to see if I like the thing with less wasted money if I don’t love it.
I use the digital coupons on the app for my grocery store. Preferably, I like to wait until the item goes on sale so I can stack the coupon with the sale price and get it for even cheaper.
This doesn’t make sense if it’s an expensive brand or product I wouldn’t normally buy.
I use Ibotta and I’ll use a Catalina that’s worth it (like a $3 off ur total at food lion) but I don’t deal with paper coupons anymore. I used to.
I don’t even bother with the grocery coupons anymore. There’s almost never one for the things I need; mostly, they’re for things I would never buy, or things I would buy but not that brand.
I do use coupon codes online, because almost every store on the internet has an active coupon code all the time. There is a retail arbitrage clothing store i love that does occasional coupons, so I always go to that store when they are having a massive sale or a really good coupon. I’ve managed to fill my closet with some great clothes for pennies on the dollar that way at that particular store.
Coupons don’t usually beat buying the generic version, so I rarely use them.
Kroger coupons are awesome. If you have a membership card they mail you coupons based on your shopping habits, so you get coupons for things you actually use. Sometimes you’ll get one for something free. It’s always something that’s a couple of dollars, but free is always awesome.
A savy shopper is going to do the math on a case by case basis, not just blindly go for every deal they find. It is worth remembering tho that the function of every coupon, offer, discount, cash back, BOGO, whatever it is to part you from your money and nothing else.
I grocery shop at Kroger – King Soopers specifically.
Yes, I click on every single coupon on the website that remotely resembles something we might buy. And I’ll scan the code on the shelf if there is a deal to be had.
I’m not going to pass up my free bag of Lay’s or Ruffles chips after all.
And I usually get $1 off a gallon of gas when I gas up as well.
I check every week online at my grocery store. I’m gluten free, so there are a TON that are useless for me, but it seems like there are always a handful that I can use. Sometimes the stars align, and it’s for something that’s a staple food for me or something I’m planning on making anyway that week. Most of the time, they’re for things I DO use, but don’t need immediately. Like coconut milk was ridiculously cheap with a coupon a few weeks ago, so I bought a couple cans. Now I have it on hand, and I know I got the best price.
I clip them, but it depends on if it’s a better deal than generic. Most of the time it’s not.
Rarely anymore.
It just depends on how much you value your time. If messing with coupon apps or mailers takes away time you could be spending working or being with your family, it’s likely not worth the relatively small dollar amounts saved.
If you spend hours doomscrolling on social media each day however, couponing for an hour or two is probably a better use of your time. Ditto if you’re a stay-at-home-parent with minimal ability to directly earn income, the savings are an “income” of a sort (similar to how staying home with the kids saves you the cost of daycare).
I use digital coupons when available for items that I need. Also fast food coupons.
I honestly never find much of any actual coupons. Just the digital ones really for stores which aren’t really the same thing IMO anymore.
I haven’t seen real couponing since Kmart.
Use them all the time. On groceries and clothing. Definitely worth it. Always end up saving about 25% or more on totals