Do you coupon?

[spotty_dog]

When I was really trying to keep the budget in check back at the end of residency (paying mortgage *and* rent for several months while stocking up for a new baby, aiyaiyai) I did pretty well on couponing. I used a price book for a while to keep tabs on which stores had the best prices on the things I bought most, so that I'd go to Albertson's for staples, meat at Basha's, produce at Safeway, etc. I stacked coupons with sales, often with the help of hotcouponworld.com's forums which would match the weekly store circular with commonly available coupons, like those that come in Red Plum advertising circulars or in boxes of other products, internet printables or inserts in those parenting magazines you get deluged with, etc. I didn't make amazing scores of cheap-to-free food, but it was nice to get a bunch of jars of Classico pasta sauce for $1 per, canned diced tomatoes for like $.25, or ensure that if I had to buy pop I bought it when there was a 4/$9 sale and a coupon on top of that too. Wine tags can have some great deals and you don't even have to buy the wine half the time. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I could save, because I had previously worried about the "Only for name brands and not enough discount to match the generic price" and "Only for pre-packaged foods" and "Get you to buy something you didn't even need" concerns as well.

Our current grocery stores don't tend to have great coupons (except Albertson's and they have pretty awful selection of meat and produce), and I'm way *way* not into making multiple grocery stops, unloading and loading both the kids multiple times, so I stick to my super-close Red Apple market and the farmer's market unless I'm really stocking up, then I usually just go to Safeway and pat myself on the back for getting Club Card prices. :P

[MarissaNicole]

I coupon when I can but can't seem to find many coupons for fresh items, and with regards to packaged food I feel that generic is often the cheapest anyway. Therefore I try and get what I can at Aldi, then I get my produce at a local ethnic store, and everything else comes from Super Target (I use my Target credit card and save 5% every time). Oh and of course I get a few select unique items from Trader Joe's

I'm far better (and more successful) at combining coupons, sales and gift cards earned with credit card points at retail stores. Got the hubby 3 dress shirts, and a tie for fifty some dollars this weekend.

[Phoebe]

I am trying to coupon more now than I used to. I am not into buying stuff I don't need or going to mulitple stores.

[alison]

Arghhhhh!!!! I just learned my lesson... Last year when dd was around 8 months old I bought a bunch of 18-24 month clothes for her (she's 20 months old) that were on sale. Many still have tags on them. Because it just isn't warm enough her AND she seems to fit a 2T better (tall and lean toddler), I basically have a huge lot of 18-24 clothes that I've put away for baby #2.

I'm done buying children's clothes a year in advance. That might sound terribly shallow, but I save money by nor jumping for a good deal.

[HouseofWool]

Alison - I don't buy ahead for Sophie or Caleb. She is wearing either a 4T or 5T short this summer because she has huge hips (as in good old fashioned hips made to pass another human being). Her pelvis is really wide. She is still a bit plump, but not overly so. Her baby fat is starting to go finally. And she is only 28 months old! So, with a disposable diaper, she is in 4t bottoms and with cloth, it is 5t.

Caleb, has worn the same pair of swim trunks for 3 summers now. Dude only grows up, never out. He is so skinny it is ridiculous.

[SuzySunshine]

alison, I stopped buying ahead for A after last winter and I stopped buying ahead for R just this winter. A stayed on track until she was 2 and now she's in different size pants then shirts. R is in 18 month shirts due to sleeve length but 12 month pants so I feel your pain. I just look for sales and shop at Kohl's a lot when the new seasons come out.

[MrsK]

I only buy ahead if I think it's something that K2 can use of BabyK does not (one benefit of having a winter boy and a summer boy), I absolutely adore the item, and it is inexpensive enough to consign/resell for a good price (for instance, something that is orginally $20 and on sale for $3). I leave the tags on everything until I use it -- including my own clothes -- because clothes that are new with tags always get good prices on consignment regardless of whether they are in fashion or were discounted when you bought them.

[alison]

I just watched that tlc show on couponing, and while it's impressive that both ladies featured paid only pennies for their purchases, it really looks like they have hoarding issues.

When we were househunting, we saw a basement full of pre-packaged food. Now it makes sense... It was a single woman who had gallons of laundry detergent, huge tubs of mayonnaise, at least 100 rolls of paper towels. It was so weird. And most of it was collecting dust. I wonder if these extreme couponers actually use the stuff the buy or if they go down to their basements and admire their deals.

And... What I don't get is filling your SUV full of 10 gallon-sized containers of detergent. There! You're burning the money you saved in gas!

[SuzySunshine]

I had a friend here who was a big couponer before she finished residency and she TOTALLY did it for the feel of getting stuff for free so she had a big tub that she would put at least half of her purchases in and then she would donate it to a women's shelter or something similar.

[ladymoreta]

I have a friend who does that, too - donating the extra stuff. I think that's a fantastic way to contribute to the community. She said that the people who run the charities and shelters often don't have the time to match up all the coupons and stuff, so I'm sure they really appreciate couponers who pass the items along.