I always tell people that when you coupon, you need to re-learn how to shop. Most of us make a list of things we need, go to the store and buy what is on the list. When you shop like this you are forced to pay the price the store has them marked. If you need that item, you do not really have much choice but to pay what the store is asking for that item. One of the keys to being a successful coupon shopper is to learn to stock up on items your family needs at there lowest price point. Stock up when you find the perfect sale, that pairs with a great coupon, many times you are able to get that item free or pennies on the dollar. Instead of buying one jar of peanut butter, go ahead and buy 6. You can now take those 6 jars of peanut butter home, put them in your pantry. Your pantry will soon be filled with items that you bought at their lowest price point. You now have the freedom to not buy peanut butter again till it is at a price you are willing to pay.
This is why having multiple coupons is such an import key to saving money. If peanut butter comes on sale for $1.00 a jar and you have a .75 cent off coupon, you are able to get that jar for only .25 cents. But that one jar will not last very long, so in a few weeks you will need to buy it again at regular price. If you have 6 coupons them you are able to buy 6 jars, at their lowest price point. For the same price it will cost you for one jar at regular retail price. I am very busy and I do not have time to run to the store for one jar at a good price, but if I can get 6 jars at a good price then it is worth my time.
Also Neva, even if we don’t buy those papers there are still all those Newspapers that are still sitting in the store 3-4 days later. I have seen them just throw them in the garbage on Thursday. At least with the people who coupon instead of them just sitting there we do use the inserts and store flyers. Then we find useful things to do with the paper to help in some way. They are going to print papers anyway so why not have us couponers buy them use what we need then give back so we can use the paper for lots of other things besides just reading. We are not wasting but Recycle, Reuse, reduce. We are doing our part.
Leah, I know some people call what we do “hording” but we call it “food storage”. I can’t tell you how many people I know, including my brother and his family, that have had to basically live on their food storage for the past year. Even after dropping medical insurance benefits that were through the roof expensive, they had to cut their food budget down to about $150/month for a family of 5. They would have not been able to do it if it were not for their food storage and they didn’t coupon. Yes, it is all gone now and unfortunately they are not in a position where they can build it up again. By using coupons and I take a small portion of my budget and share my deals with them. My grocery budget for my family of 6 is $350/month and that was before I started couponing. Most months were very “lean” on food. Now I am able to keep to my budget and build my food storage or stockpile. I know if something were to happen we would be able to survive with what I have purchased for at least 4-6 months without having to shop for anything else but milk, eggs, cheese and produce. I believe we are expected to be resourceful and I am grateful that someone told me about couponing and I went to a class to find out more. There were many months in the past that I put groceries on a credit card and went into debt to feed my family. My goal is to now get completely out of debt and this is a good start.
I have been couponing for about 6 months, and I have found that sometimes I spend too much, because even though something is a great deal, I don’t necessarily need it. Have you found any tricks that help you know when a deal is worth it or not?
True Neva,
But its more then just recycling Read about how your extra papers can help needy children and their families
Also read here to see that pet shelters need newspapers for cage liners
Granted couponing, or even extreme couponing isn’t for everyone. If you have a family of 5 like us, or a family of 10, sometimes 1 newspaper wont save you enough to even make couponing of any type worth it. Here at A Thrifty Mom we have stressed proper use and tips on being Thrifty. Simply throwing newspapers in the recycling bin is not being Thrifty… being Thrifty is stretching what ever you have, as far as you can. Either for your own family, or someone, or some place else.
Ok, I am new to this so I just have a question about stocking up? How is it that you can print like 8 coupons for something and use them when they state on the bottom, “Valid for one transaction only”? I know the stores still take multiple coupons but I am a little confused?
ok, gotta share this ’cause your method makes a lot of sense and it has helped us immensely this past year in which we have had one medical crisis after another.
Besides being able to draw upon our “stash” (and thus conserving cash) we were also able to help our college age children and a local mission. We were unable to give daughters much in $’s, but were able to help set up their first homes/apartments with cleaning supplies and household staples that I had “stockpiled”. They were thrilled as they had a good idea of what all those items cost. I was so glad to be able to help them in some way. I also gave “extras” to our local rescue mission.
We have needed much help this past year, but being able to give back even just a little has been a great blessing.
I think this site is a great clearinghouse for ideas. I have found so many great deals using info that I have read about on this site, but I am still a hold-out on the buying of multiple copies of the paper. What about environmental impact? Buying multiple copies of the newspaper (that you aren’t going to read) seems to create an awful lot of waste. I know you can recycle them, but it’s just too much tree-killing for me.
Those are just my values, though, and I would never want to thrust my values on someone else. Obviously I’m not as hard-core as some of you, so this is just my “deep thought” for the day.
But keep those good ideas coming! Just because something doesn’t work for one, doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else, so having a broad scope of information is great.
Thanks, that’s great info, and well explained! Now I can explain it like this to people that ask me why I have so many of one item!
I totally agree…Some people just don’t understand this. I have stocked up so much with my Kmart doubling that when I show people my storage they think I am hording. I have to keep reminding myself that I am not. No one knows what their emergency will be. I have been able to give so much to people that are in need…and who knows, I may be in need someday and grateful that I stocked up! Thanks for posting this!