Comments on: Anticipation Buying

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:09:53 +0000

Sounds like an excellent system you have. The one-month coupon plan sounds like a great way to stretch your budget even further, and if it’s possible, buying in bulk seems like a great plan.

All in all, excellent post and plenty of good ideas.

By: Laurel

Laurel — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:18:42 +0000

Hi, I just have to say, please don’t feed your kid sugary dry cereal for breakfast. Not only is it way more expensive than large flake oatmeal, even using coupons, it wreaks havoc with the child’s blood sugar levels and behavior.

I have never been crazy about oatmeal myself, but I have found a way to prepare it so I can enjoy it. I have posted the recipe on my blog – give it a try and dump the boxed cereal. You will save money and your kid will feel better with lasting energy for the whole morning. It tastes really good if you use the right type of oats and drizzle on a little maple syrup, sliced bananas and some pecans.

http://www.creativelifeskills.blogspot.com

By: katy

katy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:52:42 +0000

having a few extra bucks saved for these deals is important, too. you can’t save if there’s no cash! that said, loss leaders with coupons are heaven! Stocking up on nonperishables is key. Old Spice smells great on my husband! Underthebed storage, baskets and just piling up in the corner work well with little space.

Luck and love.

By: donna (mom24boyz)

donna (mom24boyz) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:59:33 +0000

I just did a similar post–except I showed pics of my stockpile from CVSing–I used mr linky, you should come link your article up–I am sharing with many local friends the how toos on CVS and I want as many people as possible to share their tips/advice/suggestions/frustrations/etc with the how too of stocking up! Come join the fun!

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:45:17 +0000

Thanks for sharing. Coupon clipping has become a way of life and the savings have been incredible.

By: S.B.

S.B. — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:12:18 +0000

Great post. I am a big coupon clipper too. We recently had triple coupons at our local store and I got a $40.00 order for $1.50 and that included 8 jars of baby food. You are right though about that one month rule – if you wait, the coupons match up with sales.

By: KJS @ A Day Late, A Buck Short

KJS @ A Day Late, A Buck Short — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:24:33 +0000

That’s impressive savings. I’m working on trying to learn the “stock-up/anticipation buying” game. However, like a few commenters, I’m in the “worried about having to move frequently” wagon – making it difficult. I like the idea about donating the extra stuff to a good cause – I’ll have to look into that.

By: BB

BB — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:02:08 +0000

This post was the inspiration for me to finally get myself organized — and I saved $30 off a $90 bill at the grocery store last night! We specifically looked for BOGO and sale items, and I also had a handful of coupons, some of which matched up. My husband was shocked – so was the bagger and checker. We’re definitely going to start stocking up. I’m starting to focus on buying staples when they’re a good price vs. waiting until we run out of something. Up next is a trip to CVS to see if I can “play the game” and win!

I am also starting to notice prices more though — like the cookies “on sale” yesterday for the normal price they’ve been for weeks, and the Purdue chicken now regularly priced for $7.99 that has been “on sale” for $2 off of $9.99 for the past few weeks… Grrrr….

By: Tonia

Tonia — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:01:28 +0000

I just want to comment about using coupons. I started just over a year ago going at it like Trent. I used to spend $120.00 a week @ grocery store for a family of three (one is a teenager). I got so frustrated when one of the two local stores moved out, Rural area here. The remaining Food Lion jumped their prices sky high. So, I started using coupons on a regular basis matching them up to stores outside of town when I would be in that area.

After just over a year I am down to just over $60.00 a week, stockpiled in every category again and love to go to the store. I have even shopped for Christmas using my coupons! I will be putting together 6 very nice Bath and Body baskets for the ladies on my list. I also have used the Bath and Beauty items for gifts @ church for my secret pal.

I am able to keep my freezer stocked full to keep the cost of running it down. I am able to take advantage of good deals on meat when they come around. Got close to 30lbs of ground hamburger in the freezer right now @ .79 cents a pound = $23.70
I made up 6 meat loaf’s, 15 burgers, and cooked the rest with onions/peppers/garlic for quick fix meals.

By taking advantage of the CVS ECB as others on here have mentioned I don’t pay for milk anymore. I just use the money I make off my coupons and freebie ECB that are offered each month to pay for milk.

I have used the extra money I save each month to put into my retirement account. In the last five months I have added close to $275.00 to this account.

Also want to mention that I will purchase any item under .25 cents that I would not use to put in a pile to go to Iraq. I have a cousin over there and they have to pay for everything that they use in the military. If they need a bar of soap then it comes out of their paycheck. One time I talked to him (myspace), he told me he ran out of shampoo and a bottle cost him nearly $10.00
I sent over 15 bottles (all the extra I had and I had paid just 50 cents a bottle @ cvs and earned ecb and bought milk with ecb i earned) so he could share with his buddies. He now sends me a list of stuff every two weeks on what he is getting low on or what his buddies might be needing.

I have also donated to the local homeless shelter, animal shelter and take a basket of stuff to the Assisted Living Community our church visits the first Sunday each month.

All for just $60.00 a week!!!! I can feed my family, save for retirement, send our troops needed items, help the elderly and donate to the local shelters for what I was spending in groceries over a year ago. All this while grocery prices are going through the roof!

By: Tonia

Tonia — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:49:45 +0000

I am able to keep my freezer stocked full to keep the cost of running it down. I am able to take advantage of good deals on meat when they come around. Got close to 30lbs of ground hamburger in the freezer right now @ .79 cents a pound = $23.70
I made up 3 meat loaf’s, 15 burgers, and cooked the rest with onions/peppers/garlic for quick fix meals.

By taking advantage of the

By: Rene

Rene — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:05:19 +0000

This is definately not hoarding, I think hoarders buy the stuff but don’t use it. This is the only way to buy your household staples, as long as you know you’ll use them. Look around your house, there’s always a place to store extra goodies. ANd btw, there’s not a better smell in the world than Old Spice!

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:11:36 +0000

Another point to note is that if you follow the strategy you do (I do as well, btw), you can keep yourself from making extravagant purchases. For example, I do what you do for my shampoo and conditioner. I use coupons to buy reasonably priced shampoos in advance so I don’t run out. If I were to just run in to pick up shampoo at the store (or worse yet, when I’m at the hair salon!), I’d give in to my weakness of buying over-priced hair supplies. So long as I have plenty of this stuff “in stock”, I can more easily resist the temptation to say, “well, I need it, maybe *this* on time I’ll buy the [insert tempting advective here] stuff.” :)

By: partgypsy

partgypsy — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:26:16 +0000

I think this is genius, both from the savings, but also the convenience and additional savings of avoiding a) buying them for full price at the grocery store during a grocery trip or b) burning gas on extra trips when running out of “critical items” such as toliet paper.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:49:21 +0000

How do you draw the line between stocking up and being greedy? I recently found a great deal on cereal. Plus there were coupons on the store shelf that made the price $.75 per box. There was a limit of eight boxes per transaction. But supply was limited to stock on hand. This means that I could go through the checkout line with eight boxes a limitless number of times , but if I cleared the shelf, no one else would be able to take advantage of the good deal. I had my son with me, so we each purchased eight boxes, then I went to another store location in the same chain and we each purchased another eight boxes. This cereal is normally $3.59 per box, so it was a great deal. But where does fairness come in? Anyway, I just stumbled onto this deal, but it did get me excited about coupons; and I’d really enjoy reading more about that. Thanks for a great post and a great site.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:52:26 +0000

@ Matt…I’ve been living a frugal lifestyle for 20+ years, and I am still learning new ways to save money. Otherwise, why would I waste my time on a site like this? There are tons of ways to save money, the only ones that count are the ones you actually USE!!

By: K

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:10:06 +0000

Wesa – The shampoo and conditioner were a hypothetical situation. The Old Spice was a real world example and that was $0.29, but some of the items were probably free and averaged to a dime. Or maybe he was just estimating.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:00:49 +0000

As far as coupon clipping:
1.) Clip any coupons for items you would buy, even if you doubt there’ll be a sale for it before expiration (what harm will clipping it and not using it be?). And if you end up needing the item and it’s not on sale, at least you get some money off.
2.) Clip any coupons for ANYTHING free after coupon. Even if you won’t use it, you can donate it to charity, send it to the troops, etc. Goodwill goes a long way.
3.) Organize your coupons in forms of categories that are comfortable for you. There are coupon organizers out there that have tabs for Frozen, Sauces, Grains, Cleaning Products, Dairy, etc. I got one of these as a gift and use it (I changed some of the tabs to fit my own needs).
4.) After you categorize your coupons, put them in date order if you can. It makes it easier to clean our your coupon organizer each month or two.
5.) Each weekend when you get the store sales paper, pull out your coupon book and start matching sales to coupons, and buy buy buy!

@Trent, I’m all for doing the stockpiling that you mention. I currently have 5 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats that I got for $.50 a box. And TONS of Hamburger Helper and Rice-A-Roni that I got for very cheap (some even were free after coupon). Toothpaste is never paid for, or floss or mouthwash. Shampoo (the Mrs. likes Biolage) we get at Costco for as cheap as possible. Etc.

People have made fun of us for being so cheap, but this strategy alone has saved us about $150/month compared to a typical family in our area. And while people make fun of us, we’re able to buy the house of our dreams.

Only thing bad about being frugal is that there are no more new cost-cutting strategies :)

By: Wesa

Wesa — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:19:36 +0000

Wait a second, you mentioned above that each item cost less than a dime, then later you mention the shampoo and conditioner costing $0.49 per bottle.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:43:13 +0000

From an online forum I frequent regarding coupon terminology:

One Coupon per Purchase
This essentially means that if you purchase one bottle of ketchup, you can use one manufacturer’s coupon for that bottle. If you have two coupons, you can use both coupons with the purchase of two ketchup bottles. You may not use two manufacturer’s coupons for one bottle of ketchup. Many cashiers and some managers are bewildered by this wording and want to limit you to just one. If your store circular prints wording like “double four identical coupons,” then they will obviously take 4 of the same in one transaction. Have circular available.

One Coupon per Item Purchased
This means the same as One Coupon per Purchase with the added language clarifying you may use ten of them if you purchase ten items.

One Coupon per Customer/Family
Ouch, this is not very consumer friendly. Some stores will allow you to use this in the same way as One Coupon per Item Purchased. Others will require you to make multiple transactions so as to make you multiple customers. This is a YMMV.

One Coupon per Transaction
We dislike this one. It is usually on the Ensure coupons. If you have two of these coupons and want to use them, you will have to perform two transactions. It’s a strategy to limit how many you purchase in a transaction. Well, we know how to make a few transactions, thank you very much. It’s a hurdle we have to overcome.

Grocery Game http://www.terismessageboard.com/showthread.php?t=63542
Hope this helps someone!

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:34:04 +0000

Love the post. Looking forward to the coupon post – I really need help in that area.