Are you a couponer?
Atlantans are the most coupon-savvy people in the nation, according to this story today. Not only did Atlanta top out the country, but we also almost doubled our coupon usage from last year, printing out more than $1,000 of savings in coupons in 2010 from Coupons.com, up from $531 in 2009.
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Atlantans were 10 times more likely to print coupon savings than the average U.S. resident, according to the survey, and nine times more likely to access coupons via a mobile application.
Do you use coupons? What are the best deals you’ve found from either everyday inserts or through a phone application?
A great place to start clipping coupons is in this Sunday’s AJC, with savings worth up to $197.
– By Lauren Davidson, Atlanta Bargain Hunter
See a great deal I should know about? Email me at ldavidson@ajc.com. You can also follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @atlbargains.
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32 comments Add your comment
theDealyo.com
January 20th, 2011
12:27 pm
We have TONS of awesome Atlanta readers. theDealyo.com
Stephanie D
January 20th, 2011
2:19 pm
Coupons are a great way to save money at the store. I do not leave home without them. I have found the Coupon Pocket Book by Mulch to be the best to store my coupons. They have some great designs, and they fit in my purse and shopping tote. Highly recommended hand made item on Etsy.
http://www.mulch.etsy.com
cafeej
January 20th, 2011
2:53 pm
Recent savings with a coupon – 40 cents off Progresso chicken broth. Publix had buy one – get one free promotion, and with double coupon I was able to purchase it for 54 cents. It is normally priced $2.54. It pays to use them.
Dealyo King
January 20th, 2011
3:02 pm
Right on, cafeej. Coupons are a great way to try something new without paying full price for it. New frozen items and candy are my favorite thins you can get for prctically pennies after double coupons.
Conscious consumer
January 20th, 2011
3:11 pm
Despite the hope of the advertisers, neither my wife nor I allow coupons to direct our buying decisions. We use coupons for items that we already intend to buy. No matter how many coupons Proctor and Gamble throws at us, we will never buy anything from them until they discontinue their practice of animal testing that kills more than 50,000 animals per year needlessly (and I say that since every one of their competitors has stopped testing on animals and still produces safe products). Sometimes 50 cents off can’t clear your conscience, and it certainly won’t make a horrible product better.
Actually Kroger’s coupons that print directly at the register are great because they are typically either for the product you bought or for a similar product. This is especially great when we buy vegetarian alternative products that typically don’t ever have coupons in tradtional places.
Conscious Consumer too
January 20th, 2011
3:25 pm
We only use coupons for products that were tested on animals. It saves soooo much money!
angela
January 20th, 2011
3:36 pm
not so much. I don’t buy junk food or processed foods so that limits my coupon selection. I try if there are coupons for toiletries and such, but then again, I buy as sustainable as possible (or store brand) and that, too, has poor coupon selection.
but I know families who tend to save money because they buy the things that have coupons associated with them.
Tuckergirl
January 20th, 2011
3:40 pm
You can load coupons directly onto your Kroger Plus card through the Kroger Web site.
Couponing is not for everybody. But if you have the time and desire, it can be a wonderful way to save money. It’s not the difficult once you get started. The savings have also enabled me to donate to local foodbanks when I can snag a few extra items. That’s what I really love to do!
Melissa
January 20th, 2011
4:14 pm
Each week, I make my grocery list against the Publix and Kroger ads, then go through my coupons to find extra savings on the sale items. Like cafeej, I have found deals where a $3.29 juice product was on BOGO, so I would have gotten it for $1.65 anyway, but then I had a $0.50 coupon that doubled. So I paid $0.65 for it. I love finding deals like that!
Yesterday, Living Social had a deal where you could get a $20 Amazon.com gift card for $10. I buy from Amazon.com all the time, so I definitely took advantage of that one.
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
4:22 pm
I use coupons, but only for items that are staples in my household or that I intend to buy. The people out there who do coupons admit that it is very time consuming and that they do buy alot of things they may not necessarily need. Most coupons are for junk food as well.
I am one of the many that refuse to waste my time running all over time for a few dollars off of somehting that my familily won’t use and will eventually end up being tossed (a bigger waste of money).
I know alot of people cheat with coupons and clerks let them do it. I wish there was a better way to enforce the many people I actually witness fraudently using coupons. Everyone hates to be in line behind a couponer.
I really feel sorry for folks that are forced to use coupons.
Lauren Davidson
January 20th, 2011
4:25 pm
@smart shopper: I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been in line behind an extreme couponer, although I do occasionally use them myself. Do you get stuck often? At which stores?
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
4:52 pm
Kroger & Publix. Atl east every other week I get behind someone like this, with enough coupons that equates a small tree! I assume they tend to be stay-at-home moms like myself, due to the time of day that they shop.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for saving money and I love bargins. I just think anything to the extreme is a problem.
Couponer
January 20th, 2011
4:56 pm
I am not forced to use coupons. love using them and it is like an addiction for me! If you pair them right, with the right sales, you can save a lot. We don’t buys junk food or much packaged food at all, but I regularly save enough to make it worth my while. It takes me about 3 hours a week to cut coupons, look at ads and includes the extra time shopping and I usually save at least $60.00. I won’t use a coupon if I can get the store brand or generic cheaper, so it is true savings. It is like making $20.00 and hour.
Smart Shopper, how many people do you actually know that fraudulently use coupons? Do you work at a grocery store? I don’t know any, but I’m sure it is done. Also, I’m sure it is mostly people like you that don’t use coupons that don’t like getting behind a couponer at a store. I don’t hate to be behind a couponer, because I am one.
q
January 20th, 2011
5:08 pm
I use the coupons for Ruby Tuesday. Get a great deal on a fine dinner. I have a friend that uses coupons, holds up the whole line, it is embarrassing but she doesn’t mind. The last time she went to the store the store owed her money. One time she had a coupon for a free dinner, and invited me out for my birthday, after we got the bill she said because it was my birthday, I only had to pay for one dinner. she is so cheap she hangs her dental floss up to dry.
Techmom
January 20th, 2011
5:09 pm
Love coupons! Not only has couponing saved us on our grocery bill but it’s cut our dining bill too b/c I conscientiously grocery shop each week. We also started menu planning and as much as it does take some extra time, it also lowers my stress level since I’m not constantly having to figure out what we’re having for dinner! We plan our menu on Thursday nights for the upcoming week and then grocery shop over the weekend to make sure we have what we need.
In order to actually SAVE money, you should ONLY buy items you normally use (or 1 of an item if it’s a great price and you want to try it). Do NOT go out and stock up on a bunch of stuff that’s cheap if you aren’t going to use it, use it before it expires or donate it. I think a lot of couponers gets ‘caught’ up in it like it’s a game and end up wasting money on stuff they don’t eat.
Also, even if you do eat organic items or items that don’t normally have coupons, you can still save money on other things like cleaning products, health & beauty items, etc. Also many product sites have their own coupons so you aren’t restricted to newspaper coupons or coupons.com.
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
5:10 pm
“it is like an addiction for me!”
… Precisely my point!
“how many people do you actually know that fraudulently use coupons?”
… I see them all the time! When someone has as many coupons as items in their cart, it is just too obvious. Most the time I see the coupons and the clerk scanning them for items I know they are not purchasing. Sorry, but I have much too much class and grace to humililate either one of them. I am not a confrontational type person. I have reported seen ascts to customer service after I have left the store, but the day of.
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
5:24 pm
“I have a friend that uses coupons, holds up the whole line, it is embarrassing but she doesn’t mind. The last time she went to the store the store owed her money.”
The store owed HER money? Um, NO – I say she is lucky she got away with the couponing addition/scheme. This is very scary!
Have you ever noticed these couponers are not lower class, low wage earners or WIC/welfare types? I think this is a mostly middle class obsesssion.
Techmom
January 20th, 2011
5:27 pm
There will always be frauds and people looking to make a quick buck. I’m sure they’ll bore quickly and move on. Same goes for the people who download 20 coupons and buy 20 jars of tomato sauce, they’ll quickly realize they don’t need it as it will expire before they can use it. My local Publix (I only shop at Publix; I work full-time and don’t have the time or energy to deal with multiple stores) limits BoGo items to a total of 8 items. They have found ways to counter any fraudulent use by putting those policies in place. The only competitor coupons they take are Target & Kroger b/c they are close by but some Publix’s will take them from anywhere including drug store coupons. My store also doubles any coupon for $.50 or less and allows you to stack a manufacturer’s coupon with a store coupon. I’m sure if they had that many fraudulent couponers, they would put restrictions on those items too.
I rarely hit the limit but occasionally do on items I like to stock up on; frozen vegetables for example, we eat at least two bags of frozen veggies in our house each week and sometimes more in the winter when the fresh variety is either expensive or not good. I bought 8 boxes of Kellog’s cereal the last time they were on sale and I had good coupons so I got them for about $.50 per box. I just got the newsletter from our local children’s emergency shelter today that they are in need of cereal. Guess where those 8 boxes are going tomorrow?
Stacey
January 20th, 2011
5:30 pm
Have any of you seen the the show Extreme Couponers on TLC? I missed it when it originally aired a few weeks ago but caught the rerun this past weekend. It feature people who spent hours clipping coupons and a couple of them even dumpster dived and rummaged through people’s recycling bins getting them out. One lady had so many carts of stuff that it took her 6 hours to check out because the store had to break her order down into several smaller orders due to a 1000 item per ticket limit. I think she ended up spending like $200 on an order that was originally over $5000.
They also featured a man who purchased coupons from some kind of marketing place so that he would have hundreds of coupons for the same item already cut out. He would then wait for the item to go one sale then use double coupons, BOGO, shopped card discounts etc and get stuff free. He would buy so much stuff that he would have to call ahead and have the store order the items for him. One this episode he got over 100 each of Total cereal, Reach toothbrushes and a variety of deodorants all free that he donated to his church’s outreach ministry.
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
5:40 pm
“They have found ways to counter any fraudulent use by putting those policies in place. The only competitor coupons they take are Target & Kroger b/c they are close by but some Publix’s will take them from anywhere including drug store coupons. My store also doubles any coupon for $.50 or less and allows you to stack a manufacturer’s coupon with a store coupon. I’m sure if they had that many fraudulent couponers, they would put restrictions on those items too.”
I think many store policies are too ‘loosey goosey” and if they vary store to store, then basically is no ‘policy’ in my book. All a customer has to do now days is complain with other customers around and they get their way. Then those customers in turn see how easy it is and the trend to buck the ‘policy’ continues.
Stacey
January 20th, 2011
5:45 pm
@Smart Shopper…Most stores now use computers that recognize that you have gotten the item and it won’t let you scan it. I’ve had it happen before where (for example) the coupon might specify a particular size and I have the wrong size or something like that. The register will beep and give a message saying something to the effect of invalid coupon. Now I will admit that I prefer to checked out by teenage boys because I sometime have coupons that have recently expired and I know they won’t pay attention to the dates.
@Techmom…I shop at Publix and Kroger and have noticed that Publix tends to rotate a lot of the same items in the BOGO free sales and Kroger 10 for $10 sales that I don’t use but often see coupons for that will allow me to get free or less than a quarter. I’ve started cutting out those coupons as well and donating the items to some kind of canned food drive. Between my son’s elementary school, Cub Scout troop, and Sunday School class, it seems like there is something every month.
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
5:48 pm
@ Stacy – LMAO, because I did not know there was an Extreme Couponers series. Surprised but by no means shocked! That just proves my point this is a bonafide BIG problem. This truely is scary stuff, what is happening to our culture?
Gotta go – before I get addicted to blogging about Extreme Couponing Syndrome! Have a good evening ALL!
smart shopper
January 20th, 2011
5:53 pm
@ Stacy I saw your post about computers and technology detecting wrong items, sizes, etc. – but those can be overrridden by manually entering amount off. I have SEEN this all the time, it does happen a lot. I am an honest person and I am obsessed with honesty in others – I guess there MY obsession! Good night!
Techmom
January 20th, 2011
7:32 pm
That Extreme Couponer show is in it’s proper place, right before “My Strange Addiction”. Those people are hoarders and EXTREME absolutely describes them. Those people obviously ‘put on a show’ for the video cameras. That guy who bought all the toothbrushes and Total cereal said he planned it for months. HOW he found out months in advance that he could get those coupons and plan the sale for the show appeared to be put on for the show – seriously, consider the timing. But he still obviously has an issue if you see his garage. He had enough deodorant to last the average person like 120 years!
@smart shopper, you do sound obsessed; maybe as a treatment you should try clipping coupons for a month!
Dough Collin
January 21st, 2011
2:17 am
What about using online coupons. I get mine here http://definitivedeals.com
Frugalady
January 21st, 2011
7:39 am
How about coupons for potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, green peppers, rice, etc …
Couponer
January 21st, 2011
9:47 am
I wonder if Smart Shopper lives in the store or is really a cashier. She has mentioned so many times that she sees fraudulent couponing happening ALL the time. I use coupons at each grocery trip and rarely if ever get in front of another couponer, and if I do, I don’t watch each item that they purchase and then watch each coupon they have to make sure they are not cheating the system. Maybe I don’t have good eye site or am just not that nosy. Also, I have gotten paid in essence for items, and do not cheat. If I find a product on managers special for 98 cents and have a dollar off coupon, that is not cheating.
Couponer
January 21st, 2011
9:49 am
I meant eyesight, sorry for the typo.
Squeak
January 21st, 2011
12:30 pm
I use coupons whenever and wherever I can, but I don’t usually let them influence what I buy unless they’re really good and they’re for something that I know we’ll use, or they’re for something that I’ve really wanted to try. I also won’t use them in the store brand is cheaper. The coupons that print at the registers at Kroger are always good because they’re based off what you’ve bought in the past. I also use the Cellfire and Kroger apps to add other coupons to my Kroger card. Coupons.com is also pretty handy, even though they limit how many copies of some coupons you can print. I’m also a big fan of Restaurant.com – you can really rack up the gift certificates when they’ve got an 80 or 90% off sale going on. Groupon/HalfoffDepot/Scoutmob/etc are also great places to pick up discounts on food, cosmetic work (like hair removal), fitness, classes, etc. The only downside is that a lot of their deals are in and around Atlanta. Heck, I think one of them was offering a discount on the AJC not too terribly long ago.
Tuckergirl
January 21st, 2011
2:41 pm
‘Smart Shopper, but I have to disagree with you. If anything, cashiers are more eagle eyed and on the watch for fraudulent coupons than ever. Yes, there are a some bogus coupons out there but it’s not the norm. Publix is especially vigilant at making sure their cashiers know what to look for. I’ve talked to some of their employees and they’ve told me this themselves.
And coupons for items people did not buy? This is just not possible. The register won’t take it. And if the register won’t take it, the cashier is going to look for that item on the belt before doing a manual override. Often, this requires a manager’s approval. And unless you are looking at every single coupon yourself, how do you even know?
I also don’t know how you would even know if a coupon user was lower-income or in WIC unless you personally saw their tax return or saw them using food stamps. Why does it matter if the person using coupons is middle class? If you’re middle income, you don’t need to save money?
As for extreme couponers, I agree that’s taking things way overboard. I would never go dumpster diving for coupons, much less take my child with me to do it! Totally nuts. Most couponers are NOT like this. They do it to save money and make their budgets stretch further. Not to empty the shelves when a deal comes up. That’s not fair to other shoppers.
Ginger
January 22nd, 2011
1:22 am
Coupons = CASH! They are the OTHER legal tender. It just isn’t backed by the federal reserve is all. I’ve been couponing for so many years. My pantry is full, refrigerator is full and the freezer is full. We keep enough on hand that I never have to pay for price for anything. We also share what we purchase with our 4 children and the neighbors.
I am not an extreme couponer or addicted to anything other than keeping my cash in the bank and helping others do the same. I also save on EVERYTHING I purchase by shopping by “season”.
Here is a post that explains the seasons. I hope it helps you save more of your cash!
http://attentiondealshoppers.com/2010/12/know-your-seasons-save-thousands/
Ginger
AttentionDealShoppers.com
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