Hi everyone Admin. Shelly here!
I have been couponing for just over a year. I have watched the Extreme Couponing show and seen the stock piles and stock piles .
That is NOT me, and that is NOT how I care to coupon. I do NOT coupon to get my total to absolute zero, and I hope that no one feels like they have to either in order to be successful at couponing. I am a 50%-60% saver with coupons and will always be!
I used to feel in order to “fit in” to the coupon world, I had to save over 85%, THAT IS SO NOT HAPPENING. Every week I still need: 2 gallons of chocolate milk , 1 gallon of vitamin D milk and 1 gallon of 2% milk. There are never coupons for milk (in my area) so if its on sale…GREAT, if not, I pay full price.
I started couponing after I had my second child. I was tired of spending over $200 a week on groceries. I wanted to save money to help out my family. I did not need a stockpile of 100 toothpastes or 300 cans of soup, We just don’t have the room for all of that AND my husband told me if come home with 100 tubes of toothpaste he would send me to my mother’s (LOL).
What I do stock up on, is fruit boxes, cereal, and juice boxes. We use these very quickly and they wont sit in my cupboard for more than a month.
The big question is “What if I don’t have a coupon”???? You know what? I still buy the product if I need it. 🙂 My husband loves the fact that I save money, but he still has HIS products he loves and won’t sacrifice. The money that I save from couponing, following sales, and shopping in sale cycles allows me to buy his favorite shampoo, even when its not on sale. 🙂
I felt the need to write this to help any fans out there who THINK they are not GOOD couponers just because they still have to spend money on food or necessities 🙂 WE ALL Coupon differently, IF YOU ARE SAVING MONEY, Even if it is 25%, THAT IS STILL GOOD!
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I totally agree with you…50% is a great savings! Once I know what the sales are for the week, I plan my menu accordingly using coupons. Fresh vegetables are always in my cart…no coupons are available for vegetables. I do like to price match, because we live in a small community where there aren’t many stores close by and Walmart will honor prices for stores in nearby cities.
If you watch the extreme shows, most of the shoppers are not purchasing a couple of weeks worth of groceries. They are stock piling a few items using sales, multiple coupons for each item purchased, and overage costs to make the bill low.
I save about 50 to 75%, depending on the sales in my area. And I think I’m doing great! We have no stores that double, but we do have one that let you stack coupons. Normally this store is the one I use the least coupons at due to the fact that their prices are higher than the others. I also will buy store brands if the coupon and sale price doesn’t bring the final total down lower than the price of the store brand.
We do have some people here that clear the shelves. I find that very rude, to say the least. NO ONE needs that much of an item unless, like me, you are helping more than one household with food. Even then I never clear a shelf. As for 100 toothpastes or 300 cans of soup, my fiance had a very similar response to that as your husband did when I read the article to him. LOL
This is a great post and I wanted to thank you for it! I feel ANY savings is great, but I also typically save about 50%. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, and that’s okay. I’m still helping my family cut costs and I get great satisfaction from that. When I first started to coupon, I DID feel like I was doing something wrong since I wasn’t walking out of the store with the 90-95% savings. I quickly realized that that type of couponing was not MY type of couponing. I did not want HUGE stockpiles of items that take up half of my house. That’s just not my style. I do stock up on some items that tend to go quickly in my house, such as cereal, yogurt, and cheese. I also buy a few extra packages of meat on the rare occasion they have a really good sale. In any case, my family now spends LESS on groceries and household items compared to before and for that, I am grateful. Thanks again for the post and for all the great tips (and coupons!) I’ve gotten from you all!
Thank you for a wonderful post. A lot of us couponers needed to hear what you said because we (for the most) believe that most blogers save 100% on their purchases. Every time when I go into a store and hand over my coupons I sweat because I know a cashier is going to give me a hard time with my coupons, but after reading posts I know I am doing it right. I feel much more at ease. I do stock up on a few items such as toothpaste, shampoo, soap, ext but not going overboard…..10 items at the most. I thank you again for all the hard work on every post. You guys are awesome!!
Very Welcome, and YOU ARE DOING FINE April!
Well said! I couldn’t agree more. I’m happy with anything over 50%…everything else is bonus. Plus, those percentages aren’t always accurate when stores keep raising prices. 🙂 it’s all about those buy and stock up prices. I love this site! It is a huge help to my family. Thank you a million times and God bless! 🙂
I’m more of a 50/75 % saver too. I don’t run to stores for “freebies”or over buy just to get the deals that are hot. I buy what I need. Most weeks by doing shopping Wednesdays I can cut my bill in half using coupons, store cards, and apps. I sometimes feel like I’m not doing a good job, but when I look at my stocked pantry, I know that the coupons and sales I find for my family are really helping us out.
Today at the grocery store, the guy behind me in line said. “Excuse me, may I ask how much you just saved?” I proudly said $137.00. Still paid $153.00. But felt damn good about the savings!! I by no means have a stockpile, but a few extra toothpastes, deodorants, tp, etc… Doesn’t hurt.