Short Coupon Poll

[ChetMC]

What products do you use coupons for?

It seems that whenever I look at coupons they're for stuff we don't buy.

[sunsetdancer]

In no particular order:

Household products (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaners, etc)

Health and beauty (diapers, shampoo/conditioner, soap, makeup, medicine, feminine products, etc)

Food (pasta, breads, frozen fruit, frozen veggies, some fresh fruits and veggies, pasta sauce, spices, occasionally meats, etc)

We don't eat much organic right now due to the budget. I find that premade things like pasta sauce is worth it for us. I can often get frozen veggies way cheaper than fresh (and sometimes free). We do use disposable diapers (about 25% of the time), toilet paper, disposable feminine products, etc and I try to coupon those as much as possible.

[ChetMC]

My Problem

Originally Posted by sunsetdancer

some fresh fruits and veggies

I've never been so lucky as to find coupons for produce.

[Rosehip]

Zone bars. That's pretty much it. Most other things seem to be for name brand stuff that even with the coupon costs about the same or more as the store brand, or for heavily processed stuff we don't eat.

[sanguine_speed]

ChetMC, I also have a hard time finding coupons. They're not as prevalent in Canada as they are in the US, from what I hear on MDC. For instance, there are not coupons in the flyer inserts that are delivered, and there is no such thing as coupon doubling here if you're lucky enough to have a coupon. Very little grocery gaming here, I'm afraid! I try and focus on buying on sale, buying in bulk.

[sunsetdancer]

Originally Posted by ChetMC

I've never been so lucky as to find coupons for produce.

I've only really seen them for certain brands clementines/tangerines and packaged salad. Ok, maybe the packaged salad isn't totally "fresh" but it's not frozen either. I've also received some Catalina coupons (ones that print from the register) for produce, but they are store specific. I've gotten some for tomatos and carrots. One of the stores I shop at send coupons every so often based on what you have bought on the store card and sometimes there are produce coupons. There aren't many in the paper.

[ChetMC]

We Used To

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

ChetMC, I also have a hard time finding coupons. They're not as prevalent in Canada as they are in the US, from what I hear on MDC. For instance, there are not coupons in the flyer inserts that are delivered, and there is no such thing as coupon doubling here if you're lucky enough to have a coupon. Very little grocery gaming here, I'm afraid! I try and focus on buying on sale, buying in bulk.

This is true. We used to live in the US. I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around it all. There were seven grocery stores within walking distance of our house. They all had flyers and I couldn't even stand to comparison shop them all... let alone figure out the coupon schemes for the grocery stores and drug stores on top of it. And I consider myself to be a pretty motivated shopper when it comes to getting a good price. We just bought toothpaste at Costco though... didn't figure out how to get it free, or have the store pay me to buy it.

I figured out how to work the schemes at Gymboree and Osh Kosh, and that was it.

Honestly, being Canadian I was just happy with regular US prices they were so low compared to Canada.

[Drummer's Wife]

Pretty much never. They are always for things we don't buy, or I can buy an off brand for cheaper than using a coupon.

[enkmom]

Primarily for HBA items at CVS. I can get shampoo and toothpaste in particular for free after coupons and Extra Care Bucks.

[BetsyS]

I get the paper every week, so I feel guilty if I don't at least occasionally use coupons. I have several chains near me that double (4 that I can think of), and there are lots of blogs that do all the work for me. They tell me what's on sale, what has a coupon, nad how to take advantage of the deal. They make it very easy.

That said, I use coupons for things like sour cream, cheese, ice cream, ketchup, mayo, butter, sugar, yeast, some spices (especially spice blends like Montreal steak seasoning), pasta, and occasionally bread or tortillas.

I use them for health and beauty and cleaning, too (I like my Dawn detergent ).

Around here, with sales and a coupon combined, I can get name brand much cheaper than store brand. For instance, I dearly love Del Monte ketchup. It's the best, and it's a low end name brand (costs about the same as store brand). All summer, I've forced myself to eat Heinz, which I find okay, but I got for like $0.40 for a huge bottle. It's not as good, but it's cheap, so it'll do.

[Ethelpea]

The only coupons I ever have any luck with are the "mambo sprouts" coupon book the health food stores supply. I believe you can google mambo sprouts and print some coupons online.

[Bokonon]

Toothbrushes, bread, cheese, milk, almond milk, frozen vegetables, cleaning supplies, tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, hummus, Kettle Chips, rice, frozen pizza, orange juice...

My grocery store sends me coupons for produce, meat, cleaning supplies, and all kinds of food.

[Denvergirlie]

toothbrushes, replaceable toothbrush heads (sonicare), soap, dental floss, mouthwash - rare occasions toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and body wash but don't use many of those mainstream products.

garbage bags, dish soap, sponges & toliet paper regulary and maybe once a year kleenex, papertowels, cleaning supplies.

all the time --- pasta sauce, canned tomatoes/ veggies, rice, canned beans, spices, seasonings, salad dressing seasoning packets, canned tuna, organic milk, yogurt, soy milk, butter, cheese, cold cereal, pre-silced lunchemeat, morningstar farms soy product/ boca products, peanut butter, laundry detergent and more.

We don't eat more than a box a month of cold cereal, canned veggies are not often used, we eat lunchmeat maybe once a month; so some of these items are not often used, but they are regular things I use coupons to purchase with.

With coupons, store loyality cards and weekly sales, I average at least a 40% savings each and every week over just shopping and not paying any attention to what is on sale where and which week and pairing with coupon as much as possible.

[SunRise]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Pretty much never. They are always for things we don't buy, or I can buy an off brand for cheaper than using a coupon.

This.

I tried coupons once, went through the sunday paper, tore out the most appealing ones and went shopping. But rarely were the coupons for things I usually buy, and most of the coupons were a buy one get 50% off another.

I can see how they could be useful, especially coupons for detergent and other kitchen supplies. But I would have to change my shopping ways - I dont stock up on items, I buy on a need to have basis. I found it didnt save me money but made me spend more and buy things I dont normally buy.

On the other hand I do have a shoppers club card and will buy store brand items that are on sale w/ the shoppers club card. I save more that way.

[cappuccinosmom]

I don't use them much. Only rarely--the occasional shampoo and body wash.

I find I spend more when I'm "playing the game". And we don't have in our area the types of stores that apparently do these amazing deals that give you freebies. Aldis is generally cheaper than Walmart+coupon.

[surrogate]

if you don't do it right, there really isn't a savings in coupons. However, when you combine a coupon for a product with a store sale, and a store coupon...that is when it gets fun. I haven't bought toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dish soap, laundry soap, body wash, tampons, basically any home type stuff for 3 years.

I bought about 16 pairs of carters pajamas last year for free after coupons at target

I get tons things for free at CVS, and can use extra bucks I earn to buy stuff I would normally spend money on, like presents, or a loaf of bread

You have to know how to coupon, or really I mean what good is 30cent off toilet paper...

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

I am trying to think of things I don't use coupons for and having ahard time... I don't strictly shop natural/ organic but some when there is an awesome deal. I don't buy a ton of junk either but we do buy some packaged items like pizzas crackers etc. I am of the school of stockpiling partly due to my dh working soley on commision. We stockup on detergents,tp,health and beauty,frozen goods and pantry items. We use coupons for clothes,haircuts,eating out,museums,arts and crafts supplies,office supplies,health and beauty,dairy,eggs,produce,frozen and pantry foods, cleaning supplies,toys/games. If there is a coupon for something we use/do we will use it.

[Drummer's Wife]

Oh, I forgot - I always, always use a coupon when I shop at Gymboree. 20% is helpful, especially when combined with their other deals such as marked down merchandise, specific items discounted, gymbucks earnings, rewards points, etc. I'd go buy a magazine I hated for the coupon inside on my way to the store if I didn't have one.

I was totally thinking of grocery store and toiletries when reading the OP. Those I just don't find worth it, for the most part. .30 cents, or even $1 off? I can usually buy generic for cheaper.

[Norasmomma]

I go through phases with coupons. Last year I was BIG into them. I was stocking up diapers and wipes for the birth of our son, my DH was unemployed, so I was trying to save money any way I could. It does in fact work. I haven't had to buy diapers pretty much since DS was 4 months old(and those were the ones he's in now). I saved sooooooo much money. I stacked coupons, sales, store coupons and promos-I think I spent probably $150 bucks(and that's on the high end). I had a huge stash, the kid is almost 1 and I still don't need dipes.

I had a year's supply of dishsoap I bought in July 09, I'm on my last bottle. I also bought 10 bottles of laundry soap for the price of 5 with some rocking BOGO coupons. I still have laundry soap too, lots in fact. All toiletries, shampoo, razors, hair products-cheap or free.

For me depending on what it is I can get national brand for cheaper combining sales and coupons, with store promos and such. I still have cans of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk that I use for candy making at Christmas, they were a loss leader at WM, and were pretty cheap, but I also had a coupon for them, so I got them for much cheaper than the store brand.

The biggest trick is knowing what is one sale, where and what the percentage off comes out too.

The trick is stocking up, and using those coupons then, I really have saved $1000's because of smart shopping.

[velochic]

Quite literally, the only coupons I have used this past year were for canning jars/supplies. I used 2 or 3 of those. Nothing for food items, nor for health and beauty. I too, have never seen coupons for produce. That would save us a bundle as my dh alone eats 2 or 3 fresh fruits after *every meal*. The only thing I really don't make from scratch is crackers and bread, but we eat organic/all-natural, and I've never seen coupons for those. I do buy some frozen vegetables, but haven't seen coupons for those, either. I give our coupons to my next door neighbor when we get them.

I stockpile, but I stockpile whole foods I can't put up myself. Wheat berries, rice, dry beans, meats, some vegetables etc. I make our soap (no coupons for lye ) and we use natural body products. We do use conventional dish soap, but that I buy at Costco, so I've used a Costco coupon for that! And batteries at Costco. We drink water and coffee (Aldi's German Roast) and wine. No coupons there.

I wish there were coupons for what we consume, but there just aren't any. I think a lot of NFL families are like that. The key then, to save, is to find great deals on the bulk whole foods, usually on-line.