Help me wade thru the coupon quagmire, please!

[GenB]

I have got to cut my grocery bill!! I already make all my own cleaners from vinegar, baking soda and even make my own detergent, so I've cut out alot there. But I need to learn to use coupons.

Do stores take the ones you print off the internet? Where do you find them?

Also, can anyone explain the CVS/Walgreen puzzle? Do any of you save anything by buying from either of these stores?

This is difficult. I try to by sound, healthy food from local sources but organic here is tremendously expensive and healthy food is alot higher than some less healthy options. We are cutting out alot of meat, so that will hopefully help. I think I could really save by using coupons for the things I do use, though. Thanks for any advice!

[MommaStumpf]

CVS still does not seem to me personally to be such a great deal. (The way I see it yes sometimes you do get things free but you are still paying the money in the first place) I love Wal-greens because you can use their easy saver coupons which are store coupons and use manfactors coupons on the same item (I get lots of stuff free or really really cheap) as for learning coupons may I suggest reading some of the books written by Ellie Kay or visiting her site elliekay.com

you would have to ask your local stores their internet coupons policy I know one of the stores in our area only accepts them if they are printed in color. couponmom.com usually has links to online coupons and membership is free

[jennordhavn]

I just starting using coupons in January and I really like it. I started just using Huggies Pull Ups coupons, but now I use a lot more. I only use them for stuff I buy anyways or stuff I want to try. Some stores don't take internet coupons, but some do. You just have to figure that out store by store. I don't even buy the Sunday paper, my Mom gives me her leftover coupons and then I get some on the internet.

I think the bigger savings than coupons is shopping the loss leaders at the major grocery stores. I used to just shop at Winco because they have the lowest overall prices, but when I started checking out Safeway and Raley's sales ads, I realized there is a ton of stuff I buy that goes on sale and I could save more money. Plus a lot of times, it's better quality. Now I rarely go to Winco, maybe just once a month, because I get such great deals at Safeway and Raley's.

I don't have any CVS's around here, but I started shopping Walgreens and have saved TONS of money. Mainly on household and toiletry items. I never thought I could get stuff cheaper at Walgreens than Walmart. I used to go to Walmart every weekend and now I rarely go. I think Walgreens discontinued their rebate program, but they have register rewards which are a great deal. The item is usually already on sale and then you get a register reward for your next purchase. It's basically a coupon for so much off. For example, they had Mitchum deodorant on sale for $2.99 and then you get $2 register rewards, making the final price $.99. They also recently had Edge shave gel for $2.99 and gave $3 register rewards, making it FREE. The key is to use the register rewards on stuff that is also on sale, that way you are always getting the best deal. Also, you can use thier own coupons combined with manufacturer's coupons and get stuff really cheap.

I hope this information helps. Good luck!

[englishcottage1]

My coupons are arranged by the binder method and I do get the sunday paper, I easily make back the money I pay for that one paper (except on holiday's where there are usually no coupons) It does seem to take some time getting up and running, but most of the time I organize mine while I'm sitting at night watching a show or the news etc.

Before you start printing out internet coupons, make sure your local store does take them (as mentioned above) My Hyvee takes them as long as there is a watermark on them, this helps prevent fraud, my local walmart says they want only color internet coupons, I only give them black and white (they do take those) because I tell them that color only is not in their policy guidelines, it costs too much for the ink on your printer to save a quarter etc, which by the way, I don't ever print any coupon under 50 cents because you spend more on printing the coupon then what it's worth, unless you can double the coupon.

I don't do walgreens or cvs. The stores are too far from the grocery stores and I be going mostly just for health,beauty'cleaning, etc and I count the gas it would take to get me to that one store and it used to drive me crazy listening to my sil talk about how she saved a dollar here and there on these few items at three different locations but the three stores where far apart from each other, so she would spend $5 in gas to save $3 in groceries, etc, if your lucky enough to have say like a walgreens just across the street from your grocery store, well, consider yourself lucky

What store do you usually shop at? If it's walmart, what is your local grocery chain (other than walmart) that you go to? Remember, just because Walmart says they are the cheapest, many people believe that, sometimes though, some people have nowhere else but to shop at Walmart, I don't as much as possible, they have really raised their prices since a lot more people are shopping there, if you pay attention to prices you will see that they raise an item by a dollar and then put one of those price drops stickers on the item. I think a good rule of thumb for saving money when you shop is pay attention to the prices for regular items you usually buy, and don't aways fall for the price drop sticker (in any store) because a lot of times, it's not true, they just want you to think it is.

Usually the night before going shopping I check Hyvee's flyer, I match up coupons with sale items and you do better if you can match a hyvee coupon with a coupon from the paper. Then I make my menu for the week based on the sale items. I do have a stockpile and when I can get an item at a really good price, then I stock up on them. I have about five boxes of Trail Mix Crunch cereal because Hyvee had them on sale for $2.50 a box and I had four internet coupons for $2 off a box and another coupon for $2.50 off a box I cut out from a magazine (you need to watch those for coupons also, some have some pretty good ones in there), When you coupon, also make sure you eat what it is what your buying and don't buy something just because you can get a great deal on it, because if your going to have to toss it because nobody ate it, then it's just a waste of money. I also try to buy healthy food, and there are coupons out there for fruits and vegetables, just not that many.