Coupons and Couponing

I like My Points coupon selection. I've never had trouble clipping them, then printing them out.

OMG, do I ever. Go to www.pinchingyourpennies.com and start reading. There is a ton of information on there about couponing and saving money. There's even a section about printing coupons on line. Click on the state forum and see if you live in a state where a lot of people post about all the great deals you can find. If you live it UT, you've got it made since this website was started by 2 friends that live there.
If you have any questions, about the site, let me know. I'll help you thru it. It's a bit overwhelming because of all the info. But take your time and ask questions. I guarantee you'll get an answer.

I should add, this site is absolutely free to use and they do all the work for you with matching up adds and coupons.

Thanks for that information Cynthia it is good to know. I had never heard of it before but will be checking it out now. Thanks again. Tell Rocky hello.

Check out my article
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977665027
These sites put together the sales and coupons for you!

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977665027

Come and join us at this site...we'll show you how its done.

www.weusecoupons.com

I'm averaging about 60% off on my grocery bill these days.

Thanks for asking Sarah. I have been using coupons a lot more recently. Our foodland has double coupons day during the week. Anything up to a dollar. So that helps.

You are very lucky!!!

I don't usually pay attention to coupons other than in store specials because we don't consume anything boxed, canned, frozen or pre-packaged and that's what most coupons are for.

wow! Good for you! :)

I use MyPoints coupons too because you also earn points there to redeem for gift cards at numerous stores. I also refuse to go to more then 1 store to save. If I'm using my gas to travel from store to store, I aint savin anything.
I shop primarily at our local Walmart (their cheapest in my area) where we get an employee discount (my husband is a manager), use the online coupons from MyPoints and pay with Walmart gift cards that we got from redeeming points at MyPoints.
I wish Gather offered more of a variety of stores for their gift cards (like Walmart).

Me too!!!!!

i try 2 use coupons as often as possible - tho' i could definitely use some help maximizing savings

theres a site called 'the grocery game' which is supposed 2 b good

pinchingyourpennies is a good site
I am sitting here now going through coupons that I just got from my aunt. I can't ever keep them all cut out and organized, which makes it very hard to save what I should be able to.

So your another PYP member. Glad to hear I'm not alone. I'm CrownCJ on PYP.

Buy a coupon organizer (mine is a nylon one that I found on some website a while back) or use a shoebox and use tabs to make sections that correspond to your grocery store's aisles. That will help with keeping everything organized.

I usually just clip the coupons out of the Sunday paper; however, I only clip what I know our family uses (my sister clips EVERYTHING, including baby stuff and her "babies" are 10 year old twins - I think it's a waste of time and space, but she leaves them on the shelves, next to the product.)

Write your grocery list, then check to see if you have related coupons. I don't believe in planning my list around my coupons. Last time I did that, I ended up with tons of prepared foods that I just don't use (my local food bank made out like bandits, when I donated everything I didn't use!)

If there are any products that are "brand loyal" to, go to their manufacturer's website. There's usually a link where you can join their mailing list. You can get some really good ones there.

Also, if you really like something, write a complementary email to the manufacturer. We did that regarding a particular flavor of Breyer's ice cream. They sent us a thank you letter, a coupon for a free container of Breyer's ice cream, and tons of $1 coupons.

Hope some of these help.

PS: I noticed around here that it's cheaper to buy all my produce at the farmer's market instead of the grocery store. Plus, it's fresher and locally grown.

I can't offer any help, but I'm glad you posted this! I just read through the comments and got a lot of tips! Thanks Sarah and everyone else!

I also keep my ads in my purse. Many of the local stores will honor competitor's ads; that helps me from having to run all over town; including Walgreens!
My coupons are organized by "topic" (baking, cereals, noodles, soups, veggies, sweets...) and then, they are in order by expiration date.
I always take the free coupons that are offered in aisles; whether I use the product or not b/c you'll never know!
I sign up at Proctor and Gamble, Vocal Point, Juicy Juice, Kimberly Clark, etc. They e-mail me coupons too. And, when my printer was broken, I told them and they mailed a variety of coupons that were incredible!
Always ask for rainchecks on items that are sold out too. What's nice about this is, often coupons do not come out when items are on sale; but will the following week or so; and with the raincheck and coupons: almost get most things for free!
And, it never hurts to ask when an item is sold out, if mgmt will offer you something else in comparison (and you have a coupon!); that always rocks!

I like the MyPoints coupon section too. It benefits you twice - by using the coupons and saving money and getting MyPoints reward points.

I wish we utilized coupons here in American Samoa, because I used to be a coupon freak when i was living stateside. But I know My Points have coupons.

I won't go to a bunch of different stores either, but I do shop at a grocery store that price matches. If I bring in the ads from the other stores in town with cheaper prices, my grocery store will match the price, even on things like chicken and meat. This has saved me TONS of money over the years...especially when whole chickens go on sale at one store for 69cents a pound and my store is still selling them for $1.69 a pound. In this scenario, I save $1 a pound and buy like 3 or 4 whole chickens and freeze them for later. By the time I use up those chickens, there's usually another sale and time to stock up again. See if your local grocery store price matches.

I clip coupons in my sunday newspaper and my mom gives me hers too so I get doubles. I also clip from mypoints.com and get coupons from manufacturer websites. Also, I write emails to companies that I love and use their products and they almost always will send me coupons for free products. I also buy coupons from www.thecouponclippers.com. It's a website run by moms where you can buy coupons. They charge a small fee per coupon (usually like 3 cents or something) and then you can pick and choose which coupons you want and have them mailed to you. I usually get $50-$60 worth of coupons from them and it only costs me like $3. I figure it's worth it because I only order coupons I will use and so it's worth it to me to pay $3 to save $60.

Also, in case you didn't know it, you can use multiple coupons if you buy multiple items. So, say you buy 8 boxes of Cheerios. If you have 8 coupons for $1 off Cheerios, you can use all 8 coupons at once, since you're buying 8 boxes. Alot of people don't realize that, and that can be a money saver too.

And anytime I'm online shopping, I search google for coupon codes for whatever store I'm shopping at.

I usually save between $20-$30 each week at the grocery store just by clipping coupons and paying attention to what's on sale. It takes me no more than 20 minutes a week to plan everything out and clip my coupons, so it's totally worth it. I have my coupons in a binder with the clear baseball card organizer thingys so I can see what coupons I have and when they expire.

The key to coupon clipping really is to have your coupons organized. I have three coupon folders, as this makes it so much easier. Our printer doesn't work, so I just get the coupons from the paper, and we also have a Spanish paper that sometimes have coupons in it.

To get coupons for the products you use, email or call the companies and tell them why you love their products, and ask if they have any coupons or a mailing list.

I purely DESPISE coupons, and everything associated with them... the companies that distribute them instead of lowering prices... the clipping, the printing, the sorting, the coupon wallets, the dropping of coupons on the floor while in line... the standing in line whilst six people perform the sorting, the digging in the wallets, the dropping of coupons on the floor... did I mention that I despise coupons.

LOL Chuck. I was a coupon shopper in the 70's and 80's, but find very few coupons these days for the items that I actually buy. Thus, I don't use too many these days.

Does anyone know of any site that has coupons for fresh produce or/and fresh not frozen meat?
Thanks for the sites. smartsource.com is a good site.

Here's my advice for you, Sarah, since you're not into couponing. It's the same advice I gave my sister.

First, get something you can put your coupons in. It doesn't need to be a big coupon organizer like most of us have. Just a study or plastic envelope will do. Then, clip coupons for the products you'll know you'll use. My sister, for example, uses certain kinds of cat litter, food and Tide. So, even if she just uses those coupons she can save $3 or $4 a week with not a lot of hassle.

Now, I would encourage you to sign up for the frequent shopper cards that grocery stores have. Those will give you the biggest savings.

You've received some excellent advice!! I used $36 worth of coupons tonight, bringing my total to $90. Which was exactly what I planned to spend. I think practice makes perfect, so just keep at it!

I can't do online coupons because my printer doesn't work. I get them from other places. My biggest problem is getting to the cash register and forgetting to use them. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten home and wanted to kick myself.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977626342

Companies To Contact List For Coupons and Samples (this is a really long list)

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977626387

Companies to contact or sign up to for BABY items ( Long List)

I have found very very few coupons for the items that I actually buy. Most of them are for stuff I don't want or the inhouse brand is still cheaper even with the coupon. I may be doing something wrong, I don't know. I love Cheerios and finally found a good coupon for $1.00 off for cheerios. I thought this was grand until I read that you have to buy four box at a time, which means it's only 25 cents off per box and I would never in a zillion years buy four boxes of Cheerios at a time. LOL

I don't use coupons. They never seem to have any for the products I use.

thanks evry1 for the tips.

I have become so much more efficient at couponing since joining Gather and their groups. Plus many of these nice people who post refer you to other websites that are coupon/freebie sites, that you can also join for further info. I've learned to pick and choose which coupons are most valuable for me to use my printer ink to print out. But tonight I had $25 in coupons and I didn't plan and research as well as I could have (in a hurry) so probably would have saved more. I still have a lot to learn but if I can do it you will catch on too.

no suggestions here, sorry