Amy Dacyczyn "The Tightwad Gazette" quote on coupons

**imagine** · 05-12-2011, 02:32 PM

I found this quote while surfing the net today

Here’s a quote from Amy Dacyczyn in her “The Tightwad Gazette”:

“Readers frequently send me sales slips to demonstrate how much they save using coupons. With bold sweeps of colored markers they circle the figure that shows how much the coupons used added up to. They’re circling the wrong figure. The most important figure on your sales slip is how much you spend on groceries…not how much you save using coupons.”

**nuisance26** · 05-12-2011, 02:52 PM

~It is so true. It's really cool seeing "Today you saved $84" at the bottom of the receipt. But if I can buy those same items for the same price with Aldi generics am I really saving anything? Even without coupons my grocery store puts a savings total at the bottom reflecting their sale prices. It may say I saved $2 on that box of oatmeal but compared to the same box at Aldi I only saved $.25.
It really is more about how much you actually spend.~

**mauimagic** · 05-12-2011, 03:01 PM

Obvious sound logic!!

I make my lists on Sundays with all the flyers, etc. I often find at the end of the week that I haven't gone shopping and am thrilled at all that I have saved!!

**joyofsix** · 05-12-2011, 03:01 PM

That's so true. I find that even with $.50 or a $1.00 Aldi or even store brand is usually cheaper. My personal thrill is to get the marked down veggies, bread or meat and see what I saved. Now that is savings.

**Imarachne** · 05-12-2011, 05:07 PM

Our stores aren't giving good discounts like they used to.

**Ramona** · 05-12-2011, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by joyofsix

That's so true. I find that even with $.50 or a $1.00 Aldi or even store brand is usually cheaper. My personal thrill is to get the marked down veggies, bread or meat and see what I saved. Now that is savings.

This is me

**Debbie-cat** · 05-12-2011, 05:39 PM

Her quote makes sense. It is like buying something on sale that you don't need.

**greekislandgirl** · 05-12-2011, 05:46 PM

Years ago I was trying to lose weight and couldn't do it, couldn't do it... finally, though, I ended up being really successful. A friend asked me how I did it, and I said "I stopped congratulating myself for all the bad foods I passed up, and paid more attention to things I actually DID eat." Because what you didn't eat (or spend) doesn't matter.

Great quote!

**Dancing Lotus** · 05-12-2011, 08:02 PM

I'm inclined to agree; however if I was going to be buying an item regardless then it really is saving if I go out of my way to get the best deal rather then just walking into any old store and paying full price.

Case in point Dog food. I have to buy a 20 pound bag of Pedigree every month no matter what the price is. Normal price is 12.99. I don't like to buy more then six months worth so
12.99 x 6 is 77.99
Target had a deal that if you bought 2 bags you got a 5.00 gift card. I had 6 3.00 off coupons.
12.99 - 3.00 is 9.99
9.99 x 6 is 59.94 Tell me how is that NOT saving 18.05 ?
In addition to that I got 15.00 in gift cards. I used the gift cards to buy produce. produce I would have had to buy regardless of the price. If I had not done the deal I would have spent 92.99 for all of that. Instead I got it all for 59.95. Again how is that not saving?

BUT if I had bought something I did not need in order to get a good deal. If I had bought things I would not have bought otherwise then that is just spending.

**NikoSan999** · 05-12-2011, 08:27 PM

I agree to a point...and I'm probably going to be blasted..but I don't see anything wrong with ocassionally being able to buy something because it's on sale that you normally wouldn't be able to buy.
Example, hubby and the kid like Doritos. Personally I can't stand to even smell them. However Publix had them BOGO so the $3.99 each bags turned into $2 each bags plus I had a coupon for a free 2 liter bottle of Pepsi if you bought two bags.
If they hadn't been on BOGO no I wouldn't have got them but as it stands they were able to get a treat which would have cost $9.87 ( no way ) but I paid $3.99. It's a matter of opinion I know. But I've consider the savings on some stuff on sale the possibility to have or try something new that I wouldn't have paid full price for otherwise.
And I shop at Aldis alot but mostly Publix for loss leaders and BOGO's.

**imagine** · 05-13-2011, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by AnnK

I'm inclined to agree; however if I was going to be buying an item regardless then it really is saving if I go out of my way to get the best deal rather then just walking into any old store and paying full price.

Case in point Dog food. I have to buy a 20 pound bag of Pedigree every month no matter what the price is. Normal price is 12.99. I don't like to buy more then six months worth so
12.99 x 6 is 77.99
Target had a deal that if you bought 2 bags you got a 5.00 gift card. I had 6 3.00 off coupons.
12.99 - 3.00 is 9.99
9.99 x 6 is 59.94 Tell me how is that NOT saving 18.05 ?
In addition to that I got 15.00 in gift cards. I used the gift cards to buy produce. produce I would have had to buy regardless of the price. If I had not done the deal I would have spent 92.99 for all of that. Instead I got it all for 59.95. Again how is that not saving?

BUT if I had bought something I did not need in order to get a good deal. If I had bought things I would not have bought otherwise then that is just spending.

walking out paying full price is sometimes cheaper though.

sometimes paying full price for and item in bulk is cheaper than paying with a coupon.

take Vinegar for example

my gallon of generic vinegar is cheaper per oz at full price than most deals plus a coupon. even the latest Walgreen Easter deal with coupon that I found everyone talking about on line when I researched vinegar coupons today.

sometimes paying full price for a generic is cheaper than the name brand with a coupon.

My full price generic soda for 59 cents is a better deal than soda on sale at the grocery for 84 cents (if you buy X amount) Does that mean I always buy the 59 cents soda? No sometimes I spend more at get the other soda on sale. I can't say I saved the money when I spent more to get the name brand soda on sale.

**imagine** · 05-13-2011, 02:23 AM

Originally Posted by NikoSan999

I don't see anything wrong with ocassionally being able to buy something because it's on sale that you normally wouldn't be able to buy.
Example, hubby and the kid like Doritos. Personally I can't stand to even smell them. However Publix had them BOGO so the $3.99 each bags turned into $2 each bags plus I had a coupon for a free 2 liter bottle of Pepsi if you bought two bags.
If they hadn't been on BOGO no I wouldn't have got them but as it stands they were able to get a treat which would have cost $9.87 ( no way ) but I paid $3.99. It's a matter of opinion I know. But I've consider the savings on some stuff on sale the possibility to have or try something new that I wouldn't have paid full price for otherwise.
.

I don't see anything wrong with ocassionally being able to buy something because it's on sale that you normally wouldn't be able to buy either.

I'm just not sure I see it as saving money at least along with the the Amy quote.

Knock off Doritos at my Aldi's are $1.29 if I was to upgrade to the name brand on sale for $3.99. That wouldn't be saving money. It would be an upgrade in quality for those that prefer the taste of real Doritos. Finding them on sale would be a bonus to life. Would it be worth the extra spent especially when the extra is less because it was on sale? Sure it would for a Dorito lover.

**monkeywrangler71** · 05-13-2011, 07:44 AM

You're lucky to have stores that sell their generic brands at such dramatically reduced prices. There is essentially no difference between the price of store brand and name brand products here, usually about .10-.20 on a $3 item. When something is on sale with a coupon, the regular priced store brand is never cheaper.

Kind of makes me wonder how your big name brands stay in business if stores are selling their private label items for less than half the price.

**imagine** · 05-13-2011, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by monkeywrangler71

You're lucky to have stores that sell their generic brands at such dramatically reduced prices. There is essentially no difference between the price of store brand and name brand products here, usually about .10-.20 on a $3 item. When something is on sale with a coupon, the regular priced store brand is never cheaper.

Kind of makes me wonder how your big name brands stay in business if stores are selling their private label items for less than half the price.

I wonder if the name brand stay in business because the store brands are made by the name brands.

**nuisance26** · 05-13-2011, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by AnnK

Case in point Dog food. I have to buy a 20 pound bag of Pedigree every month no matter what the price is. Normal price is 12.99. I don't like to buy more then six months worth so
12.99 x 6 is 77.99
Target had a deal that if you bought 2 bags you got a 5.00 gift card. I had 6 3.00 off coupons.
12.99 - 3.00 is 9.99
9.99 x 6 is 59.94 Tell me how is that NOT saving 18.05 ?
In addition to that I got 15.00 in gift cards. I used the gift cards to buy produce. produce I would have had to buy regardless of the price. If I had not done the deal I would have spent 92.99 for all of that. Instead I got it all for 59.95. Again how is that not saving?
.

~I think Amy's point here is that you, Customer A spent $45 on 6 months of dog food(I'm subtracting the value of the gift cards since you bought produce you were going to buy anyway). You bought brand name and spent time clipping coupons and matching sales. Customer B orders 6 months of generic dog food from a Farm & Garden supply store and pays $45. (I really have no idea of price I'm just guessing for illustration purchases.) It doesn't matter if Customer A saves $33 because customer B 'saves' that too by buying bulk generic. So you have to go by baseline, which is how much does it cost for 6 months of dog food. In both cases above, $45.
I know most pet owners swear their pets can only eat one food for whatever reason(I'll probably understand that better when we get a pup)but just trying to further explain how it isn't really saving.~