Love this! I feel the same way. My sister is a big couponer and teases me a little that I am just not into it. My reasons are basically the same as yours!
I could never make couponing work for us. I started watching the sales and planning our meals and buying a lot more generic brands or store brands and that cut our food bill a lot.
I’ve come to find that very often the store brand, at full price, costs pretty much the same as or less than the name brand with a coupon and sale–but it’s a lot easier to grab that store brand jar than it is to wait for a sale and clip a coupon to buy the name brand, lol! An insider secret (and you probably already heard this) is that a vast majority of the store brand products are made by the name brand companies anyway, so it’s the same stuff!
I’ve never been able to get into couponing because most coupon items are for things I really don’t use. I also usually purchase the private label/store brand of items rather than the name brand. IF only there were coupons for fresh fruits and veggies!
In my extreme couponing days, I actually did upon occasion find coupons for produce–but they were VERY rare! I have a City Market loyalty card now and (almost as rarely) they will mail me coupons for produce, too. But, yeah, they are ridiculously rare and I wish there were more. 🙂
Like you I used to be a big couponer but found also that I was purchasing things we didn’t use or things that were unhealthy. I still coupon but not to the extent that I used to as the healthier products we now use don’t have the sales/coupons as other products. I still bargain hunt, though:)
I completely agree- I hate that the majority of coupons I see are for unhealthy, processed, big-name products. I’ve had some luck with the online Safeway coupons (the kind you load onto your loyalty card)… they actually have coupons for fruit, veggies, etc. from time to time.
Great post!!
I use to use coupon a lot and now I don’t either. I still try and save as much money as possible. Couponing does take a lot of time and energy and really I don’t have that right now. I’m exhausted from day to day stuff and can’t fit it in anymore. However, that doesn’t stop me from pinching pennies.
Thanks for the honest and insightful post, I will have to check out Swagbucks. I have some of these same concerns, but financially have little choice at this time. I no longer pay to subscribe to a newspaper or magazines because for me it was not usually worth the cost. I am so grateful for couponing, as my budget for food and household items is so low and I am trying to stop using charge cards. I do my best to get the healthiest items I can with coupons and sales – low or sodium free, sugar free, whole grain, less chemicals, etc…. I do not use the entire packet of seasoning and/or add lots of veggies so that I do not eat all the chemicals and sodium at one time and have seasonings leftover for other meals. I give thanks for the coupons sites and manufacturers and that I have the time and energy to be a couponer. Unfortunately, 2 of my coupon books were lost or stolen in the last couple of months, lost lots of free coupon and high value coupons, but am hoping whoever got them needed them more than I do and enjoyed the savings.
Have you taken Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University? Most cities hold it locally in churches and what-not. That was the turning point for my hubby and me. We still have thousands and thousands in debt to pay off, but we’re doing a million times better, and we’ve become our church’s FPU coordinators. It’s a small investment up front, but boy is it most worth it! Also, taking advantage of co-ops has saved us a ton of money.
Love this! I feel the same way. My sister is a big couponer and teases me a little that I am just not into it. My reasons are basically the same as yours!
I could never make couponing work for us. I started watching the sales and planning our meals and buying a lot more generic brands or store brands and that cut our food bill a lot.
I’ve come to find that very often the store brand, at full price, costs pretty much the same as or less than the name brand with a coupon and sale–but it’s a lot easier to grab that store brand jar than it is to wait for a sale and clip a coupon to buy the name brand, lol! An insider secret (and you probably already heard this) is that a vast majority of the store brand products are made by the name brand companies anyway, so it’s the same stuff!
I’ve never been able to get into couponing because most coupon items are for things I really don’t use. I also usually purchase the private label/store brand of items rather than the name brand. IF only there were coupons for fresh fruits and veggies!
In my extreme couponing days, I actually did upon occasion find coupons for produce–but they were VERY rare! I have a City Market loyalty card now and (almost as rarely) they will mail me coupons for produce, too. But, yeah, they are ridiculously rare and I wish there were more. 🙂
Like you I used to be a big couponer but found also that I was purchasing things we didn’t use or things that were unhealthy. I still coupon but not to the extent that I used to as the healthier products we now use don’t have the sales/coupons as other products. I still bargain hunt, though:)
I completely agree- I hate that the majority of coupons I see are for unhealthy, processed, big-name products. I’ve had some luck with the online Safeway coupons (the kind you load onto your loyalty card)… they actually have coupons for fruit, veggies, etc. from time to time.
Great post!!
I use to use coupon a lot and now I don’t either. I still try and save as much money as possible. Couponing does take a lot of time and energy and really I don’t have that right now. I’m exhausted from day to day stuff and can’t fit it in anymore. However, that doesn’t stop me from pinching pennies.
Thanks for the honest and insightful post, I will have to check out Swagbucks. I have some of these same concerns, but financially have little choice at this time. I no longer pay to subscribe to a newspaper or magazines because for me it was not usually worth the cost. I am so grateful for couponing, as my budget for food and household items is so low and I am trying to stop using charge cards. I do my best to get the healthiest items I can with coupons and sales – low or sodium free, sugar free, whole grain, less chemicals, etc…. I do not use the entire packet of seasoning and/or add lots of veggies so that I do not eat all the chemicals and sodium at one time and have seasonings leftover for other meals. I give thanks for the coupons sites and manufacturers and that I have the time and energy to be a couponer. Unfortunately, 2 of my coupon books were lost or stolen in the last couple of months, lost lots of free coupon and high value coupons, but am hoping whoever got them needed them more than I do and enjoyed the savings.
Have you taken Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University? Most cities hold it locally in churches and what-not. That was the turning point for my hubby and me. We still have thousands and thousands in debt to pay off, but we’re doing a million times better, and we’ve become our church’s FPU coordinators. It’s a small investment up front, but boy is it most worth it! Also, taking advantage of co-ops has saved us a ton of money.