Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Coupons


The squirrel I ordered has arrived, nice and plump. I've seen it playing around the patio. I've seen no evidence it's found the peanut feeder. I also know it has arrived because I found a flower pot turned over.

Now if the hummingbirds would just find their way to my feeder I'd be a happy camper.
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Are you a coupon clipper? Ronni Bennett in her post today at Time Goes By writes about the subject. Most of you know grocery shopping is not my thing, consequently I could care less about coupons and grocery ads. They're real entertainment for Bob. He has grocery ads and coupons out on the table most of the time. He does clip a few coupons but I'm pleased to say he's not obsessive about it.

Have you ever purchased ten cans of something and the next time the special ran purchased another ten cans only to be chagrined when you discovered you already had ten cans? You've got to eat a lot of tuna to eat up twenty cans. If you give some away or trash it you've compromised your bargain.

I'm happy say Bob does not generally hoard food (aside from the Volkswagen size packages of toilet tissue, paper towels, etc from Costco). I've known some real food hoarders. We once had a neighbor who found a store where they sold gallon cans of food for $1, all cans missing the labels. He loved to open those cans to see what he would get. He was far more generous that we would have liked because he was constantly coming over to share. He had a garage full of that stuff.

Some people shop between stores according to the specials advertised that week. Some stores offer extra discounts to seniors on certain days.

Bob keeps all the ads available all week and if I mention going to some store for a specific item he runs to cut a store coupon for me. Most of the time I forget I have it. I just don't tell him.

I wonder if I'll ever develop an interest in clipping coupons? There are a lot of blogs about being frugal and clipping coupons but they don't interest me. Perhaps if I was on a very limited budget I might pay more attention.

Are you a coupon clipper? Do coupons excite you?

18 comments:

  1. I hate coupons! I clip the ones to products I actually use but usually I leave them at home and then I feel cheated. They take too long to manage but sometimes I try. Usually, I throw out more expired coupons than I use. I've tried the apps for coupons to the store where I shop but I don't like them at all. I always say if I ever get truly poor, I'll have lots of ways to save money and coupon managing is one of them. I never buy in bulk.

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    1. Jean, you are my kind of person. Bless your heart.

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  2. I'm not much of a coupon clipper. DH mostly shops at Aldi's anyway.

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    1. I've only recently heard of Aldi's. Don't think we have one here.

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  3. I do not clip coupons. I do get e-coupons from Safeway, which are great because if I do buy the product, I don't have to carry or remember the coupon. It happens electronically. I shop only at Safeway, just four blocks from my house, with an occasional run to costco for certain items. I do look for things on sale, but only items I would buy anyway.

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    1. I prefer shopping at Safeway. I think they do a very good job in a lot of areas. They home deliver groceries where we live but Bob won't let me do that (yet).

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  4. I hate coupons too. My husband,when he was alive, was somewhat obsessive. I'd carry them, but usually forget to use the . I read somewhere that coupons and great sales make people buy more than they normally would and many things expire before they get used, so they have to be thrown out. So there is really no savings at all. Just saying....

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    1. It makes sense people would buy products just to use the coupon. That doesn't save money.

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  5. My sister used to be an extreme couponer. She had her coupons neatly filed in a legal-envelope-sized filing thing. I don't know if she's still that obsessive or not. The only coupons I use are the weekly 40-55% off coupons from AC Moore or Michaels.

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    1. I use the coupons from Michaels and JoAnn's occasionally, but usually there's some reason they don't apply to my purchase. Macy's is the worst at putting out coupons with so much fine print they're useless. Kohl's is probably best. You can use coupons on top of coupons and discounts there.

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  6. I don't use coupons myself other than the ones for Hobby Lobby which I can show on my phone. Amber does well with Steinmart coupons and she also does these coupon apps on her phone. However, Amber loved to shop and she loves a bargain. I don't think she uses coupons for food though. She usually shops at Target for that and I suppose she does use her Target app. My oldest son was Coupon King, saving 50% on their grocery bill. They eat a lot of packaged and processed food that keeps well. In recent years, though, he has switched to ALDI's and says he comes out just as good with no coupon hassle and time cutting them out and keeping up with them. I shop ALDI's now since they accept credit cards and between that and the Dollar store and Braums with an occasional trip to SAMs we are good!

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    1. Interesting, I never think of looking for food at the Dollar store. ALDI's came to Texas after we left and I've not seen one here. Target here now has groceries but I've not shopped for food there. Bob and I battle all the time over groceries. He prefers FredMeyer (Kroger), I prefer Safeway, and recently we've been shopping at a new Walmart grocery that's opened near us. It's only groceries so you don't have to deal with all that other mess around Walmart. I've never liked Walmart but the new grocery store is not bad. I think we're not suppose to shop at Walmart out of protest for something but I can't ever remember what.

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  7. I know it works but I just can't get into it. My Dad was a professional shopper and used coupons like cash. I fell far from the tree and am a buy what I want when I need it type of person. Sigh.

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    1. I'm not disciplined enough to do much with coupons. You have to watch the expiration dates along with all the time it takes to clip and organize. Not for me.

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  8. I clipped coupons as a young mother. It seemed like there were more usable coupons back then. It may just be that we ate a lot of sandwiches and cereals. Once the kids were gone it was just too much trouble. Now, whenever I do look the coupons over, there is very little I eat that has a coupon. Plus the coupons have a short life whereas I remember that lasting a long time in the old days. The idea is great, too bad the manufacturers seem to have dropped the ball.

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    1. It is indeed work to use coupons. I agree, they seem to expire very quickly.

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  9. There was a time in the distant past when I bought the Sunday paper specifically for the TV listings and all the coupons there were to clip. It was a ritual. I even bought one of those little organizing "wallets" to keep my coupons in, but I was still hopelessly disorganized anyway. I was never good at using the coupons but I gave it a valiant try. I finally decided the coupons were really just advertising gimmicks for products I didn't want and very gladly uncomplicated my life by quitting the clipping habit. I don't even know how to look for coupons online. (Thanks for the question, it was fun to answer.)

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    1. I think most of us gave coupons a try when we were young. Glad you dropped by and hope you'll visit again.

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