Coupons.... do you use them?

I clip coupons too. I actually clip them into three stacks. One stack includes all the ones for products I always use. The second stack is for items that I find interesting and would like to try. I decide when I get to the store if that item is worth purchasing and is good for my family. If it is, I use the coupon...if not I hold it and put it into stack number three. That stack I share with friends or family members. I let them pass along the ones I know I won't use and feel good that they will also save money on their shopping with the coupons I share with them. They too will pass along those they don't use to their friends. So the time spent is well worth it because many people will benefit from my clipping the savings from papers and magazines. What I do with the ones I know I will use is put them in date order so I don't miss out on the savings myself. I put a "C" next to the items on my shopping list and pull those coupons out and put them in the front of the pouch or a small envelope. Then write the remaining coupon names on the other side of my list. If I am able to add them to this shopping list I use the items and have a head start on the next weeks menu because I have these new items in my pantry that were bought at a savings using the coupons. Hope this helps!

i do sometimes. here in Canada, we cannot use them to the extent that they are used in the US, but what i find when i want to use coupons, i find that the store brand is often cheaper than the brand named item with the cents off coupon.

Well, I know I have used them from time to time, but not some Savy coupon person like you would see on any of the shows who go into a store with over $200 or more of groceries and walk out paying less than $50. I have never understood the meaning of being a Coupon crazed shopper as most of the time the coupons I see are not the ones I am really interested in.

I use coupons. I sign up for some on websites that mail them to you, or I print them off the internet. Sometimes I get them from relatives or from newspapers. Because I don't really get a lot, it tends to work out that I remember what I have. I might look through my stack of coupons before I make my grocery list, that way I can make sure to use any that i need to use.

I used to be a couponer. This year I am not. I will still use a great coupon if I find it but I no longer get 4 papers on Sunday. I tried four different systems to organize them and the all had their faults and their strenghts. The first method I tried was a coupon organizing box. It used 3X5 index cards as dividers and was split into 32 categories. I spent so long clipping and putting my coupons where they went. I did save a great amount of money this way but it just wasnt worth the time spent. The second method I used was envelopes. There was one envelope for each section of the store with produce and meat combined because there was rarely any coupons for these. I also had one for Dairy, cereals, canned goods, cleaning supplies, makeup and toiletries, Frozen foods, Chips and snacks, baby and other. It worked okay and was less organizing but there was still the fact that I spent so long clipping everything out. Both of these methods also had a time factor of finding expired coupons and getting rid of them. The next thing I did was the baseball card holder in a 3 ring binder. I still had to clip them all but they were much more organized and I could see what I needed to see with out pulling each coupon out individualy. In this I also had full sheet protectors so that if I didnt have time to clip I could still have my coupons organized and with me. Eventually I ended up not clipping any but the ones I knew I would use and just storing the rest. I threw the coupon inserts out that I hadnt used every 3 months. Then I canceled the paper and decided to quit using coupons. It was taking a lot of hours that I could just use in better planning and preperation and get more of a value out of. Today I am somewhere just above not being a couponer. I carry a mini file with me I got at the dollar store. In it I put coupons organized by categories. I dont get the paper but I am able to find coupons in the store, in the mail or printed off the internet. We eat so much better now. I am focused on finding a great price for our foods and eating the right food. We eat a lot more produce. We grow what we can and trade things we have extras of for things others have extras of. I grow a great tomatoe but my apple tree doesnt give off enough apples for sharing yet. I also sat down to consider the cost of the paper to buy and at 120$ a year it wasnt a lot but that is a good chunk of food I can buy with that.

About the coupons, I got the membership card of a large electronics store, this being the only one in which I sometimes buy in my city megastore. For every purchase you make every day you are awarded 5 points + 1 point for every 5 euros of expenditure. I know I did something almost useless, as to receive various awards require at least hundreds of points and in March, those which may be accumulated during the year are cleared. To be honest: I did it just because the cards did not cost me anything.

I use coupons. I tend to do things like order them online and print them off online. I consider finding them a time killer when im at work...waiting on projects ive started with the pc to finish what I've asked them to run. I make sure only to print off order or cut out the products i use on a regular basis...not the stuff i doubt i will ever use. Then when im making my shopping list i put only the coupons for products on my list with the list. I am VERY careful to only buy items on my list and not impulse buy unless its something i know i NEED and have run out of.