I NEVER leave home w/o my coupons when I go grocery shopping. I was wondering if they really save money or make you spend more? Sometimes I find the more coupons I used the more I spent! But who can resist a bottle of lysol toilet bowl cleaner for $.04 after the sale & coupon?! Maybe I need to keep reminding myself that groceries are going up and how bad do I need that item b/c the money could be used better else where. (That is, when the item w/ the coupon is more than $.04, like, maybe, over a dollar) Do you think there is any truth in this, that coupons, some of them anyway, might make you want spend more?

I do agree that sometimes people buy things JUST because they have a coupon.

When it comes to grocery shopping and being frugal... it really comes down to the person. You have to say to yourself (like you should before every decision) Is this a WANT or is it a NEED? Do I have the money to spend on this item? Don't justify the purchase just because you had a coupon for it.

Companies put coupons out there to get you to buy their product. It's all part of marketing.

It takes time and experience to get the "coupon game" down. Wait for sales and only use coupons on things that you will use for things that you need. Shop at stores that double coupons... it really makes it worth your money!

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Personally, no, I don't think they save me much money. So I don't devote my time and effort to them. I think I can save more money and use my time more effectively shopping generics and sales. Occassionally I will see a coupon for something I use (Say $3 off Kibbles and Bits) and I will clip that, but other than that I don't have the time to put into couponing. Other people swear by it and swear it saves them tons of money. I think it depends on you and how much you want to put into it and your shopping habits and preferances.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Definetely! I've been able to cut our grocery budget by $80 a month by using coupons. I haven't paid for toothpaste, toothbrushes in months and I have a very nice stockpile of things I bought for a few cents after matching coupons and sales . I do shop at the commissary, the prices for brand name items are the same as generic in regular grocery stores but Walgreens and Dillons do have sales that make it cheaper to shop off post -especially Dillons since they double coupons- and that's where I do my "stock up" shopping.

Regarding your cleaner.. the way I think of it is you may not need it now but when you do need it will you be able to buy it for .04? Is it worth it to stock up at rock bottom prices now so you don't need to buy it at full price later?

[quote=armywife;695947]Definetely! I've been able to cut our grocery budget by $80 a month by using coupons. I haven't paid for toothpaste, toothbrushes in months and I have a very nice stockpile of things I bought for a few cents after matching coupons and sales . I do shop at the commissary, the prices for brand name items are the same as generic in regular grocery stores but Walgreens and Dillons do have sales that make it cheaper to shop off post -especially Dillons since they double coupons- and that's where I do my "stock up" shopping.

Regarding your cleaner.. the way I think of it is you may not need it now but when you do need it will you be able to buy it for .04? Is it worth it to stock up at rock bottom prices now so you don't need to buy it at full price later?[/QUOTE]

I agree with this.

I don't buy just because I have a coupon, but I plan my list and menu around sales + coupons. I actually don't use that many coupons, but the ones I use, I always make sure I need.

Coupons are a HUGE money saver!!!!

Food is no different from clothing or anything else........if you buy it and don't use it it's a waste.

The toilet cleaner for .04 a bottle was a smoking deal....for that price I would've bought 20 bottles if I could've.....lord knows we do not intend to stop scrubbing our toilets

Most people though,I believe,who are willing to work hard enough to utilize coupons in a BIG way.....are not people who are going to let their savings go to waste.

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I LOVE coupons but I have learned to use the wisely. That is the main trick.

Take for instance last week I found a deal on pizza rolls. If you bought 10 of them the were .70 each. I had 4 coupons for .50 off and the store that had these doubles coupons up to .50. So to make a long story short I got 10 boxes of pizza pockets which my kids love and beg me to buy for .30 a box.

I also got purex laundry soap (this is the brand we use) for 2.99 each but the best part is I had two coupons for .50 off of each. This store doubles so I got each bottle for 1.99.

I use generics as well but I will buy name brand if it will be cheaper with a coupon. It takes awhile in the beginning to get used to using them but I have found that it is worth while. Now it only takes me about 20 minutes to get my list and my coupons that match ready.

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Coupons are worth it only if you use or would buy the product without the coupon.

Yesterday my savings using coupons was $56.75. And 4 of the items was buy one get one free with the coupon. It all was stuff that I use whether or not I had a coupon.

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For me, they do not save me money. When I was going to the grocery store every week and taking my coupons, I was still spending about $150 a week with only about $12 in coupon savings. Alot of those items were things that I got because they were such a good deal but could probably have spent that money buying something I really needed.

For me, going to Costco once a month and buying the main part of our grocery stash there has done wonders.

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