I read an article today and the author argued that people should not start using coupons.
From the article:
Yes, you can save a lot of money with coupons, especially when you combine them with sales. However, there are some drawbacks to coupons that must be taken into account. Perhaps the most dedicated coupon clippers can overcome these hurdles and still achieve overall savings. If you’re not one of them, there’s no need to start clipping.
I couldn’t disagree more. I am definitely not a “dedicated coupon clipper.” I receive a Sunday paper and print about 10-20 internet coupons a month. My weekly coupon savings is around $20. That equals about $1000 a year, or $50,000 over my shopping lifetime (if I live to be seventy).
Here are my thoughts in response to her reasons you shouldn’t clip coupons.
1. You have to buy a newspaper
Not necessarily, you can print coupons, download them to your phone, and get coupons from neighbors or even the recycle bin. My brother’s family gets the paper delivered to his house every week for free because of a promotion. Yes, I pay about $0.50 a week for our newspaper, but my kids happen to like reading the comics and sometimes we actually read the paper. (gasp!)
2. Clipping coupons takes time
It does, just like every other activity in life. Life is all about priorities and choices. I spend about an 45 minutes a month clipping coupons and organizing them. I save about $80. I think $80 an hour is a pretty good pay rate, don’t you?
3. Getting a newspaper invites lots of additional advertising into your home.
So does watching television, movies, magazines, billboards, cereal boxes, and just about everything else. Is she really suggesting that we shouldn’t read a newspaper because of advertising? There is advertising all over online news media as well as television. Advertising is a part of life, be discerning about it.
4. Many of the coupons will be for things you neither need nor want.
Yes, that is true, and that is why I don’t clip or print coupons for things I don’t need or want. I happen to believe that my readers are savvy enough to not purchase 800 boxes of Lucky Charms just because they are $0.25 a box.
5. Coupons can tempt you to spend your grocery dollars on things you shouldn’t.
The entire grocery store has been set up to tempt you to spend your grocery dollars on things you shouldn’t buy. That is why you have to walk by every item in the store to get to the milk and eggs. I have visited research labs that pay people to shop and record all their movements for the sole purpose of designing stores to entice you to spend more money.
6. The same coupons tend to be offered over and over again.
And for that I am thankful. My family buys a lot of yogurt, toothpaste and toilet paper. I love seeing those coupons every single week in my paper.
7. You might become a slave to coupons.
Seriously, a slave to coupons? This just seems ridiculous to me. I guess in life you could become a slave to just about anything. I would think things like gambling, alcoholism, or pornography would be something to be a bit more concerned about…
8. Shopping takes longer.
Shopping also takes longer because I read the label on most of the products I purchase. Should I stop caring about my families nutrition just because my shopping trip takes an hour rather than 45 minutes?
This article really got under my skin because I feel like there are so many things in this world that are truly harmful and negative and yet this author is attacking coupons? Consumers are getting smarter every day. I have good friends who have used coupons to stretch their grocery budget and change their families financial future. Couponing is just one tool people can use to become better stewards of their money.
With everything in life it is important to count the costs before diving in, but in my life coupons are definitely worth the effort!
This post is linking to Frugal Friday.
I’m with you! When I decided we needed to make the switch to eating more natural/organic foods, I turned to coupons. By the savings I made on our basic toiletries and detergents we were able to keep the same grocery budget we had when I was buying all the prepackaged foods. It’s worth it for this stay-at-home mom!
I’m going to have to agree with the article. I have tried for the last two years to get couponing to work for me. But it doesn’t and it was not for a lack of trying. We don’t buy a lot of name brand goods. I buy generics or known cheap brands which are almost always cheaper than a brand name on sale. I also don’t buy a lot of processed food. I buy ingredients and keep an eye out for sales.
Also, our family is Asian and Asian food tends to be cheap, if you know how to shop and cook. (Lots of vegetables, very little meat, served with rice or rice noodles which are cheap.) Most of the time, we shop at the Asian grocery store and there are no coupons for most of those goods. This isn’t to say I don’t look for ways to save money. I do make use of store cards and my buying habits tend to stretch our dollar fairly well. I don’t get the GIGANTIC savings that double stacking coupons can get you but I still do fairly well.
I save quiet a bit with couponing but I combine it with ad comping and stockpiling. For instance we like Ragu spaghetti sauce so if there are coupons that is great and I will use them but I know in our area $1.50 a jar is a rock bottom price so I will buy 10-12 jars at a time. In October or so coupons will start to come out for Campbell’s cream soups. I will save the coupons as long as possible hoping to use them when the rock bottom prices start up for November/December. Last year I bought 120 cans at $.60 a can instead of $1.20 a can. Beef Hot Dogs are another thing. They have been coming out wtih $1.00 off 2 packs in the papers and on the internet. Sometimes if the coupons are good enough I will pick up a second paper. I also go to my mothers house and print off extra coupons. I believe I have 20-30 packages of hotdogs that I paid half price or less for. Recently our library started a box in the foyer where you can drop off your extra coupons. I have stopped twice and found approximately 8 $5.00 off coupons for a new razor on the market. All I really wanted was the 2 cartrides which I got for $.98 a piece. If I had bought the cartrides alone they would have cost almost $2.o0 a piece. So I probably have a years supply of razors. Stayfree is another brand that puts out good coupons. I have stocked up on feminie products at $1.0o per package times 10-12 packages. I will try new items with coupons if the price is good enough. Though I do buy some generic sometimes the price of the brand name after coupons is low enough to make the brand name worth getting.
I went to the commissary this evening and they are actually having a couponing contest next Friday and Saturday (Grand prize is a big commissary shopping spree!). I’ve seen some of the coupon queens there and their savings are impressive – I don’t have time to be that organized, but they do and I applaud their efforts. I think that it’s best to put all of your money-saving efforts into per-hour dollars saved, per the Tightwad Gazette approach. If you can save $20 with one hour’s couponing, that’s worth doing. Buying items you would not normally use, just because you have a coupon – silly.
I agree Nikki- Most of my savings are on toiletries, which allows me to spend in other areas of my grocery budget.
toni
Personally, I don’t get stockpiling – stuff goes bad and I don’t have space for so much stuff. Also, week after week you seem to spend SO MUCH in the name of ‘not buying it for awhile’ – but next week you spend SO MUCH stockpiling something else! Overall it seems like it would destroy my budget.
However, I find that if I buy a $0.75 paper from the gas station every Saturday, I will get at least $0.75 worth of savings in coupons for stuff I already buy. I’m a single working gal, and when I menu plan and use coupons, I can shop for about $30 a week.
I think folks can have an unhealthy obession about couponing, but they can have an unhealthy obsession about anything. It’s not the coupon’s fault.
Absolutely agree. Plus I ask my neighbor for her coupon sections (since she doesn’t use them herself) and I get 2 copies for the price of one. Our newspaper subscription MORE than pays for itself.
Amen sister, amen!!
I couldn’t AGREE with you more!
Couponing definitely takes time, but as you stated, it’s time worth the money. I save at least 40% each week on groceries, and have brought my weekly budget down about $25 if not more, per week. That’s $1300 a year! Not to mention, I get most if not all of my toiletries for free, so that eliminates that expense. So imagine those savings as well!
I spend $6 a week on papers, but if I save $40 that week on groceries, I’ve made $34 off them!
I too take longer shopping only because I read labels. Couponing (and a list) actually helps me streamline my shopping, because I know exactly what I’m buying that week.
That article irritated me as well. In today’s economy, everyone is doing what they can to save money and this article totally discredited the reasoning behind couponing, by the comments that were made.
Okay, I totally agree with EVERYTHING you said and I’d like to add one more “in favor of” reason. Maybe I’m just a weirdo, but I have to say that I LOVE to coupon. It’s very fun to me to match coupons with sales, report my savings to the entire house when I get home and use my “free” dollars at CVS and Walgreens to get fun stuff. Its a hobby that I happen to enjoy AND it’s better for me than sitting around watching TV.
Great responses to all of the arguments! I am not a dedicated coupon clipper by any stretch of the imagination, but every little bit I save is something. I am very careful to only clip coupons that I know I will use.
I don’t care for couponing in general. But I have changed the way we eat so I buy my meat in bulk from a local farmer and now I am canning and freezing for the winter and make a lot of stuff from scratch (like you do) and I just buy my paper products in bulk because I do like to save money but I don’t like to coupon or go to a regular grocery store. Of course, to each their own.
I used to coupon until about 3 months ago. I found myself SO stressed about what to buy, when to buy it, was the price low enough and could I get to the store before the sale ended. I don’t live close to any stores, it’s a good 25 minute drive. I found myself spending more money each week for the sales and when I got home I had nothing to make but a few meals. So by the end of the week I was having to spend more money on something to put a meal together. I understand the stockpile side of it, but I was so broke from “sale shopping” that I would use up my stockpile every couple of months or so, and then I would again stress because I had to start over. I used to LOVE shopping! It would be my time after my husband got off work to wander around the store enjoying the time without the kids, but it wasn’t that way any more I was flying around trying to get all the sales so I could run into another store while I was in town to get those sales, I was going to 3 stores sometimes. I started about 3 months ago to try an experiment with myself. I sat down and made a meal plan for the week and then only bought what my meal plan was. Now instead of spending over 70 dollars on sale items and nothing else, now I spend about 50-70 for meals for the 5 of us a week, and I am not so stressed anymore! I am sure I will still use some printed coupons for toiletries but I don’t think I will get back into “hard core” couponing.
Stockpiling is much more difficult if you are single but with a family it makes sense. When I was in college just cooking for one creates a lot of waste. I was always feeding friends. I actually have a very small area to store food ( I do not even have closets in my house ) but if you stack cans on top of each other and from front to back I can store a lot of food in 2 cabinets. Canned foods usually have a date 2 years out. The main things I stockpile would be dried beans, rice, spaghetti suace, crackers (about 2 months worth), chips ( a month at least), meat (6 weeks or so – 14 cubic foot deep freezer), cake mixes, canned pie fillings, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, tuna, chocolate syrup for chocolate milk. Things like eggs and cheese are not worth stockpiling but I always buy ketchup and mustard in the summer for half price. It saves down the road.
With stockpiling there is always food in the house. So right now I have potatoes and rice in the house. I believe we are low on noodles so next week I will buy several boxes of noodles. We have free ground chuck and marked down roasts I found yesterday plus frozen steaks, fajita meat but no chicken until saturday when my bulk buy is delivered. So with stockpiling you try to keep your stock full and replenished so you always have food in the house. When you go shopping you are actually just replacing or adding to what you have already used. So when I say buy spaghetti sauce I usually still have 2 or 3 in the house and I am watching for the sales to replinish.
We have a big family too – 7 kids – and I almost never use coupons. I have gone to using almost all non-name brand items and do a lot of shopping at Aldi’s and Walmart – and I’m not sure how coupons could possibly make it cheaper than a non-name brand at a place like Aldi’s. Occasionally the quality is a bit less for “generic” but the price difference is so substantial it’s worth it to me. I would appreciate your thoughts on this!
When I first started couponing, I got a little carried away, cataloging all my coupons and sorting by expiration dates. Now, I buy four Sunday papers (at a reduced cost by getting them from a distributor on Monday) and then file the inserts by date in a binder (using one page protector per week). I use the sales blogs to tell me what coupons I might need for the week, based on sales going on, and then I cut ONLY the coupons I need for the week. Every few months, I take a couple of hours to purge the unused coupons from my folder. Any loose coupons I have, I keep in envelopes by expiration date in the front of my binder. Using this method saves time, and I’m still saving a TON of money… I haven’t “bought” toiletries since I started, AND I use the “money makers” to get super cheap diapers and other necessities that I can’t get free.
I don’t stockpile eggs, but when the bags of shredded cheese are on sale for 1.00-1.25, I stock up! Our family goes through tons of it and the freshness date lasts a very long time. Perfect to have on hand for casseroles and other meals.
I disgree with the person who wrote the article. Yesterday for instance I ran low on diapers and wipes which is a rarity for me. I had a coupon for 2 dollars off of pampes wipes that made a wipe of ocntainers for less than 50 cents and also a diaper for 2 dollars off of diapers. I sometimes end up getting my item almost free or close too it. When I do major grocery shopping I probably save about 20/30 a trip. I use the time cutting coupons for my little ones to be able to cut what ever they like.
I know what stockpiling is, but thank you for the definition. It is that in my situation I was not able to afford to have stockpiled items when my husband did not have enough hours for the week or other things happened like doctors appts that used up extra funds. So then I would use up my stockpile in order to not have to shop. Now at this time I find it easier the way I am doing things.
That is one of the most ridiculous articles I’ve read in a long time. I can’t stand it when a reporter or writer is stretching things just to make a deadline.
I save at least $20 a week from coupons just from the Sunday paper. This does not include my fav store’s digital coupons that can be stacked with the paper ones.
If you are a discerning shopper and write down your shopping list ahead of time or use a service like http://www.TheGroceryGame.com, then your shopping trip can be done in no time flat.
I’m commenting on the reply below as well as to the article in general.
To the commenter below, You can take a coupon class. I offer them and I,m sure there are others that can teach you about drugstore shopping. This will begin to get you all your toiletries and paper goods for free as well as paying you to take them out of the store. This is where I make lots of money and have so much that I have to give it away. I don’t really pay for toiletries or paper goods anymore and with all the coupons as well as rebates I mostly get paid to shop for them. This allows me to use my money for groceries. I get fresh veggies, milk, eggs and bread each week. But I also take advantage of the free frozen veggies that I get all the time when fresh ones are expensive. I also get tons of free pasta and rice.
I also don’t buy a lot of prepackaged foods but with the things I talked about that I do get free all the time, I can spend money of veggies, and meat and dairy. I also get free or very cheap yogurt all the time as well as cheese.
I have learned to stockpile these in the freezer and pull them out as needed.
About the article. I think it’s crazy, I spend about $25.00 a week because of my stockpile and while it’s only me and my husband. I make lots of meals for our church and we have people over for dinner about two times a week. So I think I do well with coupons. I prioritize and only spend about an hour a week cutting coupons, printing them and looking up deals for the stores. I subscribe to several blogs that match the sales for me so I don’t have to do that. Then I take one day and go shopping and hit all the stores at once.
I do more shopping than some people because I buy things for shelters, ministries at church and other families. But this is my way of blessing others with the resources I have.
I get so much stuff to give away and 95% of it is free and I get paid by the store to take it.
The part of the article that said there are many coupons for things you don’t need. I find this not to be true. Unless it’s junk food that no one needs. I use coupons every week for things I don’t need and pass them on to others. I get Depends undergarments and give them to a friend who needs them. Different kinds of vitamins and medicines I donate to a Christian medical clinic.
I even keep extra granola bars and cereal bars in my car to give to the homeless people I pass on the streets.
Of course not everyone has time to do all those things but don’t throw away coupons, pass them on to someone you know needs that item or if they are giving it away for free and you don’t need it donate it to your food bank or some other ministry.
God has given us the resources we have and we are expected to be good stewards of them. Coupons is just one way to make sure they are streched even further and not just to bless us but many others as well.
Make a difference to the people in your community and give from your abundance. If all of us did this just a little bit, there would be a lot less needy people around.
I agree on all your points. My family never seems to read the Sunday paper, so I stopped subscribing, and I miss those coupons. But most (not all) of them can be printed online. I always shop at Shop Rite or Price Cutters because the A&P doesn’t accept online coupons (lost me as a customer!). It only takes a few minutes and it is important only to use the coupons on products you already use/want.
Hi Gwen,
The difference with coupons is that a lot of the time you get the items for free or so cheap that even the generic item is a lot more expensive.
I encourage you to go to hip2save.com and just look at the matchups for the coming weeks. Educate yourself just a little bit on the drugstores. If you only shopped at drugstores, after a few weeks you would already have your toiletries and paper goods for free. This would free up more money for your grocery budget.
This past week I got Kraft Cheese for 50 cents a block x 10 and put them in the freezer. I got Activia yogurt 6 packs for 25 cents again, x 10 and put them in the freezer. I was able to get frozen veggies in the steamable bags for free x 10 and freeze them.
If I had bought the generic brand of any of these I would have spent a ton of money as it is I only spent 6.25 plus tax for all the above.
I get two papers delivered for 75 cents each week and I match up the sales a couple weeks away so I can order the coupons I will need from a clipping service that only charges about 5 cents per coupon and a flat shipping fee.
Now I have all these items on hand to make casseroles with or pass on to other families needing food.
I get stuff like this all the time. Plus I never pay for toiletries and paper goods anymore.
My husband has not had any work since March so I understand. My stockpile is starting to get low but I just hope and pray that I do not run completly out.
I love coupons and am raising my daughters to enjoy using them, too. Now that being said my coupons are not organized and I don’t always remember to take them to the store with me. My view, though, is that if I can save even just $1.00 by using a coupon, that’s $1.00 that I can save or use for something else.
I like the coupons for pads or tampons the best. There are three of us using them and we prefer name brands for those, so any coupons for those definitely get used!
I envy those who are extremely organized with it and I would probably save more if I used a different system but if I can do something that doesn’t take much time and saves a little bit of money, then that’s awesome.
Deborah-
What a blessing you are to your community! I was going to write in my response about buying things I don’t need to share with others, but I didn’t get around to it. I think it is awesome what you are doing!
Toni
I stockpile shredded cheese too! It went on sale at Safeway a few months ago and I bought enough to fill my freezer! My family LOVES cheese and could easily go through a pound a day if I let them. I agree, between pizza and casseroles we love our cheese.
ALso if you use shredded cheese in cooked recipes it CAN be frozen!
you don’t have to go “all out” and blow your budget to stockpile. One or two things extra each week of something you use all the time can save in the long run.
Thank you so much for these ideas – I will look into more of this. I always love to find better deals! Right now, we spend around $300/month to feed our family of 9, but we’re about to go full-time with a ministry where our income will be about half of what we’re making currently. So I really appreciate the help!
Btw, I’m curious as to what you spend a month for your family’s grocery bill? Sorry if you’ve covered this elsewhere…
Our grocery bill is between $500 and $600 a month for a family of nine, that covers pull-ups (three are still in pull-ups at night), formula, cleaning products, paper products etc….
I can’t believe you are spending only $300. That is amazing.
Toni
well said! I also want to tell you that reading your blog made me feel more comfortable with just using the coupons for things we really need. I mean, I wasn’t crazy (buying 20 boxes of lucky charms, etc.), but sometimes I felt like I should buy something because it was a good deal. After reading one of your posts, I realized I can still be frugal without getting every good deal. I think I am actually spending less money now and I’m buying more quality food for my family.
I think both points have merit. I find that the generic brands are often cheaper than using a coupon on a name brand item that’s on sale. Also, there’s no coupons for fresh fruits or veggies.
I do save quite a bit by using coupons on toiletries and cleaning items, because there’s some things I won’t budge on quality.
It’s just my husband and I, so we need to buy smaller quantities, and can’t stockpile too much, so if we need something, I’m not going to wait for a coupon or for it to go on sale, or buy more than we need. We live in a 650 sq. ft. apartment, so no room for a big freezer or pantry. I can see your tips working better for a larger family though.
I wholeheartedly agree. Coupons are a great thing. I was actually thinking about this same thing and wrote about different methods I’ve used to organize coupons on my blog this morning. There are few people who shouldn’t be concerned about saving money. What was this journalist smoking? Even if you are financially secure at the moment, if you can save $20 a week that’s money that can go to retirement, the kids college fund, an emergency fund, a vacation or assisting others. Yes, couponing can require some time, but if you’re organized it doesn’t have to cost that much of your time. I use coupons for all kinds of things, from my cell phone bill to groceries to activities with the kids. It really adds up.
I really started using coupons a few months ago. I get them from mulitple copies of the Sunday paper, from friends who don’t use coupons, online, in ads, in magazines, rewards/store discount cards and in store coupon dispensers. I cut/clip/save coupons for everything I would normally buy for my family or anything I would use but only buy if I got it for free or close to free. I have a stock pile of numerous drug store items, such as sunscreen, pads/tampons, hair products, deodorants, toothpastes and such. I paid very little for.
I pair up the coupons with sale items always to get the best deal. Did you know you can use a B1G1 Free coupon with a B1G1 Free sale at most stores? That brings the total cost for 2 items to $0.00! How awesome is that?
Check out all the stuff I got at Rite Aid and see how I paid less than $12.oo for it all!! http://www.manymoneysaversblog.com/2010/06/another-rite-aid-shopping-trip62710.html
Here is a link to a recent awesome deal I got at Food Lion. I spent only $1.12 total on things like mayo, dressing, juice boxes and more. Check it out :http://www.manymoneysaversblog.com/2010/06/awesome-shopping-trip-to-food-lion.html.
Couponing is time consuming but can really save a ton of money!!
My closest market puts coupons in the newspaper all the time for fresh fruits and veggies!
Another pro to couponing, besides saving money: Our church collects expired coupons for military families! I spend a little bit of time in front of the TV, chatting with my husband, to clip every single coupon. The stuff I won’t use gets sent to church. This is a way I tithe my time.
Hey, I’m pretty fond of those 25 cent boxes of Lucky Charms.. They make great late night snacks..lol.. I started couponing about 3 years ago and won’t ever stop.. They have allowed me to stretch my budget.. It is totally worth my time
I’m so glad you wrote a rebuttal to this ridiculous article posted on Yahoo. I hope you sent them a copy
What I found so insulting about the article is that it was written as if people who clip coupons do not have any brains. It also seems to assume that they do not know how to say no to any deal. It takes brains and shopping savvy to manage household funds for most of us, since a little has to go a long way. Anyone who does not think that takes smarts and self-control has never effectively managed a household.
Ladies I respect all of your opinions but I save alot more than $80 a month and I save a fortune on organic products. Most of the items are for food products not toiletries. I write a blog about it all. I would love for you all to visit. I save thousands a month and have plenty leftover to donate, share and stockpile.
yep, I agree with you. There was a time after reading $5. dinners and a few other places that I decided to try couponing. It was SOO stressful, plus I was spending way too much time driving around to different stores and pharmacies. Just when I’d pull my cart up to an item I decided wouldn’t be buying something I didn’t need, the store brand would be 40 cents cheaper than my coupon savings. None of the stores I shop at allow doubling, and we don’t have the money to afford buying something when it matches a coupon rather than when we actually need it.
I rely on store coupons and stockpiling. not too much stockpiling though… groceries are $70.00 a week for us, so like with her pasta deal, I couldn’t buy 12 boxes extra of pasta, but I would definitely pick up 3… Cake mixes, brownie mixes, pasta sauce, canned veggies when they’re 29 cents, etc…