living in the dark ages with coupons Help !

SquashNut · #**101** 07/22/10, 12:50 PM

My $200 includes all the groceries I buy for 4 people and my preps and $20 for the food bank.
It doesn't include rabbit food or garden seeds. But I sell enough rabbits to cover those.
I buy in bulk on sale only. I buy cases of name brand cold cereal, speggetti sause and a few things for my husbands lunch that he carries. These are the things I think couponing would help on.
If I had $400 a month for food, I don't think I could spend it all with out filling the house with groceries.

wyld thang · #**102** 07/22/10, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clovis

Actually, those decisions seems to matter to you, especially considering the number of posts you've already made about the topic.

so clarifying elements in a discussion is irrelevant to you? and in the end it's all about "winning" isn't it? it's not actually saving money--I provide an example where I saved quite significantly over LC in the jack cheese--I made a choice to buy store brand in a semi-bulk form. LC made the choice to use coupons to buy shredded cheese(always a value-added form to begin with). Unless she provides information on other choices available to her in the store--ie, store brand, bulk packaging, we can't really know if she made a good decision can we?

I'm not afraid to say I'm not going to use a coupon just to say I did. There are simply OTHER ways along with coupons to get stuff cheap, and THAT (it seems to me) is quite applicable to the OP. If one uses products the coupons are for, then great. But if "cheap food"(I'll throw in "clean" as a goal too) is the important thing, there are other tricks you can use besides coupons.

Patt · #**103** 07/22/10, 12:57 PM

Just a thought: since the OP was asking for help and advice on couponing maybe we can start a different thread on how we save money on food other than coupons?

**ladycat** · #**104** 07/22/10, 12:57 PM

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will everyone stop arguing please???????????????

And stop talking about me like I wasn't in the room.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyld thang

I really dont' care if someone prefers bagged lettuce--but it is kind of fogging up the debate when a person says "I buy fresh produce all the time with coupons(and you're just not knowing where to find the coupons)" and another person is buying a head of lettuce and stating "I've never seen a coupon for fresh produce". The coupon is for a bag of processed lettuce, the person who "can't find" a coupon for lettuce wants to buy a head of lettuce. Simply pointing out the disconnect--clarifying.

I often buy heads of lettuce with coupons. The Earthbound $1/1 coupons make the organic lettuce cheaper than the conventional lettuce, but sometimes you can get a conventional head of lettuce with a coupon.

TRAILRIDER · #**105** 07/22/10, 01:01 PM

I do alot of couponning. Yes it is time consuming and alot of work. But I have been known to save 75 - 98% at times. How it works for me (to include things like fresh fruit and veggies) is like this. I read the couponning web sites (esp. www.afullcup.com) and I find out that say (all just examples) dry cereal A and B are on sale next week for 2 for 3.00. I also find out that if I buy 4 boxes of A or B I will recieve a catalina coupon printed at the register for 2.00 off my next order. Well I clip and save a bunch of coupons in my binder and I have coupons for A or B cereal that allow me to pay .50 for each box. And recieve the cat coupon. Then I use the cat to pay for 2.00 of bananas. So here I have paid 2.00 total for four boxes of cereal and a large bunch of bananas. This is just a very general idea. But yes, I do it all the time. Cooking from scratch and eating oatmeal instead of dry cereal are always a good way to save, but when I'm getting stuff for free, why not? I've got enough laundry soap for about 4 years, and paid .69 - .99 each bottle using coupons. And have stocked up on almost everything I need for free to half price. I won't need to buy shampoo, soap, toothpaste or brushes, deodorant, body wash, paper towels or dish soap for years either. But I won't lie, it is a second job. I just enjoy it so much : ) that I don't mind. Take care.

**clovis** · #**106** 07/22/10, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

And stop talking about me like I wasn't in the room.

I thought you had left the building, Elvis style.

LOL.

**ladycat** · #**107** 07/22/10, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

Just a thought: since the OP was asking for help and advice on couponing maybe we can start a different thread on how we save money on food other than coupons?

Here's one way I get fantastic deals without coupons: pick baskets! Market Street has the best pick baskets around here. Markdown stuff, discontinued, etc. And since Market Street carries organic foods, I often find organic products marked down to pennies on the dollar. If it's a product I can use, I get as much as I can manage.

Our scratch and dent store closed.

I used to find all kinds of cheap organic stuff there. The only thing wrong with them was messed up packaging.

SquashNut · #**108** 07/22/10, 01:06 PM

It used to be you could get a rebate on the name brand pkg of cheese that you couldn't get on the store brand. So you not only got the cheese for cheap or or free from the store, but you would get cash and possibly a few more coupons sent in the mail.
This is why we would buy name brand products.

Your right the ding and dent store is a good place to get organics. Ours has the Kashi cereal that my husband loves. One time they had 1 pound pkgs of assorted shapes of organic noodles for .50 cents a bag. We bought all they had. noodles store like forever.

wal-mart has good pick baskets too. Again they had boxes of whole wheat noodles for 50 cents a box. we bought the whole cart of them.

**ladycat** · #**109** 07/22/10, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRAILRIDER

How it works for me (to include things like fresh fruit and veggies) is like this. I read the couponning web sites (esp. www.afullcup.com) and I find out that say (all just examples) dry cereal A and B are on sale next week for 2 for 3.00. I also find out that if I buy 4 boxes of A or B I will recieve a catalina coupon printed at the register for 2.00 off my next order. Well I clip and save a bunch of coupons in my binder and I have coupons for A or B cereal that allow me to pay .50 for each box. And recieve the cat coupon. Then I use the cat to pay for 2.00 of bananas. So here I have paid 2.00 total for four boxes of cereal and a large bunch of bananas.

One of the examples of deal stacking!

Patt · #**110** 07/22/10, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

Here's one way I get fantastic deals without coupons: pick baskets! Market Street has the best pick baskets around here. Markdown stuff, discontinued, etc. And since Market Street carries organic foods, I often find organic products marked down to pennies on the dollar. If it's a product I can use, I get as much as I can manage.

Our scratch and dent store closed.

I used to find all kinds of cheap organic stuff there. The only thing wrong with them was messed up packaging.

I went ahead and started a thread.

TRAILRIDER · #**111** 07/22/10, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

Free is better.

Good LORD you have cheap prices there.

STORE BRAND cheese here is $4 a pound and UP.

I stack the coupons with sales and get name brand (almost always Kraft), for about $2 a pound. Can only do it a few times a year, so I get as much as I can and freeze it.

The receipt pictured does not show my price for cheese for $3.98/lb.
Package #1 8oz $1.99 minus $1 coupon = 0.99
Package #2 8oz $1.99 minus $1 coupon = 0.99
That works out to $1.98 for 1 lb.

Kraft Ranch is regular $2 MINIMUM. I stack coupons with rock bottom sales to get it for free to 25 cents or so. You can only get it that way a couple times a year, so I make sure I bring my supply up to a year's worth when I am able to get it for that price.

Oops, almost forgot to add this link for anyone who's interested, coupons for meat and produce:
About the meat and produce coupons....

Actually all the kraft dressing and BBQ sauces I've bought in the past year have been free to <.50. : ) Kraft has really good sales and coupons that run at the same time. They also often have mail in rebates so I save all my receipts. Check out http://www.kraftfirsttaste.com/default.aspx
I have recieved more than a dozen coupons from kraft for free items in the past year.
In the early spring I had 10 of the 1$/1 coupons for kraft BBQ sauce when Kroger had it on sale for .99 ea. I gave away half of them to friends.

And I am extremely lucky, I live in KY where groceries are very cheap! And at my job I am allowed to use the computer and printer to look at my couponning websites and print internet printable coupons too.

TheMartianChick · #**112** 07/22/10, 01:19 PM

I was a couponer before I ever came to HT. However, Ladycat's tips have helped me a great deal to become more effective at it. As I've mentioned before, money is extremely tight in our house because we have two children in college and are trying to pay off the mortgages on our rental properties. Living in a city, we have easy access to 5 major grocery chains, though I only shop at 4. Three of the stores are within a mile of eachother. I work near a Rite Aid, so I am usually able to catch their sales and match them with a coupon, too.

As the food prices have gone through the roof, there are three things that have enabled our family to stay on track...gardening, stockpiling and couponing.

Gardening saves us by allowing us to provide for ourselves. Even if we never put up a single can of tomatoes, we save because we don't have to buy them during the summer!

Stockpiling has enabled us to not HAVE to buy anything on a monthly basis. We only shop for items when the prices dip low enough to make them a bargain. It is nice to not run out of something when you are in the middle of cooking dinner!

Couponing has enabled us to purchase bargain priced items at ridiculously low prices. I get coupons from my newspaper as well as from my parents and sisters. Without couponing, my family would probably not have as much stuff put away. Buying items that are already on sale with coupons has provided me with a nice hedge against inflation. The coupons for personal items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene etc... have allowed me to compile (at least) a two year supply of those items. If for nothing else, I will probably always be a couponer for the savings on personal care items.

**clovis** · #**113** 07/22/10, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMartianChick

If for nothing else, I will probably always be a couponer for the savings on personal care items.

Amen!!!!!!

FunnyRiverFarm · #**114** 07/22/10, 01:33 PM

We have Meijer stores here that print coupons for you at the checkout based on your purchases and they're usually high-value coupons too. I will admit that I am a long way from getting things free but I have gotten coupons for FRESH PRODUCE (i.e. the bulk stuff you bag yourself) this way from them. Maybe you folks could make suggestions to stores in your area to have a coupon program like this.

So anyway, you can get coupons for actual FRESH PRODUCE but in some places they are obviously few and far between.

TRAILRIDER · #**115** 07/22/10, 01:33 PM

Back OT, re: lazy and stupid. I haven't seen too many (if any at all) lazy and stupid people here at HT. But there are plenty of people out there in the world who moan and cry that they can't make ends meet, but they won't buy any thing but convenience foods, won't shop sales, etc.

<editing out a comment that people are taking wrong. I did NOT mean it like some are understading it. Sheesh.>[/QUOTE]

You're absolutely right. I know alot of people who simply will not put in the effort to save money on groceries. Even though I can show them in 2 seconds one or two easy strategies. But we are all different. I was born with the couponning gene. It KILLS me to pay full price!

**ladycat** · #**116** 07/22/10, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRAILRIDER

Kraft has really good sales and coupons that run at the same time. They also often have mail in rebates so I save all my receipts. Check out http://www.kraftfirsttaste.com/default.aspx
I have recieved more than a dozen coupons from kraft for free items in the past year.

I LOVE Kraft First Taste!!

And I love their rebates! It's fantastic when you can get rebates for stuff you got free!

You can also do that with P&G brands, and with Con-Agra brands- rebates for stuff you didn't pay for in the first place!!

coalroadcabin · #**117** 07/22/10, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyld thang

while I appreciate you taking the time explain this all to me, it means nothing without a list of what you are actually getting. Lots of people have commented they avoid processed foods. I think I'm pretty solid in noting "most" coupons out there are for processed foods. I know there are some national name brand(like DOLE) growers that have produce (which is where the produce coupons come from)--even that stuff is "processed"*, bagged chopped lettuce, bagged washed lettuce, bagged coleslaw, "baby" carrots(which are full grown carrots tumbled to babyness), as well as God knows what country that stuff comes from--so I think even people's definition of what "fresh produce" is, is way variable.

morningstar, LOVE your Buttercup!

*I tihnk there is plenty of examples out there of how the more fresh produce is processed the more opportunity for bacteria to be introduced and incubated. Do I want to pay for that?

Good point, let me clarify. We rarely buy produce at the grocery store, except for citrus fruits and bananas - we grow it or buy from local farmers (I can, dehydrate and freeze for the winter) We do not buy beef from the grocery store - we buy from a local butcher we have been patronizing for +25 years, She has wonderful product, a clean establishment, her prices are reasonable and she cuts to order. We do buy pork, seafood and chicken from the grocery store - our local sources for pork, seafood and chicken are not that good.

Our eggs come from a local farm. They are priced a lot higher than store eggs. But, they are very fresh, they taste great and they will have to do until I can start raising my own layers.

I buy sugar, flour, yeast, rice, salt, pepper, spices, some of our herbs, coffee, tea, beer, pasta, baking powder, vinegar, oil, shortening, dog food, cream of wheat, butter, milk, oatmeal, shampoo, toilet paper, bleach, soap, etc at the grocery store - I also buy bread from the day-old rack sometimes (at 24 cents a loaf for whole wheat; I can't bake bread that cheaply. Thanks to the good folks here on HT, I can bake bread if the day-old rack is empty, though!) I have also found good deals on canned veggies and fruit and bought them just to put in our preps - they aren't as good as my home canned but if shtf I'll be happy to eat some DelMonte peas.

I do buy condiments which, I guess, are considered processed foods: Ketchup, mustard, mayo, worchestershire sauce, and lots of Franks Red Hot and Tabasco Sauce! And there are lots of condiment coupons out there.

One other processed food we buy is cheese and deli meats but we don't buy those at the grocery store - we buy that at a locally owned bulk food place. They do not take coupons but their prices are great.

To be honest, my best coupon deals are not on food items. The best deals are on paper products like T.P. and on household items like batteries, cleaning supplies and my recent puchase of canning supplies.

I can certainly see where using coupons wouldn't be helpful for everybody but it's working for me - when it stops saving me money I'll stop using coupons.

coalroadcabin · #**118** 07/22/10, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Stockpiling has enabled us to not HAVE to buy anything on a monthly basis. We only shop for items when the prices dip low enough to make them a bargain. It is nice to not run out of something when you are in the middle of cooking dinner!

Amen to that!! My husband calls it my convenience store!! I love not running out of stuff.

pattycake · #**119** 07/22/10, 02:41 PM

I was going to say something but have just decided to stay up on the porch. I don't run well with the big dogs. I am an expert couponer and I don't need anyone telling me that I am not saving major, major dollars. One little thing to add. I would rather eat processed foods before eating some of the so called "organic" product. My SIL in an Agronomist and could tell you some things that would make you gag as you are eating your organics!

wyld thang · #**120** 07/22/10, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

Just a thought: since the OP was asking for help and advice on couponing maybe we can start a different thread on how we save money on food other than coupons?

Great idea, since I was the fool for going off on a tangent on the important thing being cheap healthy clean food...

OK, so I began googling like a newbie "coupons fresh produce" haha first page is a lot of stuff about the CLOTHING LABEL "fresh produce"--and no coupons are available this time from Nordstroms.

SO next I go here...http://www.ehow.com/how_4763575_find...e-coupons.html and get this...

Instructions
Step 1
Pay attention to coupons on other product at your grocery store. Meat and produce coupons can occasionally be found attached to other products related to meat and produce.

Step 2
Ask your local grocery store if they have a customer loyalty program. These types of programs often offer discounts on fresh items that you cannot find coupons for. Discounts are typically loaded on a convenient card that is quickly swiped at the checkout. That means fewer coupons for you to clip!

Step 3
Consider pre-packaged products. It is much easier to find coupons for bagged salad mixes and frozen produce than fresh produce.

Step 4
Skip the coupon hunt and look for local produce stands. Farmers markets are a great source for fresh, inexpensive produce. Your savings and the quality of product will make it worth the trip.

I remember going to one of LC's links (which I'll have to go find again, it's in another thread) and sure enough it was for bagged salad.

SO, so far, I have to buy SOMETHING ELSE (which I may or may not need) to get a fresh produce/meat coupon, shop at a store that puts out couponbooks/card deals(sorry, they are still higher priced), buy packaged/frozen(apprently "frozen" now counts as fresh).

I'd love for Ladycat to throw up some coupon links for fresh, no name, un-connected(I don't have to buy something else) coupons for fresh produce(and not packaged/processed), that I can take into my store and use.

I will still work on hunting it down myself and see if I come up with something.

Salad dressing--I went to balsamic vinegar, lots healthier, no fat. I use the coupon when it's around the neck of the bottle. Seems to go a lot further too. Or mustard with a little mayo. SOrry, there's a lot of bottled stuff I wouldn't eat for free.

I'd also love to know what else Squash Nut's husband eats for lunch besides cold cereal.

(And for whoever else cares, my 400$ a month also includes toiletries and OTC meds).