More on Couponing
I've been considering jumping back into couponing again for the last little while -- especially since my stash of free items I'd acquired while couponing is almost gone and I just can't hardly bring myself to pay full price for shampoo, cleaners, toothpaste, toilet paper, and other items that I used to get for almost free or pennies. After discussing it with my husband last night, he said he would really like for me to start couponing again. So, I have clear direction now. :)
I'm hesitant to subscribe to our local paper just because I don't want to mess with the paper when all I want is the coupons. I'd rather pay just for coupons (maybe that's weird?), get them from other people, or find places where I can get them for free. If I can garner enough sources for coupons, I am considering subscribing to The Grocery Game and trying it out, since I've heard so many raves about it. But, I was wondering, is there anyone who has tried it who didn't like it or found it to be a waste of money? For those who do use it, do you only pay for one store, or more than one store? How much are you saving on groceries and how long have you used it for?
Thanks for all of your helpful advice and ideas! I think I learn the most of anyone from this blog!
I'm hesitant to subscribe to our local paper just because I don't want to mess with the paper when all I want is the coupons. I'd rather pay just for coupons (maybe that's weird?), get them from other people, or find places where I can get them for free. If I can garner enough sources for coupons, I am considering subscribing to The Grocery Game and trying it out, since I've heard so many raves about it. But, I was wondering, is there anyone who has tried it who didn't like it or found it to be a waste of money? For those who do use it, do you only pay for one store, or more than one store? How much are you saving on groceries and how long have you used it for?
Thanks for all of your helpful advice and ideas! I think I learn the most of anyone from this blog!
posted by Crystal Paine at 11:53 AM
10 Comments:
www.couponmom.com This site is free. It may or may not help you depending on the stores in your area. I checked out her book from the library and I got some good coupon tips. She does have some links for coupon sites.
A friend of mine suggested: http://www.couponmom.com/ instad of the grocery game (coupon mom is free).
Katie
Hi Crystal!
I just finished trying out the Grocery Game and unfortunately didn't find it to be helpful for me. I am a SAHM and homeschool my 6 year old which would make most people think I have plenty of free time on my hands but the tructh is, I don't and the grocery game needed more free time than I had to give. It also requires you to recieve coupons from many different places the biggest being the local paper. I don't subscribe to our paper either but my dad gives me the coupon out of his. Anyway, it was just too time consuming for me and I think it is something I could do on my own. Frugal Homemaker at http://frugalhomemakerplus.blogspot.com did an extensive review throughout several weeks that is pretty detailed. Check it out if you get a moment. The links to her grocery game posts are in the right hand sidebar. Good luck and I would be happy to share coupons with you via mail. If you email me privately with your address, I will get some to you. I have tons I am not going to use right now.
Thanks, everyone! Keep the comments coming!
Kim, I don't know you're email -- could you email me biblicalwomanhood AT sbcglobal.net? Thanks!
my mother-in-law "dumpster dives" in the recycle bins for the coupons - gets lots of them for free w/out the paper. if you have one near you, it'd be worth it to check it out...she gets hundreds of dollars worth of stuff for literally just a few dollars b/c she does it this way.
-daily reader
Hi Crystal,
I use a local program similar to Grocery Game and would agree with Kim that it is time consuming. However, we are a large family and we've divided the jobs of clipping, organizing and even shopping among the children and have found that it is no longer a burden on anyone. I also try and keep it simple and focus primarily on the free items and very good deals. It is work, but we save sooo much money that we can't help but not do it. Recently my 20 year old daughter expressed that she has learned so much about saving money and shopping for bargains through our couponing. I'm happy to be able to teach her this skill.
I only do one store with the GG. There are 2 available to me, but the 2nd one doesn't have nearly the deals that the 1st one does, and it's out of my way anyway. So I just do the one.
I've been doing the GG for a little over a year. Someone else asked me recently what we spend on food, toiletries, and household cleaners, etc. I calculated that we spend $136/week on these things. This includes disposable diapers for 1, pull-ups for nighttime for 3, and cokes. ;-) I could cut it way down if I eliminated those things. We have 7 in our family.
We only get the weekend paper. Well, I take that back. The way our paper does its subscriptions, we get the Sat., Sun., and Wed. papers. The Sat. paper goes straight to the recycle pile. We pull the coupons and the TV Guide out of the Sun. paper. The ads for the week are in the Wed. paper. I pull out the one for my GG store so I can get an idea of what might be on the list. But I certainly don't pore over it or anything - I just like to get a glimpse so I can get excited. :-) Plus there are often really great store coupons in the ads.
HOWEVER. Our local newspaper's coupon section is AWFUL, and the GG calls for the coupon section from the Seattle or Portland paper. I'm not able to get those here. I've been meaning to call our local paper (which actually is quite large) and find out why they can't get the good sections. If nothing changes I'll most likely drop my subscription and order a mail subscription to the Seattle paper. I might miss out on a few deals, when the LIST calls for that Sunday's coupons, but that shouldn't be too bad.
Oh, I include the fee for the GG in my grocery budget, so even with the fee in there we have been saving at least $50/month on food. I was a pretty frugal shopper before - otherwise the difference would have been a lot more. Also, if you refer 3 people to the GG, you get 12 weeks free. As of right now, I do not have to pay for it until Feb. 2007. :-D
The GG actually saves me time. If I had to do everything myself that the GG does for me...well, I simply wouldn't do it. They track sales cycles for me and they tell me if something is a phantom sale or the rock bottom deal. I can't keep up with that sort of stuff! So I don't and they do it for me. It doesn't really take me any more time using the GG than it would for me to pore through the ads and clip coupons. Using the GG, I simply go through the LIST, mark all the things i'm interested in, and print if off. I find all the coupons that match and get them ready to go. Sometimes there are things on the LIST that I MIGHT be able to get cheaper per unit at Costco - for those items I compare prices on a spreadsheet I have made up for prices of things at Costco. But that's not a big deal to do.
www.couponmom.com is an OK alternative. It's not as good as the GG, but I guess if you're looking for free, it's good.
Feel free to e-mail me for specific questions!
It may sound very odd, but it is worth a try! Our local library has a table with a box of coupons, free to anyone. Our library may be just an oddity in this, but it doesn't hurt to check. :-)
Our local grocery sells their leftover Sunday papers for a reduced price (I've never looked as we're subscribers) during the week. If we dropped our subscription, I might go that way as I don't shop until Wednesday or Thursday usually.
It might be worth checking that out?
I use the Grocery Game and really like it. You can choose to spend as little or as much as you want. What the game does for me is saves me the time and energy of searching out the deals. It does take some time, but it's a fun challenge. I usually save as much if not more than what I spend each week. My deals this last week included three free milks and two deodorants at a quarter each. I've found doing only one store is best and make sure to get/buy an even number of papers each Sunday.(For the buy one get one free deals) I'm currently doing two, but I've also done four. I recommend trying it for a few months to see if you like it...it takes that long to build up your stockpile.
Kitten
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