Am I the only one who has gi ven up on coupons?

hmm... well.. but you do use basic things like toothpaste or shampoo rite... sometimes... they have good coupons for those stuffs sometimes...and when there is a sale anywhere... i use it... and save few dollars... a dollar saved is a dollar earned rite??? So hurray for coupons!!!!

If there's a product that I really want to try (usually some new cleaning or beauty product) then I'll use a coupon IF it's more than a buck or two. I will not mess around with coupons that are only cents off. For the most part I just stick to the store brands - unless it's ketchup.

i seldom use coupons because usually the store brand is STILL cheaper than the price of the item even with the coupon's cents off. i also find that they are not always that readily available.

It's rare I use any coupons here too. Most like OP said they are for someone who is into brand name convience items typically. I don't even buy store brands I buy most items from Aldi's & they are usualy 20-50% cheaper than the generics of the local chains. Then you have online coupons that never co-inside with the sales at the stores. I wish they'd have an exp shown on the site prior to you printing them. I'm not wasting my time if it's not on sale already & it expires before the next time the item goes on sale KWIM? I hit up a local grocery store that marks down their meats a couple days before the sell by date is up. I get mainly chicken but alot of it is at 50% off normal retail or more. And occasionally I'll have a good find @ Aldi's like lunchmeat variety packs were .25! & 12ct dinner roll pkg's were .25! So I see a deal I stock up, I can't afford not to.

I gave up on using coupons for the most part a long time ago. Very rarely do I see a coupon for something that I use or, if it for something that I use, the store brand is just as good. We're not too picky at my house so, unless it's coffee or soda, the store brand is usually okay.

Me also don't believe on coupons. You are right on the point that coupons are targeted towards people who are fond of junky food, don't cook or both. I think actually coupons are just to make a craze among people who are in this category. I never like junky foods but eat some fresh, never run behind the coupons. Thanks for your good discussion.

Have you tried looking for coupons on the web? Very often companies list coupons for their products on their web sites.

I use coupons and do save money. It does depend on products people use, as French's Mustard is my favorite brand and it was free with coupon this week. Also have 2 free cans of Hormel Chili and yes I do prefer to make my own chili, but not turning down free. My coupon sections are from The Los Angeles Times and have more coupons than my local paper, so no longer get the local paper. This area coupons are doubled, so I can get the premium toilet paper for less than the generic.

We go to Superstore and we find there are instore coupons and we do not use those. They are for large quantities, and for what we do not use. I do use premium toilet paper but our store has its own brands "President's Choice" that is just as good. I do not buy prepared dinners, make my own. Sometimes we do find a real deal but it is seldom. But we do look for the store specials. And if the price of the premium brand is equal to the instore after coupons or specials, we will buy the premium brand. When we went to Safeway, we got the Safeway Club Card and they have the instore coupons that way.

I did give up on coupons a while back but I have since gone back to them. I have been lucky enough to find some great deals. I have gotten shampoo and conditioner for free and now I have enough to last a year, plus it was better stuff then I was used to. I think it is a matter of waiting for the deals that match the coupons and going for them.

I hardly even see coupons these days, though I agree with you that the ones I see are normally for things I'd never use. My local supermarket gives you coupons when you use their loyalty card, but there's normally only one or two that I'll use each month.

I've never look in the newspapers for coupons - they are never there. I usually look online and print them or i order them to be sent to me online. I love the pet food ones. I occasionally find generic ones online for the local stores if i look hard enough.

I not only don't use coupons anymore, we don't even buy the paper. Both are a waste of time. Sometimes I will use a coupon that comes with something I normally buy. But, other than that, I just don't think they help much. Lots of things I buy store brands. And most things I buy that aren't store brands usually don't ever have coupons. I save by not buying a paper because we hardly ever read it anyway! Now, when we were living in Nashville, we bought the paper every Sunday. Up there, they had stores that allowed you to use the coupons and sometimes it was like getting things free! They would have double or triple coupon day and it was really money-saving! I really miss those sales!!

I hate coupons. After all is said and done, I find it's a lot cheaper to shop at Aldi's and stock up on what we use a lot. Then there's the Everything for a Dollar store. Sometimes one can find something very useful, and it's only a dollar. Dollar General comes in handy too. I'm a firm believer in stocking up. Flour, sugar, other staples that last, are cheaper at Aldi's. Do you have a freezer? If it's a stand alone type, try buying in bulk at a locker for meat. When we were starting out, we bought a cheap little freezer. Then we bought 1/4 of a beef at a locker. You don't pay so much for rib eye, so much for hamburger, etc. You pay one price that's a combination of how much the meat is per pound (that includes all the different cuts in that section)and the processing fee. It's enormously cheaper than buying meat every week at the supermarket. Usually better meat too. We had to switch lockers a few times. Some of them rip you off. We took in a year old heifer, so the meat should have been tender. What we got back was old and stringy. We never went back to that locker.

You know I just started looking into this coupon thing because of the extraordinary rises in food prices and I'm finding the same thing. I don't see how it will help me save money to buy a bunch of stuff I would not ordinarily buy just because I could use a coupon. I can't use any of them either.

Oh I would love coupons for frugal people too! I too go thru the coupons just to usually throw them out. I cool from scratch almost all the time. For cleaners I do use Dawn or Ajax but that is about it for the name brand items. Im so tired of going thru them just to see all these coupons for microwavable foods, snacks or you will find a coupon for a name brand item BUT you can get basically the same thing cheaper by buying off brands. In fact today I had a whole bunch of coupons to go thru and I kept thinking how much they are even wasting printing them out if everyone throws away as many as I do! As for meats I'm lucky as I do go to a bulk meat market.

Agreed! Most of the coupons are for stuff I never even buy. I only clip a few by going to the company's website and seeing if they have any specials of stuff I do buy. Most of the generic stuff is put on sale anyway, making it absurd to use coupons and end up paying more.

I cut the ones that I know I will actually use. The best ones are the ones that the store gives me though, they are based on what I actually buy. But I don't put too much work into it.

Boy do I hear you. I have found that if I save some coupons and use them when later the store will have a sale right before the coupon expires giving you an even better deal. I also have used coupons on brand name items that are clearanced or marked way down cause they are about to expire. I usually get those for free or almost. That for me is when using coupons pay off when I do it like that I also buy my meat from the markdown section as well. I have found some great roast and sausage and what not there. To be honest thats the only way I can eat good. I very rarely buy the dinners in a box unless its lean cusine. I have also joined several coupon trader groups and trade coupons with others that have what I want. Not to mention the coupons are different in different areas of the country. Dont give up on coupons just yet your just getting started. lol.

No you are not the only one....I use store brand almost everything so the coupons dont do me anygood. Now I do use the coupons for the dinner or lunch buy one get one free.... those help out alot, but those come in the mailers coupons in the mail. the last year, with the prices skyrocketing because of the gas prices, we started going to the grocery stores that you bag your own groceries (like Aldi's or Sav-a-lot) and they dont have coupons there....but we save probably 20.00 in groceries that way alone.