When Coupons Aren't a Good Deal

[cata5]

Some good info for those who use coupons!!

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When Coupons Aren't a Good Deal
by Lana Dorazio
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Don't get me wrong, I like coupons. I'm actually a member of a coupon website that helps me to match up my coupons with the best sales of the week! It's a wonderful saving device. However, there are pitfalls to coupon shopping into which people fall. If you are a diehard couponer, you might want to rethink your strategies for a more relaxed and timesaving alternative to couponing.

How do you know that, in using a particular coupon, you are getting the best deal possible? Unless you keep your own record of prices for items you buy, or unless you have the memory of an elephant, you don't know. If, for instance, you have a coupon for a
fabulous counter top cleaner that will save you 75 cents, reducing the price of the cleaner from $2.99 to only $2.24, are you really getting a good deal? You won't know unless you have a basis for comparison.

If you knew that you could get the same amount of counter top cleaner at a discount store for 99 cents, how do you feel about using that coupon now? How about if you knew you could mix together the same amount of ammonia and water for a great cleaner for only 25 cents? Would you rather spend 25 cents or $2.24? You be the judge.

The idea behind using coupons is to save money. In order to know if you are saving money, you must have a basis of comparison. This is where a pricebook can really come in handy. A pricebook is simply your own personal record of the great deals you've found in the past. Without this important record, you can't be sure if the sale or coupon item you're about to buy is really and truly a good deal or just another marketing ploy.

In short, you need to always evaluate other options before using a coupon. You might be excited because your grocery store is doubling the value of coupons and it seems like you can't go wrong. You must still look at the final price and calculate if there is yet a cheaper way to find that product.

My experience as an expert grocery shopper has led me to conclude that coupon shopping can be very beneficial, but at the same time, it can also be very misleading if you don't use a pricebook. Keep thinking and you will save thousands grocery shopping!

[verwon]

I save several hundred $$ with coupons every month but then again I annoy everyone who shops with me because I remember prices for all the stores I regularly shop at and don't need a price book to know if I am getting a deal or not.

Not everyone can remember stuff like this so for those who need a price book they will find it really does help but then again on those occasions when you are getting something free or for pennies you know you are getting a good deal.

[notasiwas]

Well I understand what the writer of that article was trying to say, but some of the examples were not that great. For instance the example of the cleaner. The coupon may have been for the brand that you like to use making the use of the coupon a deal especially if its on sale. And while it is possible to get the same amount of cleaner elsewhere for 99 cents, she didnt say it was the same brand cleaner. So to me that might suggest that you are getting a product of less quality. As far as using amonia and water, well that would work great if you can stand the smell of amonia! I cant! Yuck!

I dont have a price book either because after much research I have found the store that offers the best deals in my area. I will visit other stores to get the really good coupon deals, but other than that I stick to my store.

You do have to make sure you arent buying a more expensive product just to use a coupon, but these kinds of things are just common sense.

I have saved tons of money with coupons and have found that there are few other ways to cut my grocery bill as much as coupons do.

[verwon]

A very good point on the gas issue Cujo, another way a friend and I have found to save is to get together to make trips to a store out of town for deals. We check the weekly sales flyer first to make sure it is worth going and by going together we only use gas once, in one car.

I will also save trips for stores I don't regularly go to, like Giant Eagle, for when my husband has to go to the main college campus and is driving right by it anyway or when I go to visit my Dad and that is the only major grocery store in the town he lives in.

In Punxsy where we live now, we have four grocery stores within a mile or two of each other so I can spread my shopping for the best deals without spending a lot more on gas.

And you have a great point also on the generics, some just aren't as good as the name brands, especially some of the cleaners. Personally with a little boy and furry babies as well I will not keep ammonia around the house to mix and make my own anything. Also really strong smelling cleaners give hubby and I asthma attacks so the money we would save making our own would just be wasted on inhalers and allergy pills.

[verwon]

My sister likes to shop at Sam's Club and loves to tell me what she spent on something and how cheap she thinks it was, then I tell her what I get the same stuff for with my coupons at regular stores and she wants to learn couponing!!!

[mama2calli]

We drive about 20 minutes every Thursday to do our shopping at Shop Rite in Manchester CT - it IS the lowest priced grocer in the area (per a survey done on local grocers).

No matter what, though, it pays to be a smart shopper along with knowing what your coupons are worth. I update mine weekly (usually on Tuesday nights while watching Frasier) and they're in a big binder sorted by type and by date.

I also trade on the internet as well as locally with friends - and if they are shopping at stores within their local area, or vice versa, we shop for each other then just trade out when we get together.

It's also good to know the value of a U-scan/ self=scanner which doesn't give you a hard time with internet coupons!


Edited to remove coupon coding comment.

[bigred]

I'm actually a member of a coupon website that helps me to match up my coupons with the best sales of the week!

Does anyone know what this site might be? I spend a lot of time Sunday mornings matching coupons to sales fliers, and a site like this would be great. Thanks.