Coupons. Are They Worth It?

I love to cut coupons.  Every Sunday when we get home from church, I feed the family, and then I hit the papers.  It takes me about an hour to cut and organize two Sunday papers worth of coupons.  But, do I use them and are they really worth it?

Coupons can be deceiving.  When I first started couponing (sorry, spellcheck but that's a word now), I would excitingly scan the aisles and pop every item for which I had a coupon into my cart.  Wow, what a deal, I would think, only to realize that my bill was much higher than normal at the end of the trip.  And I never quite found a use for all that Metamucil that I got for such a great price.

I quickly learned that using coupons only for items which I would be buying anyway did actually save me money.  That's a great tip.  But there is an even better way.

After several years of couponing, I have discovered that the absolute best way to maximize your savings is to use coupons only on items that are on sale as well.  After I finish clipping my coupons for the week, I sit down with the circulars from the two grocery stores in my area that double coupons (a must for maximum savings).  I match up items for which I have a coupon and that are on sale.  This offers tremendous savings, and I get many items every week for free. 

For example, this week our local grocery store had Chex Mix on sale for 10 for $10 (a grocery store trickery that I will address in a later post).  I had two coupons for .50cents off of one.  I bought two bags for $2, and the two .50cent coupons were doubled to $1 each, so I got both bags for free.  Of course you may pay sales tax, depending on your state, but a few pennies is usually worth it.

Now, would I normally buy Chex Mix?  No.  I rarely buy processed food.  But if the item is free or a few cents and something I know we will use eventually, then I buy it (am I actually buying it if it's free?).  I've learned not to even cut the coupons for the Metamucil, although I have at time picked-up items that I won't use and donated them to the local food bank.

Another excellent way to combine coupons with store savings is the rebates offered by stores such as CVS and Rite-Aid.  Some  grocery stores also offer online rebates.  These rebates are much easier to use then the traditional mail-in type.  You simply go on to the store website, enter your receipts, request a refund check (usually at the end of the month), and the rebate(s) are mailed directly to you.  Again, matching the store rebates to on-sale items, combined with a coupon can offer many free items.  I find this to be especially worth it for beauty and hygiene items as these are usually higher-priced at the grocery stores.

In my experience, many items, even with coupons are not a great deal.  For example, Campbell's Soup coupons are usually very small amounts.  Buy 6 cans, get .25cents off or so.  Even with a sale price and a doubled coupon, the end price is often higher than the store-brand.  It helps to have a base knowledge of the store-brand prices at your local stores when you are determining whether or not to use a coupon.  I also find it very helpful to keep a calculator on hand to quickly determine exactly what 5 for $4 is per item.

In short, if used wisely, coupons can save a tremendous amount of money off of your grocery bill.  Match the coupons to store sales, compare the end price to store-brands and  don't spend money on things you will not use.

For specifics on matching store sales to coupons, visit The Grocery Game.   

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Frugal Living.