Couponing - Lincoln,NE

Well there are websites you can get coupons from and then the Sunday paper usually has some in them. Those shows are ridiculous!!! They like you said buy stuff they don't need. or wont use for a long time so it's pointless. I have a hard time with this too so I will be interested is seeing some responses. We for a while would get the paper but then it didn't have much in it that we used. And if you don't by boxed stuff you will have a harder time probably. Most the stuff that's healthy is much more expensive. I would say watch the grocery adds. and if you can get the paper look through and see what they have in there. A lot of people on those shows that also is what they do full time. It can be a lot of work.

Good luck!!!

I agree---the coupon show is ridiculous...after they get cartfuls of items, they really have nothing for dinner or lunch. Waste of time and effort. Except for those that do all that and then donate the items, that really is an amazing gesture.
No coupons really for fresh food sadly. Watch the sales on meat and stock up. Buy the produce that's in season. You can get frozen veggies pretty cheap if needed. Maybe use coupons for things like spices and sauces to dress your meals up. $200 a week sounds like a lot to me...I shop for 4 for about $125.

Thing is when you eat healthy you can't really use coupons. They just don't give you coupons for produce or meat, poultry, fish. Well sometimes they do but you have to buy some boxed thing you will never use to use it so that isn't really saving money is it?

We spend about a hundred a week for four and the occasional adult kid dropping by. We do it by buying bulk at Costco. Yes you have to have the room to store and organize but it saves you a lot of money.

What you see on the coupon TV shows is people with an obsession for hoarding.

In real life, couponing is time consuming... time=money. Also, if you drive to store A, B, C for their deals of the week, think about the gas, wear and tear you put on your car plus your time which = money.

Shop smart. Jo is right... if you are eating helathy you tend not to get coupons for fresh fruits, veggies, meats, etc. Coupons are typically for processed foods which you don't want in your body.

You can save a lot if you watch the ad for your favorite place to shop, take advantage of the deals they have for the week.. ex: any meat or chicken special where you buy a family pack and then freeze part of it, etc.

Good luck.

We are in the same boat, except I spend roughly 500 a month for our family of 5. I do use coupons for stuff I will use such as toothpaste, diapers and some cleaning supplies. I also shop at Winco-they sell items in bulk-LOVE it! The Great Value brand at Wal Mart has really improved over the years so I will buy a whole lot of generics from them. I also do things like buying whole chickens versus a package of boneless skinless breasts(.99$ a pound vs 1.99lb). Whenever the store is discounting meats because they are almost to thier SellBy date I will buy several packages of that also. I have a garden and can my produce and visit local farms for the u-pick deals(always cheaper and more fun that way!). We don't buy bread or desserts-I make my own.

That 'sketti' sauce was artery clogging horrible. My kids and I had the most horrified look on our faces!

Anywho, planning is really key. Keeping your pantry stocked with basics is also key. Making whatever you can from scratch helps a lot. Buying more then one when things are on sale, especially those really good deals that most people shouldn't pass up.

Know your prices, I know that there are some things that are cheaper at one store and other things are cheaper at another store. I don't plan special trips, I alternate between stores and pick up the things I know I am getting a better deal on.

I buy meat in bulk, we have a store that has much better prices that way. A little work, but not horrible.

I feed a family of 10, 2 adults, 4 adult children and 4 little ones on about ###-###-#### a month. Some months are a little more just cause we might need more. that's almost $4 per day per person and that's for all three meals and snacks. I also have a vegetarian dd who is figured into that budget.

I've done some of the extreme couponing. The best I've done was about $500 worth of groceries for less than $25.

Its just not worth it. If you were to take all the time you spend getting the coupons and the money you spend on gas getting them and got a part time job instead you would be ahead with the part time job. People have hobbies. Extreme couponing is a hobby to those that do it.

I do 99% of the shopping in my family. I spend an average of $ 25 per person per week if I'm careless. If I really want to watch I can get it below $15 per person per week.

I watch the sales, all the time. I base my family's meals on what I find on sale. If beef is on sale, we have steak or hamburger or stew, or stroganoff, or mexican food. If chicken is on sale our menu revolves around chicken. I always check the meat in the marked down section first, when i enter the grocery store. Then I go to the bargain bin where they put dented cans and other mark downs. When things are on a good sale I buy enough for us to use that week. If things are on a fantastic sale I fill the freezer or buy enough until they have another sale. EXAMPLE: Ragu puts their spaghetti sauce and alfredo sauce on sale every 3 months or so for $.99 cents a jar. The regular price is $3.00 a jar. When it goes on sale I buy a dozen jars. Then I'm eating on sale all the time.

If you buy meat or fresh fruits or vegetables from Costco or Sams, you are paying way too much. Example: My local store had boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.49 lb. Its twice that at Sams and Costco. Pork loin is $3.98 lb at Sams and Costco. It was on sale last week at one of my local grocery stores at $2.49 lb. And Sams membership is much less than Costco's membership.

Good luck to you and yours.

Check the store's coupons. These won't necessarily be in the sales ad, but there may be a bulletin board or a rack near the customer service desk that has the store's coupons. Oftentimes for our local grocery, anyway, they are better than the coupons in the paper.

I don't buy boxed food either (well, I do buy the "kits" - like the rice and spices that you add to your own chicken to make jambalaya or sesame chicken or something like that). Most of the coupons I use are on the other things that add up to your grocery bill. Paper towels, detergent, feminine hygiene, toothpaste, that sort of thing. I have found that the store brand is not always as good, but when it is, I buy that. (Beware of when it's not, however: I tried generic Cheerios once. The baby wouldn't eat them, my husband wouldn't eat them, we took them to the duck park and the DUCKS wouldn't eat them. As they say, the most expensive food, is the food you throw away. Real Cheerios are better, and you can find coupons for those, so yay.) If there are name brands of things that you know you like, then check out the websites for those products. I have had good luck with the Proctor and Gamble and Dreamfields pasta websites, for example, but as for general coupon sites, I have managed to get computer viruses from those. Also, I wouldn't get the paper just for the coupons, but I subscribe anyway, so I might as well use the coupons that are for products I like, since they're there. Between the store's coupons and the coupons from the paper, I generally have about $9/week in coupons. Modest, but I'm also making minimal effort.

Also, if your store's meat section doesn't have a bargain section, just take a step back, and scan for brightly colored tags - the ones at my store are bright orange, the ones at my mom's store are yellow - these are for meat that is going to meet its sell-by date either today or tomorrow. (Find out what day your store restocks meat, and go the day before; you might have better luck.) That is generally what we are having for dinner on grocery-store day. Or, what I'm freezing, or even cooking and putting in the freezer to use later.

I have also found that if I get the store brand's "natural beef" (ie, hormone and antibiotic free) from the butcher counter, it is cheaper per pound than the national brand's packaged stuff. Also, butter and sausage freeze really well - if you find those on sale or with a coupon, buy one more than you need.

Practice some tricks when paying by the pound: At some butcher or seafood counters, you can ask them to trim the meat a little - some of the fat off a steak, or the tail end of a salmon fillet - you pay by the pound, so take off a few oz. Never hurts to ask, right? I have done this at the deli counter, too - if they have to open a new package of deli meat for you, specify that you don't want the first slice - it will be mostly rind or skin or peel - you won't be able to eat it, so why pay for it? If you know y'all are only going to eat five bananas this week, then only buy five bananas. If the bunches all have six or more, snap one off. (This is common practice at our grocery store - the produce department employees will even help.) Or, buy five individual bananas that other people have snapped off. All little things, a couple of dollars here and there, but it adds up eventually.

Happy shopping!

I have found that the dollar store by my house has really good food. It's not name brand, but we find that we really like it. Also, I have found that as the dollar store carries more items, those same items are now cheaper at our local grocery store. I love competition.

I also use the coupons that I get at the checkout. They seem to be tailored to the things I normally buy.

My grocery bill is also close to $200 per week and I'm now making a BIG effort to cut that down. It's hard but with the dollar store, it's gotten easier. I buy my bread there (.98 compared to $1.98 in the store); canned tomatoes, lettuce, hygiene products, aluminum foil, school donations (calculators/dry erase markers and erasers/pens/pencils/3-ring binders/water colors), hamburger helper type package meals (they are not Betty Crocker brand but we actually like them BETTER), paper towels, etc.

Coupons are only helpful if they are for products I use or donate. So I use them on sales at my grocery store or CVS for paper towels, toilet tissue, toothpaste, shampoo, vitamins, eyeglasses, eyedrops, mayo, ketchup, mustard, flour, chocolate, bread, cheese, salad dressing, etc, and I get most products for 50-90% off. I don't invest a lot of time, but do use the coupons in the Sunday newspapers and share coupons with one other person. I shop only once a week. Never could get into the running around to get a few items at several places. Best of luck!

I watched those shows & was very confused. Why buy 200 cake mixes when they will expire before they can be used. I do coupon. I get my grocerys flyer on Wednesday. I go through it & mark what I can use. I then check my coupons. There are alot of BOGO & I look for a coupon to match. I feel good when I can get a BOGO & use a coupon. When meat is on sale, I buy & freeze. I love fresh fruit & vegies, so I buy when on sale or if I really want it. I am keeping a monthly log of what I spend & what I save.. I also shop Dollar Greneral for food & paper items. On saturdays you can get $5.00 off on any purchase of $20 or more with their store coupon. They also accept regular coupons. I save about $125.00 a month. Good luck !!

Yeah, I am pretty sure that my family of 4 will NEVER use 73 bottles of mustard. These shows are not realistic for sure.

I do clip from the Sunday paper and from coupons.com. That is about it. I just can't justify spending the massive amounts of time it would take to coupon like these shows do....

Shop at Aldi. It almost feels like you are stealing they are so cheap, :)

I live in Lincoln Ne also so I realize Costco, etc isn't an option. Personally I do about 95% of my shopping at Super Target. I get coupons from Target.com. Also, get a Target DEBIT card. Basically its a card that is tied directly to your checking acct that can only be used at Target so its just like using a check or bank debit card. No fees. EVERY purchase at Target is 5% off. Free shipping all the time at Target.com. The Target debit card would save you automatically $10 per week before coupons, etc. Also, if you get presciptions, use the Target pharmacy. After every 5 filled presciptions, you get a coupon for 5% (I think its 5% or maybe 10% I can't remember) off your next shopping trip at Target. The coupons at Target.com are great. I LOVE the target generic brand stuff (Market Pantry) and its so much cheaper. I find their coupons to add up fast. For example, the Target brand (Market Pantry) pasta and pasta sauce go on sale frequently plus they often have coupons online so I stock up. For $1 I get not only my box of pasta but also the sauce to go with it. So many flavor options and I like the taste WAY better than Ragu or other name brands. Target also has a lot of items that give you a $5 Target gift card when you purchase two of an item. For example, I buy 2 bags of Dog Chow (med size bag) and I get a $5 gift card. That's like having a coupon for $2.50 off each bag. Sometimes I even have a manufacurer's coupon to go with it. Lastly, I find that Target does an AMAZING job honoring coupons. If I have a coupon that is expired by just a few days, they usually honor it or if I have a coupon for V8 Splash but I want V8 Fusion they honor it. Just hand them the coupons and don't say anything and most of the cashiers will go ahead and just ring them through without saying a word. They know its just good business because it keeps customers happy and loyal. Target also has coupons that print off a the register with your receipt. I find they have produce or deli item coupons about 1 time a month so I stock up and freeze what I can or schedule my meals around the sales. Their produce is great and I find their produce doesn't spoil as quickly as other places I've shopped. BTW Market Pantry paper products like TP and Paper towels are the only generic brand paper products I'll use and they are strong and comfortable and so much cheaper. Lots of sales and coupons available for market Pantry paper products and cleaning products. The only Market Pantry items I don't like is their feminine products and cereals. Good luck. Let me know if you have questions.

I print my internet coupons through swagbucks.com-- not only do I save with the coupon, i get the swagbucks rewards. And instead of those silly shows, I reccomend some of the blogs online. A good one to start with is http://www.5dollardinners.com/ -- lots of meal ideas for REAL, not from a box, but not overly fancy dinners, and couponing and other tips!

And if you don't already meal plan-- expirement with different methods to find the one that works for you (google "meal planning monday" for tons of blog posts about how different moms do it-- personally I tend to do it on Tuesdays since that's when Fareway and Hy-vee put out their grocery ads and I can see what's on sale)