Taking Couponing to the Extreme
There is a new TV show on TLC called “Extreme Couponing.” The people featured in this show have taken coupon clipping to the extreme. They spend several hours a week collecting coupons and preparing for a shopping trip in order to maximize the amount of money they can save at the grocery store.
I’m all for stretching your food dollar, but I have mixed feelings about spending so much time collecting coupons. I agree that it makes sense to look at the food ads each week, and to only collect coupons for items that you typically buy. Purchasing an item simply because you have a coupon for it doesn’t save you any money if you are buying something you don’t want or need. I also think the advice to look online for coupons and to write to companies to request coupons for items you like is a great idea – and one that I never would have thought of myself. But how many of us have six to eight hours a week to dedicate to coupon clipping?
Queercents reader have offered their own mixed reviews of coupon clipping in the past. One of the tips that readers have shared resonates with me: generic store brands are often cheaper than the name brands, even with a coupon. The ultimate key to maximizing your grocery savings and sticking to a food budget is being aware of food prices so that you can know when you’re getting the best deal. I used to keep notes in a little binder that I kept in my coupon organizer (see – I’m not TOTALLY averse to clipping coupons) where I could write down the prices of items that I frequently purchased. I would note which store I was shopping at so that I could compare prices while I shopped. I don’t need that little notebook anymore, because the numbers are pretty cemented into my brain at this point. But if you’re just getting into setting healthy food budget habits, this is a trick that might work for you.
What has your experience with coupon clipping been like? Are you into extreme couponing, like the ladies featured in this video clip? Or do you take a more moderated approach? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for streching your food dollar.
You know, I’m really into coupons in a lot of ways. A big part of it is that I need my food stamps to stretch as far as possible. And there’s something kind of fun about them. I feel like I’m “getting over” on the food companies in a way by not paying as much as they want me to. I know the coupons are another form of marketing for them, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Having said that, because of the way my girlfriend and I live, I’ve started to find that fewer and fewer coupons apply to us. I’m dedicated to getting all the chemical based cleaners out of our house. This means that coupons for bleach, Tilex, and a lot of other commonly used cleaners are worthless to me. We also lean toward vegan, so that cuts the coupons down even further.
Because of that, online coupons have been a big bonus. I can go directly to some company websites and get them. It doesn’t take nearly as long as it sounds. We’re using the Internet, not writing letters or making long-distance phone calls. 🙂 As for the idea of not having six hours to do x, y, or z, maybe not in one chunk. But I buy a Sunday paper and look at the coupons while we watch TV. I might check a website “as long as I’m already surfing the net”. In bits and pieces it’s easy to do.
Here’s my basic thing:
1) Like my mom said, it’s not a bargain if you’re not going to use it. Paying .25 cents for something if I don’t like it is still wasting money.
2) I clip coupons and sort them to make sure I’m not carrying expired ones on Sunday while I watch TV. It takes about 20 minutes at the most.
3) My coupon envelope is always in the inside pocket of my jacket. As much as I try to plan shopping trips, my ADHD only lets me plan so far in advance. I’ve finally accepted that and am working with it, not against it. So if I have a sudden urge to get some groceries, the coupons are with me.
4) Now I can compare what I’m picking up in the grocery store to what we have at home thanks to a new app called Out Of Milk. It lets me keep an inventory of everything we have. It also tells me how many are left or where it is on a scale of full to empty. Because I also feel like it’s wasting money to get something at the store if we have 5 of them already.
5) If I can narrow down the best price for an often used item to one store, I do. It used to be I would chase down a deal no matter how far out of my way I had to go. Now I’m getting older, and have a disability that limits my energy.
Thankfully, as an example, a combination of their already low price and a coupon I always have on hand means I only have to go to one store when my girlfriend asks me to get more makeup for her. This saves me from chasing the item around by sale ads instead, wasting time and energy I don’t often have.
*shrug* I could say a lot more about coupons and all the other ways I’ve been making money stretch over the years. But after awhile I tend to babble. So I’ll sign off now. 🙂
Wow, what a waste of time. How about spending that time working a freelance job? Even at minimum wage you’d probably end up saving MORE money than being an OCD coupon clipper. These people are just ridiculous.
Lincoln, thanks so much for all your coupon advice! I agree with you about keeping the coupons with you at all times. I keep my little coupon divider in my purse so that I don’t forget to grab it before I head to the store. I also agree about sorting through the coupons on a regular basis to make sure things haven’t expired.
I can relate to vegan coupons being harder to find – but I like your suggestion of going to product websites to find the money savers you need.
Keep the advice coming! You’ve obviously got more experience with the coupon wrangling than me. 🙂
I’m not sure she would save more money working a freelance gig. When the cameras followed her, she saved almost $1,000 that trip. Let’s assume that’s an outlying trip for her. We’ll cut it in half and say her average per trip savings is $500.
She said it takes 6 hours to get ready. Just doing division straight across, she’d have to find a freelance gig that paid $83.30 an hour for 6 hours to make $500. If you take into account paying taxes herself and assume no transportation, fax, mail, or any other expenses, the gig would probably need to pay closer to $100/hour.
By contrast, she would need to work 41.6 hours at a $12/hr job to make the same amount of money. Again, that’s not taking any taxes into account.
Hi, I’ve been reading along for a while but this is my first comment.
I shop at a grocery store that offer coupons by email – essentially, I get emails saying “here are more coupons” and then I click over to the store’s website and on the site I click “add” for the coupons I think I might use. Those get added to my store club card and then the savings add up as my groceries are rung up.
I don’t usually shop by coupons though, I just sort of know what I buy all the time and only click on products I think I might actually use.
Since I feed two young children, I usually shop by menu plan, and my menu plan is VERY simple. This has been the biggest savings for me, making a menu plan and sticking with it.
I can see people saving a lot from coupons, but it’s pretty extreme for the kinds of things I buy regularly, which tend to be pretty simple stuff – lots of pasta, cheese, sauces, fruits, veggies… It’s not crazy expensive stuff anyway.
To each their own though, I guess. For me, menu planning works as a more practical solution to saving on my food budget than couponing.
Socially accepted compulsive hoarding. Time for a hobby. And sex.
There was a great article a while back about a woman who actually quit her job to clip coupons because she became so efficient at it. It’s really fascinating how much money can be saved. One woman paid ten dollars or so for a week’s worth of groceries for a family of five. One got nearly $200 of clothes for less than $10 (my memory wants to say a penny, but that is just too mind-boggling). I buy mostly produce and farmer’s market when I can get it, which makes couponing hard. I try to strike a balance between on sale and abstaining, mostly because it’s more important for me to spend out on things I want that are of quality (i.e. intentionally) than it is to buy cheap.
Extreme couponing is something that needs to be balanced. The time and effort in should come out the other side in savings. Also, many view it as a hobby as does my wife so the time is enjoyable for her. The key is to look for the money back or store rewards type offers that mean items are free.
I’ve watched that show. Saw a family get 800+ worth of food for 8 dollars. however the time it woukd take to clip the coupons and match to store deals has to be counterprodutive at some point. then all the space needed to store all the food. There has to be a happy medium though you just have to find it. I say if you can save 25-35% which is not hard that is good
I believe that this is a money saving opportunity, but I also think that if you do it too much, you are wasting valuable time.