Quitting the grocery couponing

**dancemommy** · 08-26-2010, 11:33 AM

We have been all over with our income over the years. There have been times when we couponed hard- and I'm so thankful that we did. We were able to survive on such a small amount of money for many years. When I would come home with bags and bags of groceries and a mile long receipt I always felt like we had won the lottery! Now that we are making more money I still seek to be frugal, but we have also changed what we eat. We try to eat very healthfully- honestly, most of the items we purchased when couponing were less than that. So, rather than use coupons I now just shop sales- buy a lot of what is on sale and pass on the other items. I also found that couponing takes up a lot of time and it doesn't seem like now that I make more an hour it is even necessarily worth the time. Is there anyone else that has quit the couponing?

**NikoSan999** · 08-26-2010, 01:54 PM

Nope, not me. I actually like it. I've done it for 30 years thru excellent times and bad times. Have always had a ball couponing. I like getting $178 worth of groceries for like $80. Like beating the system for once and doing it legally. I wouldn't quit if I hit the lottery.

**Dancing Lotus** · 08-26-2010, 02:01 PM

I was a hard core coupon queen but I don't eat processed food anymore so I find coupons useless. I also only use natural cleaning products, I don't buy paper products other then toilet paper and I only use one brand of makeup. So there you have it.

**McD** · 08-26-2010, 02:05 PM

I also quit. I clip a coupon if it's for a product I know I will use. I choose to spend my time in other ways, as well as prefer to cook with more natural ingredients as opposed to processed/packaged items.

**druthb00** · 08-26-2010, 02:10 PM

I just started! So, no, for now (and the foreseeable future) I'm going to continue. I like the fact I haven't paid for toothpaste or hair products in nearly a year. I also haven't gone organic or vegetarian or "green." And frankly, I couldn't afford to. I look at it like this, if I didn't use coupons for things like cereal, canned/frozen veggies, milk, cheese, lunch meat and BF's chips for his lunches...then I wouldn't be able to afford to purchase the fresh seafood or Babybel cheese I love so much. I almost never use coupons to buy frozen snacks or cookies or other junk food. I see coupons just as a way to stretch my grocery budget to be able to purchase the more "expensive" food that I like.

I've also gotten to try a lot of products I wouldn't have been able to in the past. Kashi cereal and granola bars for example...what are they? Like $3.50 a box usually? I grabbed a bunch of each for only $1 a box just a month or so ago. I don't even know what the regular price of Smart Milk is...but I got 2 gallons of it for FREE the last time Publix had it BOGO and I had coupons. This week Publix has Cascadian Farms (organic) granola bars on BOGO for $3.99. Whole foods Q's and MFQ's combined and I paid a whopping .50 a box for them! Again, something I would have never bought without a sale/coupons because of how expensive they are. I also got several pints of blueberries free several months back, when they were $2 a pint at Publix at the same time they issued $2/produce Q's.

I think there's lots of Q's out there for junk food, but there's more and more Q's showing up that are for healthy or organic foods now, too. So, with that, off the soapbox I go lol

Edit: Also, my kitties appreciate my coupons. They wouldn't get treats or canned cat food EVER if I didn't have coupons to pay for them. And I use Q's (with BOGO sales) for their dry food also, cutting my cost to feed them dramatically.

**Momto5RN** · 08-26-2010, 02:12 PM

i went from supoer couponer that never looked at what i spent only what i saved - to 99% aldi's shopping and no coupons to coupons when its cheaper etc - to lately wanting to but not finding the time .

i cant use internet coupons around here so that takes alot of the fun out of it

i havent given it up i just dont have the time for it .
i actually got a coupon box from refund cents and labled up all the categories before summer but now that summer is here i havent had the time to work with it .
so i wacth sales but i use to combine the sale with a coupon and get next cheaply or to free the following
i used it for cereals for the kids ( even unsugary like cherrios etc has coupons ) occasional processed stuff ( lean cousine for me when i work my weekend job or for things for the teens when they are hungry for more than a snack -IE a hot pocket etc )
frozen veggies in steamable bags for my oldest 2 kids ( 19 and 22 ) who will eat them in between meals or as a meal before work etc

shaving stuff- tooth pastes -shampoos - conditioners doedorants- mousse-soap - feminine products etc .
TP = PT =napkins zip locks for bulk cooking trash bags etc

all of the above of course only when its cheaper than no name or aldi's brands .

so i am thinking i am probably missing out on saving ~ 50-100 a month by not couponing but right now i am focusing on paying down debt and an hour of work brings me more than an hour of couponing so it isnt getting done now.

as a family of 7 we could save a ton just on paper - health and beauty stuff alone .

**dcompton** · 08-26-2010, 03:39 PM

I haven't quit, but don't do it as religiously as I used to. I have started using some frozen convenience foods that I never did before and I can sometimes find coupons for that. Right now in my life the convenience is worth the extra cost, and it's still cheaper than eating out.

If I find coupons for something I will use, I do use them, but I don't spend a lot of time with it. Also I grocery shop less often, so I miss a lot of sale+coupon opportunities. I also use a lot of store brands at Kroger, because I get my 10% senior discount, and leaves out a lot of the national brands that have coupons.

So yes and no. I haven't toally quit, but using one is more serendipity than planned nowadays.

**Palooka** · 08-26-2010, 04:33 PM

The only coupons I use is for HBA stuff or CVS deals. I've never been one to spend a lot of time searching and finding them. And yeah, I wouldn't find much I would use in the food area. Maybe cereal, but I mostly stock up on that at Aldi.

**Saule** · 08-26-2010, 04:35 PM

I don't use much in the way of processed foods. I do use coupons if it's for something I normally buy, a few other things, cat food and treats. Some stores have coupons for fresh meat and produce, I will use those if they make sense. I find my large ethnic markets still beat the prices overall for those kind of goods.

**angelbumpkin** · 08-26-2010, 05:03 PM

I do match coupons with sells so I can donate to churches food pantry.

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 08-26-2010, 05:08 PM

I'm what I would consider a low-to-mid-level couponer. We don't eat a ton of processed foods but those that we do eat are sometimes cheaper in the store brand. I do clip and save coupons for the items we're likely to use, however those that aren't used are rounded up with some from my local MOMS club and sent overseas for use by our military families.

**ladykemma2** · 08-26-2010, 06:49 PM

the only coupons i have found useful are

del monte canned veg and fruit
franks durkee red hot
scotts toilet paper
fancy feast for the cats
pace picante sauce

since i cook from scratch i never buy the processed junk coupons are for. i do look though and clip the occasional coupon.

and then forget to use it.

**brenda67** · 08-26-2010, 07:41 PM

I couldn't never stop using coupons! I don't get to use them on food to much anymore...as there really hasn't been to many good food coupons out other than for the rice I just got for free..mayo..bb sauce..mustard..pickles..I think that's about it until baking season comes around..I however did use over 200 coupons in the past 6 weeks for items that ended up free or for just pennies..here's what I stocked pile:

Garbage bags
Baggies (various sizes)
Batteries ( AA's & AAA's around 80 total for free)
Bic Pen's (I have years worth now..about 400 pens for free)
Colgate Toothpaste ( several boxes for free)
Colgate Toothbrushes (several for free)
Lady plus Men Speed Stick (several for free)
Paper plates..( hundred's for pennies)
Aluminum Foil (a years worth .50 a box)

That's all I can think of without going down in my basement to look..I don't know understand why anyone wouldn't want to continue to save money by matching coupon's up with sale product's..Maybe it's just me?

I also wanted to add that I bought over 30 boxes of Novelty Ice cream on sale for $1.25 matched up with the $1.00 coupon for .25 a box total..pretty cheap! (gave alot to my Aunt for her grandchildren to enjoy) yup it's not a real healthy treat..but my dh was real excited over it as well as my boys..

I've literally saved thousand's & thousand's of dollar's over the years thanks to my coupon's..

**marjorie** · 08-26-2010, 07:55 PM

I still coupon, but largely for toiletries and cherry-picking. When I find a great deal I'll order coupons for it and buy enough to last a year if non-perishable usually. It was very helpful for me to see what we actually used when i was unable to stockpile anything for a period of time.

**frugalfranny** · 08-27-2010, 12:21 AM

Didn't quit...just never got really into it.

I will use a few........for things that I buy normally......but most of it is for stuff I don't/won't use.

The coupons used to have a MUCH LONGER expiration period now they are good for about a month and I won't buy the product (even with a coupon) unless it is on sale. Sometimes it doesn't go on sale in that time period. I probably have about 10 of them in my car right now..........waiting.