Extreme coupons
I was in Shoprite last night and happily handed my coupons at checkout to save $53.00 dollars on my $111.00 order....to have the checkout person tell me that he had a person in there that paid 22 CENTS on $300.00 dollar order!!!!!! If it was any of you please tell us how you did it!!!!!!! Any other tips???
meatball mama I just dont understand how this can be unless they are buying boxed foods. I have a problem finding coupons for the items we use. Cereals are hard to find and you never find coupons for fresh vegs or fruits. We dont buy the boxed or frozen dinners etc. I find the occasional coupons for cleaning products, soaps etc BUT most of them are you have to buy 2 or 3 to get 50 cents off which is a dollare if doubled or $1.50 if tripled.
So please do tell the secrets.
Christine Christine, not sure where you're looking for coupons but there are a lot of good ones out there. The key is to find what's on sale and what you have a good coupon for. Most things that I have to buy 3 items for $.50 would get trashed, LOL. I think someone posted this on this forum but I will post again...it seems to be a pretty informative website and they give you quite a few links to print coupons that apply to the sales they mention. Scroll to the bottom to see the Shop Rite deals, looks like a lot of cereal offers.
http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/category/grocery-stores/shoprite
Bessie Watch the Extreme Couponing shows on TLC for inspiration. The newest ones just ran last Wednesday. One of the original shows interviewed the Krazy Koupon Lady who has written a very informative book. I think it takes a while to build up to that level of 'extreme couponing'....
denise I never strictly shop sales but do shop carefully. All discounts included, my average two years running is 42%. My highest is in the 70% area and that is generally with a past promo on top of a current promo and cherry picking a small order; getting to $300 on a 99% discount would be quite the feat.
In the last month, for a few weeks, you could get over $30 or more off the top via previous purchases of large quantities of items. Plus over 6 free bags (at $1 per) so that's over $36 before you even started. Don't think the free turkey was in play at that time so could have that bene.
Still, getting to $300 and a payment of 22-cents is tough even with that much of a head start. I have gone $0 on a number of items as well, but not more than a few per trip at best. Would love to hear how they did it.
mistergoogle Thanks Bessie, I already use that site. Mostly coupons on there are for sugar cereal which we dont get. Once in a while I do get a 55 cent one and will buy alot when it goes on sale. I find alot of the coupons on these sites are prepared foods already in which we do not buy either. I have about 7 different sites I use on a reghular basis and they all seem to have the same coupons on each one.
It just seems that we use to get alot more years ago.
Just shopped at A& P and saved $68 dollars in manufacturers coupons because it is double coupon week there. Got all my coupons on Coupons.com. They also have some really good deals in the meat department too this week. Good luck!
Peggy Back in the day when I was a cashier at Shoprite, the people who would save like $300 were always buying like fifty of the same item. Usually, there would be a sale on some sort of baby product, they would also double their coupons, then they would save some money from this "baby bucks" promotion Shoprite ran. They would pay basically nothing, but it wasn't as if they were getting a full weeks groceries.
Maybe different now.
bemo12there is a lot of controversy of the crazy coupon lady.. seems like she may have committed coupons fraud for that shop on TLC show.... she used coupons that she did not buy items for...
here are the links..
http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/16258
dismom you can stock up on a 12 week cycle, look for ssles and keep your coupons organized, eventually the items go on sale and you use the double coupons for a real reduction.
buy enough to last for three months.
over time you really save a ton of money.
BrotherDog I agree with you Christine. Seems like the coupons I find are also "buy two" to get the dicount. I also have found that the coupons may offer a decent amount off a particular brand, but if I look I can still find a brand that is cheaper than the other even with the coupon. I have seen that show and I am amazed at how much they get off their order. I can tell you though it seems like it would take a lot of time (which I don't have) to keep track of everything. I guess maybe I just don't pay enough attention to the cycle of how each sale runs. I do shop according to the weekly sales and plan dinners around that.
Like Christine said, I do not buy frozen dinners and very few boxed foods. most of my money is spent in produce, meat, and dairy so I do not have coupons for this. I also find that all of the other non-food items such as paper products, soap, detergents also add up and I definitely get the least expensive in that department. It just drives me crazy to spend so much on groceries.
JRT I have watched the tv show on TLC. And what I dont understand is using coupons on stuff you have no interest on using. The one lady had a $1200 order that she paid only $103 for. She bought 72 mustards, her husband and family dont like mustard. So why would you purchase these??? Its a waste. They put all this stuff in their house and keep it. I could see doing this if you are donating to a food bank or something and keeping maybe 5 for picnics or parties.
Just Asking Just Asking....I am literally watching that episode right now....and she mentions that she bought all this produce with coupons??? Not only did I not see produce, but when has anyone ever seen coupons for produce?? And she is buying boxed foods and jarred stuff, but where are the meats, breads, milks....she bought 100 cups of yogurt, but how long until they expire?? I don't know, I think that realistically it can't be done if you are trying to feed your family anything other then processed or preserved foods.
kelleo22 
the people you see...buying surplus products with coupons...sell them on the internet...and at flea markets...i have seen coupon people buy dozens of products...for almost nothing...even the people on the tv show admit to spending 40-70 hours a week on their coupon hunting...it like an obsession...
oldman I haven't watched Extreme Couponing but I do think it sounds a little weird from things I've heard. I use a lot of coupons (I'm probably that person you hate being behind in Shop Rite) but I don't like to be wasteful about it. I stock up on some things for myself, give some to the Food Pantry and help a few friends that have it rough right now. I agree with BD about the cycle of the sales and stock up on things with long shelf lives that I know I'll use.
I watched that show and it seems to me that they use more then 1 coupon for 1 item, thats how they get it for FREE. Shoprite and Weis and Walmart (the only stores I shop at for food)
dont allow you to do that. 1 item, 1 coupon for that item and thats it!! Maybe out in the midwest where I think these shows are from, allow you to do thay. IDK!
mona I have a family member who is like these extreme coupon people. He buys like 5 or 6 of one item and stocks them all in his basement. He has like his own Shop Rite down there. When I used to go over there he would load up bags of stuff for me.
I was so excited to go shopping yesterday. I had a bunch of coupons and I was confident I was going to save alot of money. Well, not so much. One item I had a coupon for, they did not have. And another there was a better deal with another product. So at the end, between price plus and coupons, I only saved $38.
SeeintheReality OK, let's start hitting real numbers for comparisoin. Let's use % discount as our barometer of success. Can't speak for other markets, but the Shoprite receipt shows
1. Purchase Price (what you paid)
2. Total Savings Today (what you saved)
3. Total Price = 1+2
4. Total Discount Percentage = 2/3
Just do steps 1 thought 4 and step 4, dividing Total Savings by Total Price will give you your discount percentage which is the percentage saved from the Total Price.
Like I said I get 42% discount, on average, year after year.
While managing to the dollar (and not the percent) is smarter (given you don't throw out the extra mustard), I manage to the percent. Therefore, when I get a 40-cent off hot sauce coupon, I buy the small bottle to get the largest percentage discount versus the HUGE bottle to get the lowest per oz price (or is that per OMG my lips are burning price?). And I only buy what I use not just things with a discount that I won't use. Yet the coupon trick does make me lean toward brand name which is probably more expensive in total dollars (but a bigger percentage discount, again). Still a bit of a snob.
If folks would list a real discount percentage, then we can see what's happening and who is "the king of the shopping cart" or queen.
I once signed up for a Couponing Forum. Talk about crazy! People used to complain about how they got 'robbed' because they had their order figured out to the penny, and the STUPID CASHIER did the coupons 'wrong' and they had to pay 6 cents more than they should have. So they stomped their feet and made a scene until the manager made the casher re-ring their 200+ items and do it 'correctly'. They would then have the nerve to comment on the long line of people behind them starting to grumble. Unreal! As opposed to being thrifty, or whatever you want to call it, I think that sometimes it becomes an obsession, or a sickness...
Lori...since '73 just noticed the link I posted wasn't about the Krazy coupon lady it was about Jamie Kirlew aka "Diva For Coupons"...... sorry wrong coupon lady
Watched an episode last night that I had DVR'd. My question for the couple that was buying food for a party for 20 of their friends-are the 35 bottles of Maalox for your guests after you feed them the 10 packages of hit dogs.
Seriously, the 2 people shown were just nuts. I still don't see any fresh fruits or vegetables-lots of ground beef, snack pack puddings and 40 bottles of barbeque sauce. Things do have expiration dates on them and I can't believe that family will consume a few dozen bottles of salad dressing.
Also the one thing they never mention is how the people get all of the coupons they use. Some stores don't accept internet coupons.
I am proud that last week I bought enough GM cereal with coupons that were on sale for a cheap price that I got a free gallon of milk from Shoprite:)
blackcat With the free ham, and I got a premium one so I paid, I hit 50% off last week so pretty good.
Rebecka 
you have to ask yourself...do i need 65 jars of mustard...do i need 90 bags of croutons...100 hundred rolls of toilet paper...100 hundred rolls of paper towels...a special room in my home for a stockpile...do i need gallons of laundry detergent...and dish detergent...do i have 40-70 hours a week to spend on couponing...do i need 100 boxes of cereal in my home...do i need to do a special dance in the checkout lane...there might be a little extreme hoarding involved here...
and by the way... The Show Extreme Couponing...they have left out one facet of the game...the supermarkets are compensated by the manufacturers for face value of the coupons...that are redeemed
SR does not double for computer coupons plus they have to get approval from the cashier manager so don't double and have to wait for approval ---- just an FYI. Apparently only the managers have been trained to spot computer fraud..... I still use em but mostly the $1 ones only and try to use a lot versus only one per checkout.
Yes, one needs 65 bottles of mustard to save enough money to buy hooker boots:)
I can see sticking up on TP and paper towels but some of the other stuff is just hoarding. If you have a coupon for mustard-or even a couple-and its on sale, yes, by all means get some. but do you really need 60 bottles?
Thanks so much, Mona and BLD, for sharing the sites you use.
So if SR does not double coupons, where do you go??
I've used a coupon probably 5 times in my life, but after catching a 10-minute glimpse of Extreme Couponing the other night, I'm inspired! :-D
I used a $0.35 cent coupon for Colgate toothpaste at Shoprite last night that was a regular old manufacturer's coupon. The toothpaste was on sale for $0.77 so I was excited thinking I got it for seven cents. But I checked my receipt and no double coupon. What gives?
Tracy Rebecka,
A little more down to earth, I get an average 42% off SR list prices. And coupons count for 30% of that, store coupons 20% and sale prices = 50%. So --- worth 30% of 42% per year or....$1,334 per year. Figure at even 65 coupon cutting hours, or over an hour a week that's $20 per hour just for the coupon cutting. Not bad for something I do while watching football in the fall.
And yes, I have a problem that makes me count everything......:>)
Some coupons specifically say "Do Not Double" on the top. I've always gotten doubles on others up to $1.00. This is in the Flanders SR.
Tracy- the Colgate/Palmolive/Softsoap coupons consistently say "do not double." If your coupon states "do not double" and the bar code starts with a "9" the computer will not double it. If your coupon states "do not double" but it starts with a "5" the computer will double it even though the coupon states not to. Your cashier, however, may hit the "do not double" button on their register if they notice it so they can override the computer- does this make sense?
I've been doing coupons the past few years and have saved lots of money using them, but as so many others said, there are never coupon for produce and natural/organic meats. I've occasionally found organic meats on sale at Weis. If it's close to their "sell by" date, they will either mark them down or put stickers on them for $1, $2 or $3 off.
skeeter I use the coupon database at www.dealseekingmom.com to check to see if there are any coupons available, she will tell you if they were in the paper and when & if they are available online to print !
JerseyJeepGirl I was just at SR and had 6 computer generated coupons and all were doubled.......they never even questioned it. I even was able to uswe a dollar general coupon for Suave shampoo got it free. BUT you always have to watch. I caught them in 2 price mistgakes today.
Were the 6 coupons the same ? I thought they only doubled up to four of the same coupon ?!?
yep they were all the same coupons........for liquid dish soap on sale I ended up paying a quarter for them.
Does shop rite ALWAYS double coupons within their limitations, or is it only certain times?.. for example once a month or whatever. Thanks.
anyone go to pathmark over the weekend it was TRIPLE coupon every $1 coupon u had turned to $3 dollars!!!
i went 3 times my first order was 69.36 i paid 25.36
my 2nd order was all brand name food texas toastfree, texas pizza dippersfree, 3 4packs of energy drinks 2 20lb bags of kitty litter free 8 power bars, 2 ny pizza's, mini bagels, bag of carrots, 6 pk jello, jimmy dean breafast bowl, 2 valley nature 12pk granbars, 2 pk hotdogs, bread,turkey, bananas, $before coupons $$ 82.37 after i paid $$35.26
3rd order was 2 20lb bags of kitty litter, 2 digiorno stuffed crust pizza total was $16.73 i paid 2.73
amazing it felt so good esp when each shopping trip without coupons i spend 2-300.00 bucks i got alot of great things in my first order too alot of cleaning stuff bathroom things things that were too expensive if i never had a coupon i could never afford!!!!
I'm sure I'll get slammed for this, but your 3 shopping orders are exactly the point that people have been making. You bought a lot of UNHEALTHY food...
Lori, I'm surprised you were able to discern what was purchased. My head's still spinning trying to read that post.
A good way to get coupons on better food is going to the website of the company. For instance I always buy breyers brand yogurt. I found the breyers website and clicked "contact us" then simply wrote a short message asking if they have any available coupons and gave my address. Three days later I got 3 coupons for a dollar off of 4 cups. I used two of the coupons for last weeks sale at shoprite and got 8 yogurt cups for $1.12.
I've been doing this with a lot of products lately and every company has always sent me a coupons within a few days of asking them.
Kissycat 4 bags of kitty litter , power bars , valley nature, bannanas , turkey , my kids eat the mini bagels, pizza is always good for dinner once in a while when i am tired, carrots, really are not bad foods. texas toast garlic bread is for a dinner ,
really i got great deals
soap, finesse shampoo and conditioner, always pads, colgate toothpaste, gillette fusion proglide razer,
that is good stuff, i know the jimmy dean is not good but my hubby will eat it and it was free so y not i would never buy any of that stuff but it was for 50 cents so when times are tough its ok.
not all bad stuff!!!
I scored out at Pathmark Friday Saturday and Sunday saved about $200.00 total! I am out of coupons now !! LOL
Marc If the only non-healthy thing you think you bought is the Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl, well...
I'm not saying that it's not ok to have these things on hand for days when you're tired, etc. I totally understand being tired/busy. Again, my point is that, tired or not, they are not HEALTHY 'foods'.
And Tracy, it was definitely painful to read. The second one equally so. I'm trying to loosen my grip, lighten my expectations, when it comes to reading comments on here. It's tough for me, but I'm trying, haha
I see this one has potential for beating a dead horse. Wait and see...
Where is there a Pathmark near Hackettstown?
And I haven't had a problem with Shop Rite taking my printed coupons, as long as they had one of those pixelated boxes on it; the ones I print from coupons.com are all accepted and doubled if under $1 and it doesn't say not to. Now Walmart, they won't accept the printed coupons and they also won't accept any buy one get one for free offer. I don't get that. The manufacturers redeem all the stores for that, what's their problem??
Pathmarksavings ... great job. I got $247 worth for $31 Out of Pocket in a total of 6 orders.
And please don't feel the need to defend what you purchased for your family bc Lori doesn't agree. The day Lori has something positive to say will be the day Hell Freezes over !
Petlover, the closest PathMarks are in Landing & Jefferson ! And I have never had a problem with printed or B1G1 at Walmart ... the only problem I've had there is they won't let your transaction end on a negative (give you $$ or gift card) ... I had to add something onto my order to make it positive !
THE MAN I know its been awhile but with the holiday season around the corner I am trying to learn how to save a few bucks! Any help with couponing or deals in the area appreciated :) I would love to be a extreme couponer but I don't have the time nor the patience LOL but I wouldn't mind saving a lot more money then I do at the grocery store... please let me know of any good deals and coupons in the area or online!
HeatherS Your best bet is to clip coupons from Sundays papers and internet coupons and look at the stores circulars every week. See if you can match up some of the coupons with the stores sales and you can save money. Also, Rite-Aid and Walgreens have the "rewards" where you buy something and get a coupon for $ off your next purchase of something.
I go in and buy something (only stuff I really use) and get the "rewards" coupon and turn around and use it right there on my second order. It feels good to save $. Takes a little bit of time, but worth it. Some of those crazy people on the show spend 40+ hours a week preparing for their shopping trip. But if you work, you dont have time for that. And a lot of the stuff they show on the show, isnt TRUE couponing. Its made up for the show.
Good luck to you and happy shopping!
Another thing to do is to sign up for email alerts / offers from the brands / stores where you purchase the most.
You may not use all they have to offer, but this is a way to get additional coupons to use for the items that you buy often.
Coralie OK, I think I got screwed AGAIN at Walgreens, and I LOVE that store. Went and bought 2 razors at $8.99 each, so thats $17.98. Then I had $6.50 in reward coupons, so that made it $11.48 and then I had $2.00 off manuf. coupon for each, so total should be $7.48.
Plain and simple, so you would think. But when she went to scan the 2nd manuf. coupon (1st one was no problem) it wouldnt work and she told me I had to buy 2 small things, like candy bars, then it would work. So I did, (.69ea) and then the coupon worked. I dont understand that. I would have called the manager over, but there were 3 people behind me and I already did 2 other separate orders, so I didnt want to get "mobbed" by the customers. LOL! This is the second time this has happened there and I dont understand why.
Walgreens policy is that you cannot have more coupons than items. So yes, cashier was correct. They always have a display of lollipops by the register (.59 for one 1.00 for two) thats what i always pick up if i need another item !
@Jersey Jeep Girl..I never heard of that. I think it's a little strange though because if you had a store coupon and mfg coupon, and only bought that one thing, you would have to buy something else. Am I following that correctly?
Free Fries at Burger King 12-16-11 - no coupon needed...
You can score a free value size fry this Friday at Burger King! One free fry per person, per visit and while supplies last. At participating restaurants only.
It is one thing to save money, but these coupon people on TV are more than a little
obsessed with the process. To me they are no different than the "hoarders" who can't throw anything away. It is the same basic obsession. I bet they would have panic attacks if they were forced to purchase an item at full price without a coupon, just like those who have panic attacks when they are told to throw something out and clean up. The proof that they have gone beyond thrifty shopping to obsession was in an ad I saw for one of the shows. A teenage BOY was bragging about how much money he saved on feminine hygiene products. There was a shelf full of them behind him. What on earth does he need with those? Proof they are greedy and only shop to prove they can save and are not buying stuff they need.
JBJSKJ @mona..very odd policy at Walgreens. On another note, I was discussing internet coupons at Shop Rite with one of the women that run the front end and she told me they have a whole binder of fraudulent coupons. They have criteria they look for, someone had mentioned the watermark, among other things. She did mention that there are people that come in with fraudulent coupons all the time. My question is, where do you get fraudulent coupons. Jersey Jeep Girl, your thoughts on this?
I have gerber good start formula $5.50 & $2.50 as well as any enfamil product $1.00 (2)
If anyone is interested please e-mail, I will be willing to meet up or mail them
Couponer What they told me at Shop Rite is the fraudulent coupons are when you print an internet coupon and then you photo copy it. The printed one is legit but the copied one is fraudulent and they wont take them. Somehow they can tell the difference. Makes no sense to me.
I know that on one of the sites (which one escapes me), you are allowed to print 2 of the same coupon, each coupon has a different code on it. I would imagine if you photo copy those, they become fraudulent, maybe the computer recognizes those codes have already been used.
Hey Bessie .. you are correct ! MOST if not all internet coupon sites only let you print 2 coupons per computer, so if you photocopy them they become fraudulent.
Just go into your network settings and change the dhcp from auto to ip address and use 192's .01 to 150 and you can download as many as you want. On another note I hear TONS of you coupon people go way overboard on this whole couponing thing and frankly most of the people I see do it are simply just cheap people. People who would rather wipe with real rough cheap store brand paper rather than soft name brand paper. Here are a few facts to consider and to keep in the forefront of your brain while you think coupons are saving you money....
Market Coupon strategy#1
New product introduction "buy 1 get one free" "free samples" introduces a product to your shopping list that you simply do not need and would never buy if it were not free.
#2 if your coupons produce free items then walk into any grocery store without 1 dollar in your pocket and then come out with a whole cart of food for the family using nothing but paper cut outs called coupons....
#3 Here is a sample of what you call savings. Look this up and you will see the numbers are right on the money... I see everyone buying Poland springs! So here is the breakdown of poladn springs wholesale 1 case 24 bottles is 60 cents wholesale.
Poland springs sells from $3.49 per case to sometimes 5.25 per case 7eleven sometimes small stores charge the higher price. So lets look at this..
Lets low ball it at $3.60 per case and 1 case = 60 cents wholesale thats 6 cases per the cost of 1 case retail. Now stay with me on this. If you see a sign that says 2 of 1 your like YES I DID IT what a deal whoa what a deal this is so sweet! It's not because the company still have 4 more cases of profit in this item. For you to have the TRUE DEAL THE TRUE COUPON THE TRUE FEELING OF THE SAVINGS, you would have to see this deal buy 1 get 5 for free and then the store would not be making any profit at all. Thats a hookup. Please stop covering up the fact that you are being sucked into a whole new product world among spending money on shit that you simply do not need just because you BELEIEVE that your getting a deal......... Your not! The house always wins no matter what. Free donuts means your buying a coffee or even parking your car in the parking lot which makes the store look busy which brings in other paying customers. There are so many different luring ways of companies just please be(ware) and not stupid...
jason stevnson I pretty much agree with Christine from last April...I've been doing this A LONG TIME and most, if not all, coupon sites have all of the same coupons. Plus, they are for items we just don't use. We eat pretty much all FRESH produce and some meats, some frozen veges, NO PREPARED foods. Also, cleaning etc is all eco safe. These are just not ever couponed. I figured out the only way to save consistently and eat healthfully, is to go to Trader Joes. Sorry guys, but pretty much everything I see coupons for is JUNK, bad for you food.
Karen Lynn Then I guess coupons are not a good option for your way of cooking, cleaning and eating. To each his own. For some (me included), they are are a big part of my shopping budget.
if you really want to save money grocery shopping...you have to plan your whole trip...today I saved $30.00 and got a coupon for a free gallon of milk...and that was using store coupons and manufacturers coupons... time involved about half an hour...plus looking for linked promotions in the grocery store circular...as far as fraudulent coupons...more appear everyday...most computer generated coupons contain a warning that making copies of the coupon are fraudulent...and computer generated coupons are the ones most often found to be frauds
I was on Kohls website and made $342. The shipping was free above hundred dollar shopping, so I got the advantage of that but in addition I saved $68 on my whole shopping and that was the biggest saving that I ever made in my life. www.retailmenot.com
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