Frugality and Extreme Couponing

[Assume Nothing]

As you should all know - many western societies are still suffering from tough Economic times - from unemployment to inflation. What does this mean for us? It means ever tightening budgets with the average household struggling to pay for all bills, groceries and luxuries.

 

How could one overcome this? By being frugal! Couponing can be a great way to lower costs - a standard shopper could save between 20%-40% of their shopping by simply differentiating wants from needs, having a keen eye on prices and actually investing some time checking out the market. Perhaps you didn't really need the supposedly newest gadget afterall.

 

Another area of great expenditure - living expenses, seemingly trivial at first glance, adds up to a considerable amount at the end of each month. In America, a sport known as 'Extreme couponing' is practiced by thousands of shoppers every year as our wallet strings get tighter and tigher.

 

What is Extreme couponing you may ask? Extreme couponing is defined to be "an activity that combines shopping skills with couponing in an attempt to save as much money as possible while accumulating the most groceries." It allows consumers (us) to turn 500 dollar shopping sprees into mere 10 dollars worth in costs.

 

What's your ways to remain frugal, and what's your views on extreme couponing?

 

Share tips, tricks, advice and opinions!

[Guy]

When you see deals at the supermarket for everyday household goods, eg. toilet paper, washing up liquid etc etc, or even food that doesn't go off/lasts for a long time, which are 2 for 1, 3 for 2 or x pieces for $x, exploit it. Buy up as much as you want then, and then you only have to buy household goods when there is a deal going on.

[Assume Nothing]

To convey the magnitude of how prevalent the problem/miracle may be, here's a clip or two:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myvclwLnUSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiDHA4Wkmxs

[Kimberly]

Shopping Coupons and Freebies

 

www.buxr.com, www.redplum.com, www.consumerist.com (morning deals section), www.techbargains.com

 

I use these two sites to get coupons before I go grocery shopping, along with the coupons I get in my weekly circulars. I'm not that good on matching my buys with in-store sales to get nearly free products, but I save between 2-8$ a bill.

 

----

Sales Newsletters

 

http://freebiejeebies.org

 

It lets me know of other deals on other services & such. They give me things like free samples, which I love signing up for (I get about 5 free things per month), or survey sites, or online site deals for outlet stores.

 

---------

Money-Rewarding Survey sites

 

http://www.pineconeresearch.com, lightspeedpanel.com, http://www.opinionoutpost.com/

 

I also am a part of Pinecone Research Panel, Lightspeed Research Panel, and Opinion Outpost to get money for quick surveys. Love them, and they go towards my grocery budget. (surplus though, I don't consider them into planning my budget)

 

I'll add more if I think of them.

[Duff]

My mom is big on coupons and money saving. Which is kinda embarrassing for me. But I've learned to deal with it. Plus, it makes perfect sense to do some sort of coupon/money saving technique, especially after experiencing a taste of financial independence in college.

[stevepole]

I don't cut coupons but I consider myself to be a frugal shopper, I tend to lean towards sales or deals on ideas I regularly buy at the grocery store to cut cost. I also search out deals on DVDs//BluRays for about 90% of the movies I buy, along with taking advantage of discounts friends get a local retailers on more expensive items. I'm also a fan of buying used when I can.

[Racheya]

Vouchers and coupons aren't as popular over here in the UK as it is in the US, as far as I've heard, but there's a lot of people going around looking for bargains. You only need to look at the MoneySavingExpert forums or HotUKDeals to see it. I always check these sites to look for bargains and while most of them aren't any use, sometimes I pick up some real gems.

 

Saving money is very important to me. My family has never had much money, often because my parents aren't as frugal as they should be, so it's a bit of an obsession of mine to get the cheapest price - within reason of course! Now I'm at uni living on £40 a week it's even more important for me to keep my money close.

[The Dark Lord]

I think being frugal is a good skill to have, even if you make a lot of money.

[Racheya]

I agree. There's nothing wrong with saving money, even if you have it to spare. Why on earth would you pay more when you can put the money saved to something else? :P

[Sbrideau]

Wow after seeing Skeptic's videos I want to learn extreme couponing LOL. Shame there aren't stores that gives out coupons in my region, closest is 3 hours away (Costco).

[Skull]

The grocery store I work at has limits in place to prevent people from doing stuff like this. There are only certain numbers of coupons you're allowed to use, certain types that can't be used, etc. I've only heard of someone trying it at our store once when they tried to buy something like 200 tubes of toothpaste.

 

Honestly, I think coupons are an amazing way to save money, however extreme couponing is just buying a lot of shit you don't need because it's cheap. If you don't need it then you shouldn't be buying it, even if it is 1/10 of the regular price.

 

I mostly buy sale items, my mom uses coupons a lot though. I learned most of my spending habits from her so I tend to be decent with money, at least things I'm buying for myself. Having a girlfriend makes keeping spending to a minimum pretty difficult though.

[Surprises]

Internet wise, for people running firefox you can get the add on 'invisible hand.' That add on will search for a cheaper price of the product you are searching for and will sometimes come up with vouchers which you can use to reduce the price.

[stevepole]

I've seen an old lady do that with a cart full of travel size deodorant and she had a ton of coupon to get 99 cents off the full size version of the deodorant and since the travel size versions cost less then a dollar, she was trying to get them for free basically. The store wouldn't do it, so she got turned away.

[Kimberly]

If you don't need it then you shouldn't be buying it, even if it is 1/10 of the regular price.

 

Have you ever had to depend on the charity services like a Food Bank to have a meal? I have. People are buying bulk like this, and then donating most of the surplus. They should be encouraged to do so. It has the potential to help people in need.

 

People who just go, "LOOK AT ALL MY SHIT" and let it go to waste, though, is shameful. If that's what you meant, I agree with you.

[Zierro]

"LOOK AT ALL MY SHIT"

 

Mr. Kitterson! Bad!

 

On a related note, I agree with Andvari - being a smart consumer is a timely quality to have now. Even if I were rich, I wouldn't want to be forking over money to certain product companies if I didn't have to.

[The Dark Lord]

What I'm wanting to know is...with coupons, how do the products get paid for?

[Assume Nothing]

Careless masses of people who spend billions of dollars per year on things they don't need, thanks to mass advertising.

[indy500fan]

I eat spaghetti and two pieces of garlic bread for supper, every day. Partly because of money and partly because I don't know how to make anything else :). I think I priced it out at being less than a 1 USD a meal though so I am happy.

 

EDIT: Pic because I happened to be making it when this topic came up, and I just finished.

[Orpheus]

Heh, if I had some money I'd cook, but for now there's some pasta I can cook up and maybe throw some alfredo sauce on.

 

Everyone needs to learn to cook for cheap though, it's really not that bad.

[lordkafei]

If you don't need it then you shouldn't be buying it, even if it is 1/10 of the regular price.

 

Have you ever had to depend on the charity services like a Food Bank to have a meal? I have. People are buying bulk like this, and then donating most of the surplus. They should be encouraged to do so. It has the potential to help people in need.

 

People who just go, "LOOK AT ALL MY SHIT" and let it go to waste, though, is shameful. If that's what you meant, I agree with you.

 

But those jerks who buy in bulk are taking away the opportunity for Joe Shopper to get the deal without having to resort to the food bank.

 

I am sorry, but it frosts me to see hoarders taking all of the deal merchandise, no matter what the motivation.

 

=====

 

I was at the store last week and saw that the Maruchan Ramen 6-packs have shrunk to 5-packs, but the price didn’t shrink. That’s a 17% price increase :sad:

 

The main thing I do is switch to store brands instead of buying name brands.

 

For those of you in the USA, http://heathershints.com has a massive searchable coupon database.

[enfield]

I operate on the principle that it's okay to steal so long as the store still makes a profit from me. So I try to steal less than 15% worth of what I buy, just to be safe.

 

I know its not perfectly morally okay, that there are potentially some small gaps, some bad that comes out of it, but I think its nearly fine, so I've adopted it for now.

 

Also I always buy the vegetable that's on sale and things like that. It is seriously shocking how on sale things can be. And I have lots of olive oil with my vegetables because its 1$/1000calories, which is pretty great.

[jasignhagj]

For anyone who lives in Canada and is on a tight food budget, try President's Choice foods at Superstore. I normally can't stand knock off brands, but theirs is amazing, sometimes even better than what they're imitating.

[Kimberly]

What I'm wanting to know is...with coupons, how do the products get paid for?

 

All that fine print junk that most people don't read on the coupon is information to the store about reimbursement.

 

But those jerks who buy in bulk are taking away the opportunity for Joe Shopper to get the deal without having to resort to the food bank.

 

I am sorry, but it frosts me to see hoarders taking all of the deal merchandise, no matter what the motivation.

 

I can see why you'd get frustrated with that, but I don't see why the individual should be blamed. They're not in charge of stocking the stores. It's something that can't be helped. I think it's more good than bad if people end up donating the surplus.

[Sbrideau]

For anyone who lives in Canada and is on a tight food budget, try President's Choice foods at Superstore. I normally can't stand knock off brands, but theirs is amazing, sometimes even better than what they're imitating.

 

I can say the same for Compliments (Sobey's store brand). Been shopping at Sobeys as well for the last few months since the prices are generally $1 to $2 lower than Atlantic Superstore (Atlantic branch of Loblaw's/Superstore) on a lot of the items I buy. Also I think it is better either way to buy the store brand since it is usually going to be $1 to $1.50 lower than the name brand.

 

Talking about that, sometimes I buy stuff like frozen chicken strips, and my parents still shop at Superstore, and they other day they said they were on sale at around $10. I told them I already buy them for $9 (not on sale) at Sobeys). Apparently the regular price for this item is $12 at Superstore.

[IGoddessI]

We do this well at the moment considering my husband to be got demoted from his management position and stuck in the garage as a head mechanic because he's the best they have and want their return percentages risen. How did they thank him for his 14 years of service? By decreasing his salary by $30,000!!!! Right when we're paying for a wedding in just over 2 weeks time... My wallet currently holds nothing but dust and cobwebs lol Even when we had plenty of spare cash, I still do the same things!! Full price is for fools.

 

Shop from independent grocers or from the markets for fresh produce and meats.

 

Make a list and stick to it.

 

Bring a calculator if you have to, to stay on budget

 

Put $20 a week in to your utility bills so when they come in quarterly, you don't owe as much

 

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy in bulk, especially toilet paper and laundry powder

 

Learn the times that your local shop has items on sale. If you're Australian, woolies and coles usually mark down their meats, bakery items and dairy products about an hour before closing time.

 

If the packaging is broken or damaged, companies allow a discounted price. I saved $15.00 off my son's tonka truck because the package was damaged, there was nothing wrong with the truck.

 

Ask for discount on floor stock. I saved $450 off my dressing table because it was floor stock, also saved $80 on my son's quad bike.

 

If you've seen it cheaper, haggle to drop the price. I once got a jeweller to sell me an $800 bracelet for half price by walking out on her 3 times.

 

Freeze products and expand their life span. Buy marked down bread and freeze, thaw if you need. Expand life on meats, bakery items, vegetables.

 

ALWAYS check your receipt! over 50% of the time I go shopping, there has been a price error or scanning error with grocery shopping.

 

Check pre loved clothing stores - Not only are most of them run by major charity organisations but there are some beautiful clothes. I recently picked up 5 beautiful skirts for $29, when in retail outlets they would be at least $30.00 each.

 

Cheap entertainment. Cheap Tuesdays here, for $7 you can get a pizza and rent a new release dvd.

 

Do shopping on a full stomach so you have no desire to throw in extra tasty products

 

If you buy fruits that are going out of season, cut out the middle man go straight to the farmers. Also, check your produce. Did you know if Mr woolies or Mr coles has a bad box of strawberries, they will try to flog them off evenly, 1 or 2 in each package? Also check the bottom of the punnet, have they hidden squashed ones down there?

 

Plant your own fruit, veg and herbs

 

Generic brands are sometimes BETTER for you and taste BETTER. - Me personally: lasagne, weetbix, pasta sauce, pasta ect Just an example but home brand fruit boxes pack of 6 cost me $1.80 or I can pay $3.00+ for something that has less real fruit contribution, more sugars, preservatives, colour additives just because it has a pretty picture on the box?

 

Read those annoying catalogues that are always thrown on the front lawn. I am loyal to NO SHOP, I am loyal to whoever gives me the best discounts on the products I need. I ying and yang because I value my dollar.

 

Play companys against each other... Harvey norman have a washing machine for $700, what is the best price you can do? $680...right well now I go to talk to Mr clive peters....can you beat $680? yes $620.... okay well I will go away and think about it... Good guys... can you beat $620? $590.... SOLD!

 

I go to garage sales and round up a whole heap of children's dvds and books for my son. I've never paid more than $3 each... retailed up to $30 each. I once bought the whole series of high 5 for $30!!!

 

My partner is also a trained mechanic so he fixes my friends and family's cars all the time and just charges them for the parts that he can buy discounted. He just serviced our car for $30 when it can cost anything up to $300...usually around $190.

 

Turn all your appliances off by the switch/wall when you're not using them!!! especially computers and tvs. If you're not in a room, turn off the light, if you're finished with the kettle, flick the switch. You can save yourself hundreds of dollars each year. Our electricity bill is usually about a hundred dollars cheaper a quarter than anyone we know lol

 

Go and put things on layby with low deposits and especially take advantage of times like christmas with 0 deposits. You can pay just a little each week until they are paid off.