Hello. In the comments on yesterdays post there was mention of money saving coupons, so I thought I would make a little video of my thoughts on the matter. It seems some people are extreme couponers, constantly searching for them, putting them in a folder, and going through them every time they go shopping. All this is very time consuming.
In my opinion the coupons on offer are never for the items you regularly buy anyway, they are there to tempt you to spend more money. Money on stuff you don't need or want. A better idea for saving money is to not spend it. Only buy planned items, things you need.
I'll shut up now, I can't add anything else, so take a look at the video and see if you agree with me, or do you save loads of money by using coupons?
Miserable day outside, I'm having an arty crafty day. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
She will never change ...
2 hours ago
Well done!! I always used to look through the coupons to see if any of them tallied with my shopping list and if not (and usually it was not) I'd bin them. They are a false economy. And such a waste of paper, and money - the supermarket could probably make savings by not supplying them lol!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more, the coupons I see (and bin) are for 'junk' food I would not buy. As you say, they try to entice the customer to spend more thinking they are getting a bargain.
ReplyDeleteI never see coupons offered for fresh fruits or vegetables, something most of us could use. Instead, the coupons I get are always for cleaning products or processed foods which I never use. If I get coupons for baby products like diapers or for pet foods, I try to pass them on to people who can use them or I leave them at the store where other shoppers can find them. I could never be bothered clipping coupons but I have seen some organizations that use coupons to purchase food stuffs and then donate them to charitable groups and I think that's worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThere is a high dollar grocery store where I do buy a few things I cannot find elsewhere, specialty items. They have a coupon to save $5 if you buy $35. I don't $35 each week. Plus, if you spend $35 a week for a month or 6 weeks, you get something free--hen or ham or something. This is a coupon I never use.
ReplyDeleteWe have inserts (little books of coupons) in the Sunday paper. I go through those and get what I need and pass it on to a woman friend who is head of a food bank.
I do look for coupons, but won't spend just because there is a coupon. Until my copier is set up, I won't be looking on the internet for coupons. We can use a store coupon along with a manufacturer coupon and use it on an item that is on sale. If that makes the item low enough, I will buy an over-priced item or something I want that is not part of my regular shopping. Or, I can use this as an opportunity to try out something I have seen.
Sometimes, there are coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables. This often involves buying one thing to get the produce free. If I have a coupon for the item I must buy, I can get free produce. Produce is always on sale somewhere, so I can get cheap apples that will last me until they are cheap next time. I rarely pay full price for produce. Plus, the savings is better than it would be with a coupon.
I thought Tesco had stopped sending out those conditional spend vouchers (i.e the x pounds off £40 ones). I haven't had one sent to me for a number of years now.
ReplyDeleteI still get them Mr B. Perhaps they have given up on you because you don't spend enough, ha ha. I think I maybe only get them because I have their credit card.
DeleteHmm I also have the their credit card. I spend less there these days as some things are cheaper elsewhere. You'd think that would make it more likely they'd send me some, to tempt me back!
DeleteThe only vouchers I find useful are money off with no minimum spend. Usually it's Tesco who do these with the club card points. I very rarely use other vouchers or coupons as they're usually not what I use or they're for junk type food which I try to avoid.
ReplyDeleteI think couponing in the US is different to here in the UK. There seems to be so many more opportunities for using them. I regularly see people using coupon off offers for Joanne's a large fabric/ haberdashery outlet. We have nothing like that here , that I am aware of.
ReplyDeleteMarks and Spencer do this cause my Mam offered me the voucher when she got one.£5 off £35 shop.Well like I feel with Tesco,they should give you about £15 pound off cause thats how much dearer they are compared with Aldi,Lidls ect.Today I went in Tesco just to get my Value T bags,25p for 40...and one can do two cups...also my Value gravy at 20p for 200g.They are the only things i buy,every few month from Tesco.I did look at the Gocat cat food while i was there...£1 50p for 375g...yet in Home Bargains £2 for 800 g.So I will just get them next time I am down there.Years ago,I did all my shopping in Tesco...not now!!.They have lost my custom as far as weekly shopping is concerned......And dont even get me started on the..Buy one get one Free,lol.They are complete rip offs!!.My Tesco vouchers come to very little now...maybe £3 every so often,so then i just use them to stock up on my Value t bags and gravy.Its very,very rare that I use vouchers of any kind.xx
ReplyDeleteI must admit I don't go to Tesco as often as I did, because I can find cheaper elsewhere. I don't need to do the 'yellow sticker dash' every week, so now it's down to once every three or four weeks, because I pick up bits in different places whenever I am in the vicinity. Eg, Aldi is on the way to town. The discount stores are in the High Street.
DeleteI don’t bother with coupons. I shop at the market for a lot of my stuff and a shop in Spalding that sells veg - no vouchers there just good prices. I may have the occasional voucher come thru the post from Tesco but I seriously think whether I can get it cheaper elsewhere. As the other lady said it’s mostly for processed food.
ReplyDeleteI thought of coupons as a way of saving money but when I looked into it there was nothing I would buy and as others have said the offers are on junk food or the kind of cleaning products I wouldn’t waste money on. I prefer to save money by consuming less and buying second hand.
ReplyDeleteSame here, that's the common sense way of going about things.
DeleteCouldn't agree more! I rarely use them; just glance at them & see what they're for, then chuck them out, as I do most of my shopping at a market, where I usually get a far wider choice of fresher produce at much better prices. Every now & then I'll get a £1-off-a-£10 shop for the Co-op, which I'll use when I do my mother's shopping; she was brought up to be very dubious of market wares, so I have to stock her up at the Co-op behind her retirement flat. I do save my Co-op points (and hers!) and any T&sco vouchers the family pick up, to "buy" wine, beer & other treats at Christmas, but most of the vouchers trying to tempt me to buy exotic yogurts or over-sweet chocolate bars just end up in the nearest bin!
ReplyDeleteThe only vouchers I use now are from Pets at Home x
ReplyDeleteCouponing isn't a 'thing' here in my part of Australia. The only ones you see are for cheap, crappy 2 for 1 pizzas. Overseas I see them for things like all the junky stuff. It's not our thing either.
ReplyDeleteHi. We have a frozen food store who regularly distribute leaflets and coupons in the post. Spend £50 or whatever and get so much off. I look through the leaflet to see if there is anything I might buy, there never is. It's all ready meals, junk that I don't eat.
DeleteThere is a TV show on from the US called Extreme Couponers and these people save tons of money but mostly on Non-food or junk food items. And people seemed to be absolutely obsessed at accumulating stuff! They talk about saving - and they have - but as you say - it's still spending. I'm not a fanatic about expiry dates but there is no way a lot of these items could be used by one family before they go "off". If they are helping out others or giving to a Food Bank that might be different.
ReplyDeleteHere in Canada it's not quite as big a deal - I may get something that gives me 50 cents off here or there but the most savings I get are from accumulating store loyalty points. Frankly I wouldn't have the time nor the inclination to expend the effort needed for Gatorade or frozen dinners or junk food.
As another commentator has said, coupons are an entirely different proposition in America. Every Sunday, newspapers have booklets full of them for all sorts of products, and manufacturers regularly put coupons on their packaging. If you’re clever, you keep the manufacturers coupon and wait until you have another store one, and use them together. Toothpaste, washing powder, household items, food etc are all good. Sometimes the items are already reduced on sale, so you get items for very little cost. It can appear time consuming, but really it’s just being very organised. Before you shop for a necessity, you check if you have coupons. Most shops will let you buy multiple items, so it’s good to have duplicate coupons and stock up. If you want to see this in practice, watch Extreme Couponing on TLC or you tube. Whilst I don’t advocate spending hours couponing, everyone in America could achieve these savings, it just takes a little dedication.
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK, we don’t have a coupon culture in the same way and coupons are not regularly distributed. They are the occasional 50p off a pizza etc that I wouldn’t eat. But even so, I always collect Boots points. I use the ‘50 extra points when you buy a shampoo’ etc (equivalent to 50p) on a shampoo that’s already half price to get a bigger saving.
So, don’t knock coupons and vouchers, there’s a place for them if used correctly. If we had the same coupon options as America, I’d definitely be an extreme couponer!
Hello. I don't shop in Boots, too expensive for me. Savers or Superdrug are cheaper. Aldi shampoo is consistently cheaper than anywhere else, don't have to wait for offers or collect points.
DeleteYes, there is a place for coupons, as I said in the video. Someone who is on a very low income might want to save a bit here and there, and someone who has a family to feed and the coupon is for something they would buy anyway.
Many of the super couponers give away their goodies to food banks. I cangive my 3 children, four gchildren, and dil all the toothpaste, soap, tooth brushes they need--all for free, gotten with coupons and sales.
DeleteI live in the USA, so things may be different in England. I see a lot of pet coupons which I'd think might be useful for pet owners. I am petless so I can't use them.
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ReplyDeleteMy choice is to go to the supermarket for the yellow stickers instead of couponing;the y/s reductions tend to 'dictate' what i buy/eat for that week. This way I quite often end up with reduced 'posh' range/ organic food which is better quality than i could normally afford. Meal-plans go out the window: this week I fancied chicken but ended up with y/s mince instead; i planned mixed veg and got 20p cauliflower instead. Heyho! The weird thing is that an economy bar of choc always seems to make it into my basket, come rain or shine!
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves coupons (he's retired - so you know how that goes) But the coupons are for things that we don't normally buy - but because it's a "good" coupon, he thinks we should use it - well he spends a lot of time hunting down good coupons - then can't find them or they expire - I seldom use coupons unless it's something I regularly buy and I think one day my dear husband will get frustrated and quit couponing - but for now it's like his "hobby" LOL Mary Ellen
ReplyDeleteAt least he is not out on the town boozing his income away, ha ha. At least you know where he is. I think couponing is fine for a while, when someone hits a sticky patch and needs to cut down on spending. But these things go in and out of fashion. If the fad continues for a long time then that would indicate some kind of addiction which would be a bit worrying.
DeleteHello. I totally agree with you. Why to spend money for stuff you don't really need ? I also receive coupons but, most of the time, don't use it.
ReplyDeleteSo true that spending a bit less isn't actually saving money at all! I did a whole post about "how to stop shopping" as I was so fed up with people implying that buying bargains was somehow saving. If I'm going to use any coupons, I do like the £6 off £40 spend type, because at least I can choose things I actually want to buy, like fresh fruit & veg or value range items. So many coupons for money off big brands are still more expensive than buying own brand versions. I do check coupons that come through the post and supermarket cashback apps, to see if I can genuinely save money on products I would have bought anyway. But if I'm not paying less, or don't need to spend £40 at that shop, I will indeed throw them in the bin.
ReplyDeleteHi Faith, I get where you are coming from. To hear about 'I saved this amount and that amount', I would ask, yes, fine, but did you actually need to buy it.
DeleteI don't seem to come across coupons very often to be honest. I often have my shopping delivered from Sainsbury's, now they do delivery passes it has become more affordable for me. Food shopping without a car isn't very easy and it is time consuming since I can't carry everything at once.
ReplyDeleteMost of the coupons are for items I don't even use. But I use the ones I do buy and even better when that product is on sale. Buying on sale is a good way to save anyway and yes, only if I'm going to use it! Good idea! It's been blustry and rainy here in my part of Oregon. Was so nice on Monday that I went out to tulip farm after I got off work. I was 64 degrees F. even in the evening. So pretty out there. Happy weekend!
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