As we get ready to start our “Starting Fresh with Coupons in 2012” post series next week, I thought it would be important to get a little feedback from all of you!
If you have been couponing for awhile, or if you started and stopped due to frustrationg… “Where do YOU get “Stuck” with coupons?” Feel free to leave a comment below so I can try to address those problems in our Staring Fresh with Coupons Series. I’m positive you are not the only one that is having issues on that one part of couponing.. .so it will definitely help others who are struggling too!
And, I hope you guys are excited to get back into the swing of things! I’ll have to put some videos together to make it super easy to understand too!
Nicole
I can get hygiene products for really cheap but i don’t feel like i can save anything on groceries. I either dont have coupons when stuff is on sale or the stuff i use seems to never come on sale. When i go shopping for just groceries i feel like all i have is 2-3 coupons saving me like $2 total.
Crystal Cote
I have this same problem! I have 1000000 tubes of tooth paste and 500000 tooth brushes but who needs all that?!? I cant seem to save anything on the food my family eats on a regular basis…
Janelle
I have the same problem. I wish I could figure out how to save more on groceries, which in my family is where we spend the most money.
rosanne
my problem is getting motivated to cut and put away coupons but iv done it the other way and that was even a bigger pain! also i cut my spending by half but the stuff on sale is snacks not real wholesome food, for say dinner.
Jennifer
I agree. I find myself purchasing (or considering purchasing) food items that are not necessarily wholesome and nutritious just because its a great deal. 🙁
jessica
This is exactly how I feel….I did couponing for a year and I get so tired of spending so much time cutting and I agree 100% that I am getting more snack type food for less, but not quality food.
Amber
I agree with this! I find that the food coupons are not usually for food I would eat. Or for junk food/unhealthy food.
Valerie
The thing that really gets me coupon wise, is those gosh darn cereal coupons. I’ve seen people get tons of boxes of cereal for like a dollar a box….but all I ever see are $1/3 coupons and stuff. I know I am missing something, but I can’t figure it out!
And I find it very hard to separate into different transactions, and also I’m afraid of ticking off the line or the cashier!
Megan
Smiths has a great cereal sale going on right now even if you don’t have a coupon! Kellogs cereal is 50% off so they ended up being about $1.79- not a great long term solution but if you need some cereal now, it’s a good stock up price 😀
Heather
I want to know when it’s “safe” to throw out (recycle) the newspaper coupon inserts. I have every one since August, but I don’t want to go through them all and figure out if they have all expired yet or not. So it would be really helpful to get updates now and then. It’s a pain to keep so many, but I do find myself digging back a few months every now and then. Thanks!!!
stacy griffin
These are the things that I get “stuck” with regarding couponing.
1. How much am I really saving if I drive to Wal-Mart, a grocery store, CVS and or Walgreens, and Target?
2. If I do drive to the various stores, I need to keep my coupons organized and keep a cooler in the vehicle with me to keep food from spoiling. I forget these things often. What is the best way to organize coupons?
3. How much am I really saving when a cartridge of black ink is costly, even though I set my printer for economy and try to buy ink cheap (need help in this area).
4. The prices at stores vary and are not always advertised nor do they always have in stock or carry what I have a coupon for.
5. We are limiting our processed foods and other than hygiene products, this limits our selection.
Mary
I get stuck with all of the above. Health and beauty are no problem saving money, but on real food I can only save a little. The coupons I see out there are mostly for process foods or snack foods. Oh and the cereal coupons are terrible. I can buy the store brand which I have found to be just as good if not better the national brands cheaper. I have no problem clipping the coupons it is finding all the deals out there at the stores. I don’t have time to visit each store to see what is on sale that is unadvertised.
Nicole
This is the same thing I get stuck on, glad i am not the only. I have been told health and beauty are the hardest to save on. So apparently we have the hardest part down lol!
Stacy
I get all my coupons cut out and ready for Rite Aid or Walgreens and everything is already gone!
Natalie Darger
I just go to walmart and price match the walgreens/CVS/ and rite aid ads, cuz you are right- unless you get there first thing sunday morning then they are already gone! And some people have church then. My walmart usually matches the price AFTER register rewards yay! Saves me time having to do another transaction to use the register rewards.
Julie
my wal-mart matched the price after RR’s too but has stopped doing so. Otherwise I would say to those of you who don’t want to go to different stores, just head to Wal-mart and ad match, it’s awesome!(as long as the coupon hoarders haven’t wiped the shelves yet, that’s what bugs me…)
Angie
For me it is the time to sit down and do “the list” before I go. I sit down on Sundays and Tues(our weekly ads) and file the coupons, but when I see your weekly lists… Sitting down, finding and matching coupons, adding my own list of needs and getting out the door. Seems to take forever. I have four kids so I really have to have it together before I go. No time to search for coupons in the store or else I have a 2 and 3 year old screaming while I am frantically searching for a coupon I know I have, but don’t seem to find.
Laura
Amen! Me too! Are the coupons I have going to feed my family an actual wholesome dinner? Trying to figure that out,while going to your store links, making a list….takes me forever! I just went to Costco today because it wasn’t worth the hassle….spent 63.00 on 6 gallons of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 20 lbs of chicken, bag of frozen corn, big bag of tortilla chips, 24 eggs, 2 lbs of cheese, and 12 apples..felt like a good purchase! I know people do better than that, but how and how long does it take out of your day to go to the different stores with coupons and snag the deals? Help! This economy has forced me to NEED to save…how can I do that and actually feed my family nutritiously?
Healy Bartlett
I have the same problem, I know that I can save money but need to figure out how to organize so that I have a list with coupons somehow to simplify the process. My kids are 6 and 4 and they can only handle so much before the trip becomes a nightmare!
Brenda
My biggest complaint about couponing is how much time it takes to prepare to even go to the store. I also get frustrated when I watch “Extreme Couponing” and they save SO MUCH MONEY! and I don’t even come close to saving that much.
Melody
I feel the same way when I watch that show! I mean I know that sometimes the things they are buying aren’t things that I can feed my family like Tic-tacs or cat food but I do see that they save on lots of things that I can feed my family with like, pasta or cereal. I want to save like that!
Lana
I don’t have “stuck” areas regarding coupons but I have a Walmart issue.
They seem to have problems processing those ‘money-maker’ coupons.
Twice so far they called those coupons ‘fraudulent’.
And they say they have a policy to not take those ‘free’ coupons-those without
dollar value.
Lisa B.
I ran into an issue tonight at Wal Mart. I had a manu cpn that also said Redeem at Publix, so they wouldnt take it and said it was a competitors cpn. I know I’ve used this kind of cpn before at Wal Mart. I tried to explain that a Publix cpn usually doesn’t have a bar code or address to send cpn to like the manu cpns do. It seems like every manager or csm has a different rule they go by. Does anyone know anything about this. Lisa Boatwright
Jennifer Lund
Time! I think time is my biggest issue as a few others have said. It takes a few hours to prepare to go to the store and sort through coupons, checking sales, and ads, making sure coupons aren’t expired and just checking to see if there is a one I really wanted to use. Also I never know what coupons to cut out and save. There’s too many if I do everything and ones I won’t use, but there’s also things we would buy and use if we could get it for .50 cents. I feel I save a few dollars and even get some fun freebies, but I’m not saving an amount that makes much of a difference on the regular groceries we buy.
Jennifer
I do not have a problem cutting out coupons or sorting them, I just don’t know where to get the most for my money and I have to remember to bring the coupons with me and USE them 🙂
Amanda H
I get frustrated that there are no stores around me (in the city of Chicago) that do overage or double coupons. And my taxes are ridiculous so I can never get a total down to a rock bottom end price and it gets frustrating!
Tina Tannahill
I would really like to know how to do extreme couponing. Where and how do I start? How do i get alot of things for little money?
Ms
It is discouraging when you’ve spent all that preparatory time gathering/organizing coupons for a trip to the store only to find out (time after time) once you get there they are out of stock. (all that time and effort wasted) Couponing is getting popular and more of us are wiping the shelves clean. So I’ve kinda stopped because that’s happened a lot to me-time and time again.
jessica
yep….not worth it if you can’t even get it.
Julie
I like that some coupons now limit the amount used in a transaction because it is ridiculous when shelves are just wiped clean. If ever I get the killer deals, I try to be conservative so others can too which is hard because more than likely someone WILL wipe the shelves clean. I have stopped doing so many Wal-greens trips because of this happening… Smith’s too.
Andres
I would have to say that my area of being stuck is organizing the coupons,and how to get wholesome food . I also do a lot of recycling bin diving to get more coupons, nobody has said anything to me about it, but is that legal in Utah? My wife says i’m crazy but couponing is my new hobby. Thanks
Rachael Carter
The problem I have is the fact that
1) we have no stores that double coupons
2) I can never find coupons for actual food (meats, pastas veges etc)
3) the ones I do find for food my stores don’t carry those brands
Its also VERY frustrating not knowing if you are getting the best deals or if you are paying more for something just bc you get RR. Or not knowing when they advertise B1G1 50% off….if they jacked up the price on the first one so it would total out the same when its not on “sale”…have caught that at Walgreens before
Ganine
I don’t like the fact that I have to subscribe to a paper to get coupons, we I never read the paper. I had to unload the coupon thing on my computer because it slowed it way down, most of the coupons are for fast and convenient foods. I need coupons like another person said, for whole grains, fruits and veggies. Time like has been mentioned is a huge one for me.
Monica
Here is where I get “stuck”. I can never bring myself to go to customer service to get my rain checks. It just seems like so much hassle. I figure the deal will come around again.
Julie
I always find that even with the coupon and the sale price, the generic brand is still cheaper. It’s very frustrating after clipping the coupon and expecting a great deal.
Janet
So many that others have already stated, but I guess my biggest, is I just don’t feel like I save that much. I can spend hours cutting and doing coupons, then I go to the store and save 15% or something.
I also have huge frustration with the newspaper, I feel like I spend alot of money on a subscription and don’t get much out of it, other then hours sitting with coupons. I feel like most the coupons come from online. I don’t read the paper, so I feel like it’s a huge waste of paper as well.
I hear of people on your site that save 70-80% on the grocery bill. I guess I just feel let down and like I am doing something wrong because I have never gotten results like that. I have a family of 6, I am trying to stay home, but in this economy am finding it harder and harder. I just feel so frustrated like can’t I get a break anywhere?
Cassie
I also feel let down about not getting good deals! A lot of posts are saying all this stuff for free or a dang good price, why cant i get it???? I feel your frustration. I also feel your pain on trying to stay home on this crazy economy. It is so frustrating to not be able to stay home and have the money for things we need….Im with you on that!!! Hopefully we can all figure it out!
Rachel
I get stuck because I try to make as much of my own food as possible, meaning buying mostly produce and whole grains, etc. There really aren’t coupons for produce or much that is not processed. When I get fixated on trying to save as much money as I can, I find my diet goes back to frozen and boxed food instead of whole foods. Any ideas on saving on produce? Also, I truly do not have the time to go through all the couponing sites and ads and go to more than one or two stores/farmers markets.
Donna
I have saved on produce by getting it at Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op. You pay $15.00 for a basket that is 50% vegies and 50% fruits. It usually has tons of produce. Granted , you don’t get to choose what you get because they buy it but it usually is really good and I have gotten some stuff that we have never tried before. Depending on your area you can get it weekly but I have a family of 5 and I find that the produce lasts us a full two weeks. It’s fun you should check it out. I think the address is BountifulBaskets.org.
Melanie
What I find frustrating is I hear of all these people getting all this stuff for free, with coupons, such as baby wipes, shampoo. I find good coupons and try to get the sales, but I can’t figure out how they come out with a cart load of free stuff!
Cassie
I get very confused on the Rite Aid and Wallgreens RR and whatever Wallgreens rewards are or visa versa. How do you decide how many transactions to split it into and what to put in each one? I also agree on the time thing, its very time consuming. I think you do a great job at helping us to itemize what is where and the cost. YOu are awesome!! Its hard to try and get stuff for good prices like extreme couponing, frustrating watching them and yet i cant get near what they get! how do they do it??????!!!!!?!?!! It would be nice to have more stuff saved up, but i dont know how to really do it. I have saved a lot of money, but just not on the MORE IMPORTANT STUFF. All of my free stuff i gave away to road home, which felt awesome to know i was helping others and not putting my family in jeopardy of struggeling. I love being able to help others, so this couponing site is awesome! Its hard not having the extra money to go and spend $$ on deals…..still seems im not saving what i would like to be….Thanks again for helping on your website to get us great deals!
Amanda
I have had the most problems with Walmart, especially over the last three months or so. Every time I go there to use coupons that will make the item free, it’s like the cashier is on a personal mission to ensure I cannot use those coupons. In addition, when I have spoken with the managers about the issues I’ve had they don’t seem to care and don’t retrain their cashiers on how their coupon policy works. Also I would love it if someone would clarify for Walmart cashiers that when the coupon says one coupon per purchase that means the item is the purchase not that there can be only one coupon per transaction!!!!!
Penny
I have had similar problems with Walmart, so I rarely coupon shop there now! I have a Super Target that is less than a mile away and have never had problems with my coupons there! The best part is I can usually stack coupons(1 Target with 1 Manufacture)!
Jerri Pate
I agree with Amanda, I too have had many problems with Walmart cashiers and managers. I have had to call corporate at least 3 times on them. They do seem to have a personal vendetta against using coupons. And when you are prepared , bringing printed policy they say where did u get this? I printed it off corporate web site, well I dont know where that came from, but its not walmarts policy. When they pull theirs out and it matches exactly to what I have and still have a problem.
Teri
I started couponing about 5 months ago after I quit a year ago. It was pretty frustrating @ first but I got the hang of it. The thing I get stuck with the cashiers that don’t know their stores coupon policies. Like with Walmart on their price match. Some clerks expect you to bring the ad when it clearly states you don’t have it. I really don’t want to have to make trips to a bunch of stores.
Erin
I’m wondering what happened to all of the good deals? From January until August of this year I could get cereal all the time for $1 or less, pop tarts for $.80 or less etc. There were even meat and produce coupons periodically. The last couple of months it seems like NOTHING has even been on sale much less had a decent coupon for it. I thought there would atleast be baking deals around Christmas, but nothing. Oranges and apples didn’t even seem to go that low this fall. What gives? Do I just need to adjust my stock up prices, or hang in there for some better deals in the future? I used to be able to spend $70 for my family of 7, but lately I can’t even get everything for $120.
Reena
I get stuck on the newspaper subscription/clipping. I know I can save more money with the newspaper subscription, but then I go through my “couponed-out” phase where I can’t even bring myself to look at the inserts. I finally go through them months later to find they’ve all expired and my subscription money wasted. It makes me wonder if I really saved any money, or if I just broke even. Maybe my method for clipping isn’t as efficient as it could be?
I really enjoyed the dinner posts you did for a little while that listed the recipe, ingredients, and cheapest way to get them. It really helped me to focus my shopping/meal planning/cooking on the sales, AND it really helped to give me a good basic list of versatile stuff to keep in storage and always have on hand.
Amber
I get frustrated with clipping the coupons…I swear I spend more time cutting coupons to keep in my binder with me every time I go to the store & then half the time I don’t use them, or leave them in the stupid car b/c I have two kids to haul in the store with me.
I sometimes will check ads & save my coupons for the items, but even then I get mad if I leave other coupons in the car or at home. I also think the coupons aren’t as high value as they used to be & the stores around me do not do double coupons…FRUSTRATING! I have a hard time wanting to leave my coupons at home b/c I know it is money I spent to save, but I am getting fed up with hauling them everywhere I go, to MAYBE save money.
Plus half the items with the coupon still aren’t as cheap as the store brand most times. I feel like I am using some coupons just b/c I have the coupon, not that I really need the product. I used to feel so good & stock up a ton for emergency preparedness & now I feel like I get a bunch of crap with coupons or end up not using them.
I just need to believe that they really are saving me money & worth the time to clip, organize & bring to the store. Is it still worth it if all I use are the hygiene ones?
Melissa S
I love to Coupon I have a nice stock pile of just about everything. I also like to donate to the local food bank and women shelter when I have to many of something especially deodorant and toothpaste sense we usually get those free. My biggest frustration is organizing my coupons. This may sound funny because I am not talking about taking the time to cut them i actually don’t mind that part. Its after they have been cut and I have to organize them in my binder so I usually get behind and miss out on some great deals because the coupon has already expired or I cant find the ones I need. One other big frustration would be going to a store only to find the item out of stock! I don’t know if anyone is interested but I think it would be fun to start a coupon or a product swap of some sort 🙂
Stacy
I get stuck couponing because it seems like no matter how much time I spend clipping and organizing my coupons, the store shelves are always empty when there is a good deal on an item. People always say they are going to donate what they don’t use, but I wonder how many times they actually do? Plus, rather than buying it all, why don’t people just leave some product on the shelf so a struggling family can use their coupons to make a purchase rather than have to go a food bank themselves?
Katie W.
I get stuck because I don’t have time on the weekends to clip coupons so then I get really behind on cutting and filing coupons.
Joann
I feel frustrated when I print the coupons and they don’t scan and can’t be accepted. I print from coupons.com and most of them work, but the coupons from the Kellogs website don’t. When I emailed them my conconcern it didn’t seem to help. A lot of the time I get the coupons ready and the first day the store is sold out.
Amber
My problem with couponing: Hmmm where to start?
1. I can cut all the coupons out, but I don’t and I can’t find a “coupon book” that isn’t under $20.00 that I could actually use.
2. Because I’m not organized, I go through my local ads and try to find the coupons that I need, but never end up finding them, or when I do and go to the store, they’re out.
3. I don’t have room for “food storage” and so I try to just buy what we’ll use in a week. I have four kids in which two are teenage boys and could eat me out of house and home if I’d let them. But we have a total of 6 and we are bigger eaters than most families. It’s hard to get wholesome food, or enough food to make couponing worth our while. We often shop at Costco just to get the bulk items that will feed my whole family.
4. You make it look so easy, and then when I try to get my act together, I get frustrated and just leave it.
5. My husband is frustrated with all the paper that I use with online coupons. I print out so many and then never use them. I would love to prove to him that we can save alot of money on groceries, but I don’t have the solution as of yet.
Michele
I had the same frustration so I stopped clipping every coupon and switched to the “File System”. Now I only clip or print the coupons I plan to use based on the sales that week and my grocery list. TIME is still a huge factor for me…takes me at least 3 hours to prepare my master shopping list but I only shop every 2 weeks, so that helps. I usually save $30-$40 w/ coupons…not a lot but for a family of 7 every little bit helps. Just wish the process could be simplified and didn’t take so long. There are weeks when I’m so busy or overwhelmed (like before Christmas) that I just didn’t have time to hassle w/ sales and coupons.
Debi Boyd
Hey! Use the back of your kid’s Homework for printing coupons on! Or letters from teachers, junk mails, rough drafts of their papers… anything printed on one side! I have preschoolers, and I use the back of their crayon/letter drawings from school. (Makes clipping a little more fun too)
Jenny
WALMART! I love that you can price match there but when I price matched last week the cashier said “Do you have the ad?” I said, “No, your policy says I don’t have to have it” and he said, “Well, we are starting to require it now”. WHAT? Also, my coupons always seem to have a problem scanning on their scanners. Usually they will still accept them but I’ve had a couple cashiers give them back to me and say they won’t take them because they are not scanning right (even when I have the correct item).
Ashley
My biggest frustration is going to the store and the products I want are gone because somebody cleared the shelf! This has happened like 100 times since I started couponing! I check back every few days but I end up not saving money cause I spent it on gas going to the store multiple times and the printer ink I wasted because I can’t use that coupon now because it expired. Now I understand why some coupons have a limit of 4 per visit.
Christy
I have couponed for years and gave up about 4-5 months ago for this reason. It’s a waste of time to print or clip the coupons, organize them, drive to the store just to find nothing is in stock. Stupid Extreme Couponing show ruined it for eveyone!
Hannah
Our family eats only whole foods, most of which are organic. We also use all-natural, often all organic hygiene items. I can go through a whole RedPlum circular, and not find one coupon for a product I’d be willing to give my family, even for free. There just aren’t many coupons for folks like us. Is it even worth purchasing the Sunday paper for us?
Also, I’ve been having trouble printing coupons from my computer–we have the coupon software installed, but the sites say we don’t (using Firefox, IE, and Chrome).
Tracie
My issue is that I don’t consider Rite Aid and Walgreens ‘cash towards the next purchase’ as a deal. I don’t shop at those stores regularly, so I want my savings to reflect on the one I’m there for, not the next time.
Tania Greenhalgh
I think the more I’ve done couponing the less I have to gripe about, but time is still a big one for me. I don’t mind clipping coupons, but making “the list”and actually matching things up in the store takes a lot out of me. I’d be very happy to get some more ideas on how to make it easier.
Mary Jane
I am on coupon “burn out” i haven’t filed my coupons in 2 months so I just don’t use them. HELP!!
Megan
WoW I feel kinda fortuenate because I don’t have a lot I feel like I can complain about. I shop walmart and Smiths, and both of my stores are great coupon takers. It would be nice if there were more coupons for bread, meat, produce, but that is a manufacturer problem, AND with the Smith’s card I actually have recieved coupons for $ off of bread and meat in the mail. I save abour 40% consistently when I go to Smiths. Is that good? Heck if I know LoL My MAJOR gripe is with other couponers and the lack of courtesy! I wish they would stop completely raping the shelves! I personally HATE extreme couponing! People NEED diapers cheap- if you are not even married and have no plans for kids in the near future, I hope a mouse chews a hole in your millions of bags of diapers and uses them as a nest- now who’s out the $ and wasting? I would love it if they set limits on some products.
Melody
I just have to say AMEN to this!!!
Lori
I love coupons and price matching. I am a cashier at Walmart and I am very willing to help people save money. What drives me nuts is when people lie to my face about the price from another store or when the customer tries to use a coupon for the wrong product so they can get another item free. Those type of people ruin it for the honest people trying to save money for their families.
Michele
Thanks Lori! I have seen that happen before and wish people would be honest and not ruin it for the rest of us! I have never had a negative experience w/ a cashier when using coupons at Walmart…and I shop there all the time! Thanks for putting up with us!
Kath
I find it hard because we do not get a lot of adds I go online and sometimes the cashiers are really rude about me telling them the price. I try and divide my items first I give the ones I am not matching and than the ones I am price matching. I do like the convenience of not having to go to all the stores but sometimes it is a headache and it so depends on the cashier you get.
Amanda
Lori,
What Walmart do you work at? I would love to have you as my cashier if you love coupons because every other cashier seems to have a very bad attitude when it comes to coupons. Do the managers even attempt to train cashiers on how their coupon policy works?
Annie
I’m sure this has been said, but I feel like I’m buying things that my family doesn’t use or eat just because I have a coupon for it and its a good deal. I would like to know how to save money on actual groceries–milk, bread, cheese, veggies, meat, etc–not processed foods and snacks.
Kath
I am working on doing less processed too and would love more coupons for healthier items.
Shelise Lowe
I’ve given up on anything that is unadvertised (cause I don’t want to make the trip for nothing) and on most of the awesome deals all together that I can’t get online. I can’t just drop everything the moment you post about something, grab all three kids, get in the car and go. And if I don’t, then it will be gone before I get there. And, I’m pretty sure there is nothing that can be done about this.
Amy
My hang up is with the time it takes. I can’t do it when my toddler’s awake because it would be a disaster, but I don’t want to use every day’s nap time to check the deals. I have other things I want/need to do too. Give me a once/twice a week quick routine that I can follow so I’m making the most of my time and my money. What day is best for deals and how can I organize my stuff so the process is quicker?
Healy
I agree with this post 100%
Judy A
convincing the hubby that getting newspaper subscriptions are more than worth it
Darla
Time is an issue for me. I absolutely love coupons, but sometimes I can’t seem to find the time to look-up, cut, and organize every coupon.
Dani
I know you probably feel bombarded by this post, but here is my two cents — as someone who is pretty new to couponing.
1. Time – do the successful couponers go to EVERY store, every week, and spend an hour scouring the clearance racks? I would love to do that, but since my husband works some 80 hours a week it means I would have to drag my 2-yr-old with me and she does not last that long! (Plus I have another one on the way which will make it even harder.)
2. Drugstores – it seems like in order to get great deals on Walgreens and Rite Aid stuff you have to buy things you might not need. I don’t have a lot of space for a stockpile so I try to only get the things I know my family will use in the near future, but I haven’t figured out how to get the rewards programs to work for me for only things I will use. So it’s hard for me to see a RR or +Up as a reward if I don’t know that I’m going to be able to use it before it expires.
3. Grocery matchups – I really love that you are Utah specific (I live in Salt Lake). But it seems like the grocery matchups are usually just a copy of the weekly ad with a few coupons thrown in. I’m green enough that I don’t know what is actually a good deal or not because I don’t know what to compare it to. It would be great if there were some sort of price list for grocery items that was broken down into categories like “regular price, decent sale price, stock-up price” that I could refer to when doing my own matchups. Also I have wished there were a resource that said what certain things are usually cheaper at which stores – like say Macey’s produce is usually cheaper but meat at Smith’s is usually better (or something like that).
4. Fresh foods – I know a lot of people in this thread are frustrated that the coupons seem to be mostly for processed stuff. I hardly buy processed things too but the coupon absence doesn’t really bug me — there’s really nothing any of us can do about that. BUT one thought I had that might be helpful is a weekly list of which fresh foods to buy and where to buy them. Like one week the best veggies deals are broccoli, zucchini, and carrots, and then we could plan meals around those weekly prices. Just an idea.
Anyway, thanks for all you do, I hope this didn’t end up like a gripe session! I’d really love to score great deals consistently but I haven’t quite figured that out yet. I DID however figure out how to sew my own coupon binder out of cardstock and sheet protectors. If you’re interested in how I did it let me know. Thanks!
Kira
My problem is that anytime my husband goes shopping with me he gets angry. He is furious that I take coupons and make other people wait. So then I end up taking my babies alone and it gets pretty frustrating.
Laura
So maybe this has already been said, but I get discouraged with regional deals. Like that glade deal awhile back – I never got the $5 off coupon everyone was talking about – I got all ready to go to target for a few things, printed off my online target coupons, then went to fetch my insert-coupon and it wasn’t there. I get excited for certain deals only to find ou tmy coupon is different or for half the value.
Tracie
I was wondering – when a coupon says “redeemable at ____”, does that mean it’s only useable at that store? I also wondered if you don’t put in your zip code on coupons.com, then do you get access to all their coupons in all zip codes?
Laurie P.
I feel like the coupons that are out there are never the ones that I need. Either that or I just don’t know the right way to do it. Like a lot of the other people have said I feel like it is easier to get most of the hygiene products but harder to get deals on actual groceries. So that is where I would like my help. I would really like to find coupons for meats, because I don’t feel like I have ever seen one and meats can get expensive! It would be nice to know of any good sites to get coupons at. Thanks!