Saving Money in These Hard Times

You can google "coupons" or for example "food coupons" and you will get an overwhelming response. Try out some of the sites and then go back for more. However, if you're really looking to cut back on things, invest $20 in a copy of "The Tightwad Gazette". There are tips in there that everyone can use and you WILL save money.

Hi K.,
Here is an address on line that you can get free coupons.
http://www.save.ca This is Canadian and I don't know where you are from but I hope that it will be useful to you.
Good luck,
M.

K., I hear you about wanting to do whatever you can to save money. I would recommend trying couponmom.com. I'd also say just do a google search for coupon websites and you will have the ability to compare which ones are offering the best deals. Good luck.

This is what I used to do. I have friends and family who live in other states, so I would ask them to mail me their coupons once every other week. I paid for postage. Anyway, the reason this works is because many places dont double coupns. My area does. So in FL, a 75 cent coupon is worth $1.50 here. And here a coupon is usually 1.00 off 2, down south its cents off one. So you get more bang for your buck. Also, see if your stores accept online coupons that you print at home. BettyCrocker.com has good ones. Try going to your favorite companies websites and see if they have a link for coupons. If not, you may try e-mailing them and just telling them you love their product but need to cut corners. Ask them flat out to send you some. I know very few companies who didnt honor this request. Also try to buy packaged produce at the supermarket. Many of them will package up some single bananas or peppers and give it discounted, and my store is "freshness guaranteed or double your money back" so I've made a few bucks there! Good luck!

I would like to hear about them also.
J.

Oprah recently did a show about saving money and the thriftiest family in America, they had great coupon tips and websites worth searching on Oprah's site.

Hi K.

Try www.coupons.com Just enter your zip code to view their a wide range of products and catagories. Good luck!

Hi K.,
I've been stocking up on coupons from the Sunday paper. I tried online and it was a big failure. I had to do all these surveys and then I was getting junk pone calls like crazy. Just watch the online stuff. I've never been good at bulk but I just joined bj's and they helped. Save a lot also takes coupons and saves on money. Sorry I wasn't of more help. Good Luck!

I use the Coupon Mom website- not only are there coupons on the site, there are also links to other sites that have coupons. I also get the NY Times Weekender, which more than pays for itself with all the coupons. I'm sure your local newspaper has coupons on weekends too.

In addition to all the coupon suggestions listed by other responders, check your local grocery store & see if they have their own credit card. My wife & I just got new MC from our store (Shoprite). They offer points for every doller you spend in & out of the store, & double points on store brand items. Then you can exchange your points for store credit, or many other gift card options for other businesses. It is now the only credit card we use. This adds to the fact that my wife is a great coupon shopper.

Before you go to all the trouble looking for and printing coupons on-line be sure the stores you normally shop at accept them. Be sure to talk to the General Manager at the store. Once I asked the girl at the Service Center about it and she said yes, but when I tried to use them they were denied. A lot of the bigger grocery stores in my area do not accept coupons printed at home.

We don't get the newspaper delivered so when we go buy our Sunday paper we also buy a paper from Buffalo. I have found the Buffalo coupons are different and usually worth more then the ones in the Rochester newspaper. It may cost more to buy the newspapers but in the long run you make the money back on the coupons. I also have a lot of friends that don't use coupons. Once a month I go to their house and pick up all the coupons they received in their newspapers.

If you're looking for deals, trading coupons, ext. go to www.hotcouponworld.com They have a forum for everything under the sun on saving money, where to get coupons, what coupons are available right now, what stores accept internet printed coupons ext. I like it for RiteAid and Price Chopper, because most of the time they have the following week or two in ads up for your viewing, so you can plan ahead what is good this week, who will have a better sale ext.
I too have saved a ton of money by following this site, exchanging coupons (I belong to a yahoo group that does coupon trains, I get coupons from all over).
I would recommend using CVS, Walgreens or RiteAid to your advantage. I have received a lot of items free from RiteAid by doing the Single Check Rebate program. The other stores aren't in my area so I personally can't recommend them, but if you go to the above site, they have forums for each store with topics on how to start to participate.
There are so many other ways to save money other than coupons. Good luck and happy savings.

K.,

What a great topic! Who doesn't want to save money?
I do use coupons and some stores let you use expired ones. Coupon code searches for online purchases is also great.

I also use concentrated non-toxic biodegradable cleaners in my house and I buy them as well as some other products from myself so I get a check back every month for items I would buy in the store anyway.

T.

Hi, K..

You got some great advice about where to find coupons. Here's something else to consider. Get a no-fee credit card that gives you points for everything you buy. Use that one credit card to purchase everything, but make sure you pay off the balance IN FULL every month. I did all my Christmas shopping using my points one year. This year I bought baby gates, a new coffee maker, and some other things for the house. I use my AmEx card.

Just make sure that you pay off the credit card in full every month, otherwise it will just cost you more money in interest charges.

Good luck,
R.

I have 3 children ranges 10,11,&16. I was so happy with the hand me downs from the other mother's in my church group when the kids were younger. I save a lot of money from buying new clothes. I inturn gave to the next set of mothers who had children. Remember, children out grow these clothes fast and most of the clothes looks new.
My daughters were happy because they got new outfits.

Try retail me not.. it doesnt always work but you never know...

Hi K., Try coupons.com you should be able to get some coupons off of that site that you could use. Also, try drugstore.com for shopping (but know your prices)they have lots of good deals & most of the time its free shipping.

Good Luck,
J. B

Hi K. - Sorry this response is a day late but I read through all of your responses and didn't see that anyone suggested shopping at Sams/Costco/BJs or Aldi's. I can do a weeks worth of shopping at Aldi's for about $67 - I don't buy premade or processed stuff. I always buy fresh vegggies and fruit, yogurt, eggs, milk, meat, etc. A box of thier cereal is half of what it would be at a regular grocery store - brands are not always national so that is why they don't charge you big bucks - you are not paying for national advertising:) By going to SamsBJs/Costco for paper products and pampers/pull ups we saved about $100 over one year. Target will take an expired coupons and with CVS you can earn great points for everything from cards to health and beauty aids. Try taking a sat or sun morning and do all your shopping for a month - its amazing what you will save. How many times do you go into Walmart for one thing and come out with a bag or two or even three. Avoid the temptations. You will see a big difference in how you spend. Good luck!

www.flamingoworld.com

or

www.momsview.com

or

www.couponbug.com

-However you do it, be sure when you print them that there is a barcode on each one. I learned that the hard way :-)

I often go to the direct sight for the products I use and want. For instance I went to the sight for the shower cleaner spray thing (the one you hang in there and just press a button). I can't remember the name right now! I got a $10 off coupon for it. In the papers they had a $5 off coupon! I bought it at WalMart price was $12.95 and with the coupon it only cost me $2.95. There are also coupons that get sent directly too me (go to PCH.com it is publishers clearing house and you can get their free coupons)and I print off only the ones I want. Also coupons.com has Huggies, Pillsbury and others. I also check the sunday papers. I am not one of those super savers but I often manage to save $5 to $25 on groceries every 2 weeks and that saves up quick. Also if you watch the sale fliers they often include coupons. ShopRite often has coupons (Sunday and Wednesday usually) for things if you spend $15 you can get the coupon items for 15 cents or VERY cheap. Shopping for me and many I know is no longer a 1 stop deal but a clip and plan when and where to shop. I live 30 minutes from a real supermarket and I plan the whole trip to be as efficiant as possible. Make lists, cut coupons and even plan the route to not have to backtrack if possible. Doing all my shopping in a marathon day saves me money by not having to go 50 miles round trip for just a few things and for me LISTS are a must. Good Luck!!! A.

Ive signed up at almost every website for the products I purchase the most, they almost always mail me coupons or email them to me.. which helps...I have subscriptions to a magazines that have tons of coupons in them like ALL YOU.

Ive also joined www.thegrocerygame.com - this is a fantastic website that matches up coupons with sales and tells you what to buy and when to buy it. Ive gotten tons of things for FREE and sometime many items at 80% off retail price - my pantry cabinet is exploding! There is a fee to have membership but the cost of the fee is minor to the savings, I pay $1.25 a week for the list and last night we shopped and saved $64 from our bill - this was about 40% off our bill but this happens when we purchase meat or fruits/veggies which dont usually have coupons. If you sign up let me know, they have a referral program.

I shop twice a month using this program and dont spend more then $120 - unless I need staples then I go to the store.

I am a family of 5 - and all my kids eat like there was no tomorrow. I also have 2 cats and a dog!

if your looking for coupons for clothing and other things like that, try couponcabin.com - the have tons of coupon codes for online shopping, printables and links to obtain coupons on a ton a products.

Good Luck.

Hi K.,

Have you tried TheGroceryGame.com (TGG)? I was a member of The Coupon Mom (TCM) until I found this site. It's awesome! With the TCM they list every sale the store offers and the percentage off, with TGG they list sales worthy of the list. It still has percentages but the list is color coded so you know what the rock bottome deals are for the week. It saves me so much time, I just look at my list pick off the items needed, find my coupons and off I go. The only downfall is there is a membership fee. They offer a 4 week trial for $1.00 and if you decide to stay it's $10.00 every 8 weeks for your choice of 2 stores, every other store is another 5.00. It is so worth it! I save so much money and time with this site.

Example: I went to CVS yesterday and picked up $240.00 worth of Groceries for only $112.00! That's a 53% savings. I know people who have even better statistics, but saving 128.00 is great for me and that's just 1 store.

The other advantage of using TGG is everytime you refer 3 people you get 12 weeks free. So if you do decide to check it out please enter ____@____.com as your refferal.

It also made food shopping fun for me :) who would have thought that food shopping could be fun! Thanks so much and enjoy your shopping!

If you have any questions about the game please feel free to message me.

www.coupons.smartsource.com

I have donea LOT of research on line on saving money on groceries. It does take a lot of time, so unfortunately I am not very consistent, but when I am I have great results. There are three places that I regularly go to, but it kind of depends on the stores you shop at. Here we have a walmart and a pricechopper right near each other. I started with couponmom.com. I LOVE that site!! You can get not only coupons, but free samples, free ebooks on how to save money, listing of sale prices for many stores and special deals. For example, I got one of their weekly email notices and went to the site. I got my best friend a $100 restaurant gift certificate for Christmas for $8!!!!! What an AMAZING deal!! They do the research for you so it saves some time there. Once I have my coupons for there and the sale paper for Walmart (I don't think they have the price chopper one on that site), I go to the price chopper site and see what deals they are running there (most grocery stores have this and a section where you can find your local circular for the week). I look through everything to see if there are better deals at price chopper. I also have gone to some of the sites for large families that you see on TV (the Duggers or there is another family that I can't remember the last name of but if you google it I am sure you can find it) and gotten their tips for saving on groceries.

All of this requires a lot of homework and the first few weeks are the hardest. I went through all my receipts at walmart to see what I was paying for name brand stuff and for the stuff that I was buying store brand for. I wrote down all of the typical prices so I knew if I was getting a deal with a coupon or not. Couponmom.com also details the coupon game and you can take a look at that. Good luck!!