We've all seen them. Websites or personal testimonies promising that you can shop for free or close to it by using coupons. Now, I know that this does work for some people, in fact I have friends who have had much success shopping with coupons. In fact, I used to do coupon shopping, and I was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself, saving 30, 50, 60 dollars or more a week. I know that coupon shopping has it's place. I also know that in my own personal experience, it did not give my family the most bang for it's buck. Here are a few reasons why coupon shopping does not work for us:
1) Our stores no longer truly double. During my coupon shopping hay day, there were two stores in my area that doubled coupons. They would give the amount on the coupon, plus an additional discount of up to a dollar. That means if I had a coupon for $2.50 off a $6 item, I would actually get $3.50 off making in the item $2.50. Depending on the item, this could equal a very good deal. However, NOW, our local grocery stores only double
up to dollar. Meaning if I have a coupon for 35 cents, they will add an additional 65 cent discount, making it a dollar off total. So, if I have any coupon for $1 or more, I will not receive any added savings. Well, for the majority of items, I wouldn't have even have considered purchasing them unless I had a $1 off coupon anyway (which would have made my savings $2). It is not very often that I find an item that the savings are worth it, so infrequently in fact, that it is not even worth the time looking.
*If have a store in your area that truly does double coupons, it is worth it for you to do some homework and see if your savings would be substantial enough to make couponing worth your time
2) I never receive coupons for REAL food
When I was having much success with coupons, I was getting lots of food for very little money. The problem, however, was that I wasn't really receiving any real food. Some examples of items that I could get for free would be things like granola bars, juice boxes, canned soup, boxed potatoes, brightly colored kids yogurts, dessert mixes, and sugary cereals. I did love that I could get lots of condiments for next to nothing, but if I have nothing to put them on, then what is the point? When was the last time you saw a coupon for milk? Or eggs? A whole chicken? When my kids were little, it wasn't as difficult to pull together a meal using bits and pieces of things I got with coupons, but as my family grew, so did the demand for real, quality foods. I don't need a little box of seasoned rice mix, I need a big bag of rice. When they start making coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, baking goods, and dairy items, I will be the first in line with my old coupon organizer. In the meantime, it isn't worth the time just to get a bunch of processed, calorie-laden, over-sugared convenience foods just because they were free.
*If you receive coupons for real food, more power to you. In my years of couponing, I can count on one hand the offers I received for milk, and each of them required a purchase of some over-priced junk food. I have been told that people have had much success with wine tags, which have coupons for real food, but in my searching I have yet to find one that does not require the purchase of the wine. If you can find them, you will have some great savings there.
3) My grocery store does not accept some coupons printed off my computer.
Yes, I know that they are required by law to do so, and that if I kick and scream they will do it. Honestly, I don't want to have to fight with someone every time I want a good deal. I personally don't want to damage my witness as a woman who loves God and others by becoming known as the crazy coupon lady who is always causing trouble. When the hassle becomes greater than the reward, it is not worth it.
*As far as I know, most major grocery chains are really good about this. My regular grocery store is not quite with-the-times in this area. If you find a store that doesn't give you any problems, you may be able to save a lot with coupons printed from the internet.
4) A lot of times, the generic brand is still cheaper than the deal with a coupon
Most of the items that you can find coupons for are expensive at regular price (that is why they need coupons, duh!) At regular price, they are outrageously priced. With a sale price, they become not-so-outrageous. Subtract out the coupon, they become reasonable. Double the coupon, they become a value. A store brand is already a value. No sale prices, no discounts, it is already value priced because the company doesn't have to re-coup it's marketing and advertising costs. More often than not, after I found the item that I have some great deal for, I would glance over at the store brand of the same product and find that it was around the same price, sometimes even cheaper. Even it was a couple cents more, it didn't cost me any time at all to get the store brand deal.
*A lot of times, the store brand product is exactly the same as the national brand. Sometimes, it is not the same. If you have items that you are brand loyal to, look for coupons just for that item. You can visit the company's website or do a search for what you want. And if your grocery store does not have inexpensive prices on it's own brand of items, you may want to look at other stores and other brands to see who has the best overall value.
There are two main exceptions to my general non-coupon using rule.
1) If I am already going to buy the item anyway
AFTER I have made my menu plan, AFTER I have made my shopping list, I will check to see if there are any coupons available for the items I am going to be purchasing. If I am going to be getting BBQ sauce anyway, maybe it will be a better deal to use a coupon on Kraft than to buy the store brand like I usually would. These instances are few, but it is worth checking.
2) Non-food items
Each week, I will check the ads for deals that I can get on hygeine and cleaning items. A lot of times, between sales, coupons, and the drug store rewards programs you can get these items for free. I still compare with the store brand, but unlike food items, these items are usually a better deal with the discounts. The stock pile that I have on free (or close to it) household goods will last me a couple years. You can also sell these items at garage sales or donate them to people in need so that makes the value even better.
I know that each area of the country and each family is different, and if you think coupons might work for you, I certainly do not want to discourage you. My goal in this post is simply to give you some things to consider when deciding if coupon shopping is worth it for you. I also hope that I have shown that you do not need to use coupons in order to save a lot on your grocery bill.
Menu plan 5/24-5/30
Monday:
breakfast~croissants
lunch~
chicken garlic soupdinner~tuna steaks, salad, beans, bread
Tuesday:
breakfast~oatmeal
lunch~picnic
dinner~McDonalds
Wednesday:
breakfast~
banana breadlunch~egg salad
dinner~
honey mustard chicken, asparagus, rice, homemade bread
Thursday:
breakfast~
smoothieslunch~baked potatoes
dinner~cheesy macaroni and ham, salad
Friday:
breakfast~coffee cake
lunch~franks and beans
dinner~
mexican pizzaSaturday:
breakfast~
peppers n eggslunch~chicken wraps
dinner~shrimp scampi
Sunday:
breakfast~cereal
lunch~go out
dinner~steak, twice baked, potatoes, carrots, fry bread
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