Supermarket Coupons (1 Viewer)

[Joe S]

How many of the guys here bother to use the coupons in the newspaper and flyers in the mail?
Yesterday I witnessed a guy (about 30 YO) in the checkout line with a number of coupons- I think this was the first time I saw a man using coupons. This got me thinking, because I'm too lazy to use the things on a regular basis and the idea never occurs to me unless I happen to spot a coupon for something I know I'm going to buy.
I usually get annoyed when the person in front of me uses them because it takes extra time for the cashier to scan them in. I wish that coupons were outlawed.

 

[Paul McElligott]

I do cut coupons out of the paper. Unfortunately I tend to leave them and forget until after they expire.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I do; on a good week they effectively pay for the Sunday paper.

 

[Malcolm R]

I used to clip pretty voraciously. If you are serious about it, it's pretty easy to cut your grocery bill in half or more by matching up the coupons with weekly sales in circulars at a store that offers double and/or triple coupons.

Occasionally you can get a store to pay you a few cents to "buy" some items.

 

[Jay H]

I do, but like many, often times forget about them until they expire!

What pisses me off is that some supermarkets have a policy that wants you to give the cashier the coupons before checkout. So what does the cashier do? Completely forget to scan my coupons after scanning my items and after I go home, I realize that I didn't get my coupon. arrghh..

Either make the trip back or just eat the loss..

I like double/triple coupons though, you can really get some good deals if you match that with on-sale items.

Jay

 

[Todd Henry]

Jason,

I'd say even on a poor week for coupons they pay for the Sunday paper.

We've noticed that the coupons and weekly sales often match up. For example this week there was a coupon for $1 off 3 Lipton side dishes and the grocery store had them on sale for 10 for $10. By using the coupon this week we got 3 for $2.

 

[Paul McElligott]

I may start again. Too bad there are no coupons for gasoline.

 

[Ken Chui]

I've been a regular clipper for a few years now. I try to use them, whenever possible, in conjunction with sale items that week to take advantage of additional savings, e.g. 50 cents for a 32oz. bottle of Miracle Whip is a pretty good deal in my book.

 

[LewB]

A local supermarket here gives .05/gallon discount for regular and mid-grade gas and a .10/gallon discount for premium if you flash your discount club card at the pump
The only down-side are the lines and the idiots who can't seem to be able to read the instructions on the pump.

I hold coupons 'till the supermarket offers double or triple coupon offers.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Not worth the time & hassle. No stores around here double or triple them- you can usually save as much or more by buying the store brand or generics, since coupons are almost always for higher-priced brands.


> I do; on a good week they effectively pay for the Sunday paper.

And what does the paper cost? $1? How much time does it take to save that whopping sum? (I save the $1 by not buying the paper in the first place. )

 

[Ken Chui]

Sunday papers haven't been a $1 since the 80s. (OK, maybe the early 90s in some areas )

If you pick up your copy at a newsstand, grocery, etc., it will cost $1.75 (for the Columbus Dispatch) and there's no guarantee of coupon booklets inserted (unlike home delivered copies). On a good weekend, I can end up with ~$10 in coupons, made all the more worthwhile at retailers such as Meijer, which will double all coupons up to 99 cents in value. Occasionally, there are even triple coupon days at some retailers, though I haven't seen one in over a year. Bottom line is that the savings from coupons will not only pay for Sunday's newspaper delivery, you can also pocket a few dollars in the process.

 

[Jimi C]

I work in retail at a chain pharmacy/convenient store. We have a big problem with coupon fraud.

Allow me to explain...

Local small corner store owners sell the sunday paper which is filled with coupons, often times they will have coupons for FREE items or items that are almost free in conjunction with our in store sales. These guys go into all of there Sunday papers and pull out every coupon for that particular item. They then come into our store with there friends or employees and clean out our shelfs of said item. After that they go back to there hole in the wall east side stores where they sell the items at full retail. This is illegal btw. Unfortunatly, we know that the police would never waste there time on it. In fact, last week we had a drunk guy in the store with no shirt no shoes and low riding pants (he was actually showing some "neck" if you know what i mean). After we were forced to physicly remove him from the store we called the cops. They arrived more than 24 hrs later! Gotta love Buffalo.

 

[Michael Warner]

I've clipped and used coupons since college. I just look through the coupons in the Sunday paper while eating breakfast and clip any that I might want to use. It sure doesn't take much time or effort and I usually save about $5 a week. $260 a year is enough to buy a nice new toy.

 

[Ravi K]

Make sure you don't start clipping coupons for products you don't really need but seem attractive because of the 50 cents off.

 

[Joe S]

Most of the coupons I see are for items I don't usually buy. Once in a while I will try something new, using the coupon. But like Chris said, they're not worth the time or effort. I usually buy things when they're on sale.