Monday, October 24, 2011

Why Couponing Doesn't Work For Me

You've probably heard those amazing stories of people who save oodles of dollars by clipping coupons, right?  A few weeks ago I was at a friend's house and saw TLC's "Extreme Couponing."  Wow, those people are something else.  They trash dig to get extra newspapers for more coupons.  They grocery shop after midnight to get the newest stock of stuff.  They have their system down for saving money.  Kudos to them.  I can't imagine saving so much money.  I am a bargain deal hunter, that's for sure, but I've never scored that big before.  When looking for coupons online, I come across extraordinary pictures of the piles of stuff that have been purchased for such a small amount.
It would feel like quite the accomplishment to walk out the store with bags of stuff having spent only a few dollars, or even having been credited to take it out!  However, the more I research money saving tips and look at the available coupons in newspapers, magazines, in mailers, and online, I'm finding that they just don't match up with what we are spending our money on in our household.
I certainly don't look down on anyone else for how they might take advantage of these coupons, but our family doesn't eat most of the food products that provide savings; cereal, candy, chips, baking mixes, crackers, processed pastas, beans, etc.  I look at these pictures and find nothing that we would buy.  Therefore, I certainly wouldn't buy them just because they are on sale or free.  With grocery coupons, there's not much that work for us.

I have a similar mindset with deal-saving sites like Groupon, too.  If I wouldn't already be looking to purchase a good or service, then I'm not going to buy one just because it's a B1G1 or at a discounted price.  But again, that's just the way I roll and I understand that others find couponing advantageous for their families, so that's great.
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What works for you?  Do you have any money-saving tips for groceries or other products?

2 comments:

Emily Pickett said...

I have the same issue. Maybe if they started giving out coupons for things like fruits, vegetables, eggs, whole grains, nuts...maybe they'd be useful. We don't by processed foods or weird chemical things; so we don't get far with coupons (other than an occasional box of cereal). Honestly, we keep our grocery budget down by eating really inexpensive meals: rice and beans, squash soup, salad, stews. It's not always as fancy as I'd like, but when $$ is tight, it's the only way to go.

Anonymous said...

I don't purchase a lot of processed foods, expensive shampoo, or fancy toothpaste. I can't find coupons for fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat, etc--in other words, healthy food. I have gone to the store with a purse load of coupons and maybe use 2. It doesn't seem to work for me.