what?

Commenter #20 is on point. I mostly coupon cereal (and healthier varieties do go on sale!) and yogurt, but enjoy looking for deals. I have seen or used coupons for eggs, pasta, canned beans, canned/frozen vegetables and fruits. I think I’ve paid 99c total for the last 3 bottles of shampoo I’ve purchased. It is worth my time since I spend about 30 minutes a week looking at grocery flyers anyway.
Oh here’s a good tip, if you ever see a link for a free sample item from a company, they almost always include a high value coupon for that item when they send it to you.

I plan on taking some personal items to my son and his girlfriend – they are college students.

I was also able to give some cleaning supplies to a young intern at work who is getting her first apartment.

At the end of the year I will give all the personal items to the women’s shelter for their use.

Example – The last 2 years Folger’s Country Roast or Custom Roast was $5 for 34.5 oz. I bought 2-3 every time I was in in stores. I eventually had about 25-26 of them. I don’t use it up fast, so I have taken several when I visit my kids in AL, donate to the Food Bank for coffee for the volunteers and take a lot to the church for dinners and luncheons. Right now that is a very frugal way to donate.

Also, our local grocery recently had Ragu Spaghetti Sause (24 oz) for $0.99 a jar. It is now on sale for 2 for $5.00 (saver $.23). So, I bought 7-8 jars last week. I will use it for larger pasta dishes I take to church suppers and other pot luck meals.

They also have meats, near use by dates, for a special price of $0.99 also. I buy what I can and take it home and immediately drop it in the freezer until I need it. I got $4.29 thinly sliced deli meats for $0.99. Quite a savings and no coupons necessary.

I have a lot of dry cereal stockpiled, but if it begins to get past a good use by date, I will pass it on to large families who can use it up quickly. Works well for me – I eat well, donate a lot, and it doesn’t cost me a fortune.

Where we save $ is buying meat that’s still before the sell-by date but so close to it that the store’s discounted it, usually at least by half. Otherwise I rarely use coupons unless it’s one from the store or that comes on an item I purchased. For example, the new cat food we’re buying comes with a $2 off coupon in each bag, so we use those for the next purchase.

Believe it or not, some folks eBay their cheap purchases from coupons. Others make deals w/ Mom & Pop neighborhood convenience stores and sell to them.

And there is another sub group that sell from their “stock” at garage sales. My sister does this and “made” a few thousand dollars. However, she is ALWAYS going to the stores for sales. I personally have better things to do with my time, but she considers it a hobby. Of course, the extra time, gas, and storage space required is never factored into the big “savings” the extreme couponers do.

You’re missing the point, Trent. Have you ever actually WATCHED the shows you reference?

Many of the couponers on the shows load their carts up with items they’ll never use, or could never possibly use in the quantity they’re buying. But if you paid attention, you’d see that in many cases, their cost for those items is actually negative. That is, they’re making a PROFIT on buying those items.

For example, they have a “$1 off” coupon for Rolaids. And it’s “Double-Up” coupon day. And as it happens, Rolaids are on sale for $0.89, because they’re getting close to their expiry date. So every roll of Rolaids you buy ends up generating a credit of $0.87, that can be used to reduce your overall bill.

So what does the person do with all those Rolaids?

Who cares? Throw them out. Donate them to a food bank. It doesn’t matter. Not only did they cost you nothing, but they contributed to lowering your cost for milk. That’s the whole point.

I also frequently get free whole grain pasta, long grain and brown rice, and other healthy staples. Yes, waiting for the store sale and matching it with a coupon is key. And you do have to look for the healthy coupons – usually online. What comes in the Sunday paper is mostly Pillsbury / ConAgra processed food junk.

I disagree with others who say the cleaning supply portion of their bill is miniscule compared to food. Even with eating a very healthy diet rich in whole foods, the toiletries still add up to a higher portion of my monthly grocery budget. But because I combine coupons with sales, I manage to get very cheap toothpaste, toilet paper, body wash, etc.

Many people claim to do this for their family, but in reality they are doing it to get a receipt to win a game it seems to me.

Dog food when they dont have dogs. Diapers and baby forumula when they don’t have kids.

300 jars of Pasta sauce? At that point you arent ‘buying’ for your family . . . you are ‘buying’ to play the game.

I still enjoy the show though. People are nuts. ;-)

Laura
~a casual coupon user

My wife and I are very much into eating meals we make and cook ourselves, so we buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen a non-store coupon for these items, and even store coupons are few and far between.

Since these purchase make up a large chunk of our grocery spending, I’m not able to slash my bill in half using coupons the way a lot of people who eat pre-packaged meals are. That being said, I still save, at minimum, $15 per week by using coupons.

The thing I don’t understand about extreme couponers is their emotional attachment to their stockpiles. I mean, I like having a nice big stash of coffee and cat food and fruit juice (which I buy on sale), but it doesn’t kill me when they get used up. I will confess that it bugs me when sales on things like coffee don’t happen for a week or two after we’ve used them up…but yeah, some of those people are scary-attached to their supplies.

**Ohhh, and to adress the “coupon queens” from TV, several stores have admitted to demolishing all coupon rules for that particular customer because of the publicity they get from being on TV. They don’t let everyone (or anyone??) else break these rules for normal grocery shopping. Don’t try to hold yourself to that standard. You are not a failure if you don’t save $928 on a $930 shopping trip. I consider it a success if I can save more than I have before on a specific item.

I don’t use coupons for processed foods as they’re just not that healthy and I’d rather buy raw meats, fruits, and vegetables, but there are very few coupons for these items. I find I get better results using my store loyalty card and purchasing fresh items that are on sale each week.