Coupon stories are frustrating me.
By patgalca
@patgalca (18366)
Orangeville, Ontario
January 12, 2011 10:40am CST
Many talk shows have had segments about coupon using and how much money you can save using coupons. One lady on Ellen this morning bought a whole bunch of stuff for zero dollars. She bought $200+ worth of products for $12.00. This all sounds great but this can't happen where I live. I am in Canada. I cut coupons. I just cleared out my coupon wallet of all coupons that expired at the end of December 2010. There were so many of them because I like to wait until the item is on sale in order to use the coupon to get the better deal. Unlike the woman on Ellen today, I am not going to stock up on items just because they are on sale (unless it's toilet paper or something like that I KNOW I will definitelly use). I don't need 20 cans of chick peas, nor do I have the space.
Here in Canada, or at least Ontario, we don't have double coupon days. We have tons of restrictions... "cannot be used with any other deal". In other words, if I have two coupons for the same item, I can only use one unless I buy two of the product. The best deals I get are at our pharmacy (PharmaPlus). They have great deals which I can add to with the use of coupons. Regularly priced Tide laundry detergent is $9.00. PharmaPlus puts it on sale for $4.99 or $5.99 and then I use my $1.00 off coupon. Laundry detergent, cleaning products, paper towels, toilet paper... they are all on sale very frequently at this store. What I just described is the best deal I can get. But if I really looked into it, I would probably save more money if I bought a store brand/no name brand product rather than the popular more expensive brand.
What is also frustrating me is the short life span of the coupons. I do use the coupon websites but the coupons that I receive from them have such a short life span that I don't get to use them (a month or two) because I prefer to wait until the product is on sale to get the better deal. And now, coupon values have declined. Products that used to have $1.00 off coupons are now .50c off. And I find coupons distributed are always for the same products. Although stores have a cycle for putting items on sale, there are some products that never EVER go on sale. What is up with that? My favourite jam never goes on sale. I check it every week. Then I saw the price went up to $5.10 a jar! Say what? 
That's ridiculous. Well, the last time I went to the store the product had disappeared altogether from the shelf. Whether the store discontinued the product or the manufacturer, I don't know. I'll have to check another store. I don't have time to store hop.
So these people who go on television raving about the wonderful savings you can get from coupons frustrate the heck out of me. None of what they preach is doable for me where I live. Prices are going up, up, up and our paycheques aren't.
Okay, enough with my rant. Is anyone else as frustrated as me?
That's ridiculous. Well, the last time I went to the store the product had disappeared altogether from the shelf. Whether the store discontinued the product or the manufacturer, I don't know. I'll have to check another store. I don't have time to store hop.
So these people who go on television raving about the wonderful savings you can get from coupons frustrate the heck out of me. None of what they preach is doable for me where I live. Prices are going up, up, up and our paycheques aren't.
Okay, enough with my rant. Is anyone else as frustrated as me?5 people like this
14 responses
@lologirl2021 (5542)
• United States
12 Jan 11
I dont get how they go to the store with all coupons and buy only what the coupons say and then come up to the register with all these coupons and then leave with not spending a freaking penny. I dont understand how they are doing this. I buy things i need and most of the time it doesnt have a coupont o go with it. I also do bring coupons with me almost everytime i head to the store or even mall to save money, but then i see another brand that is cheaper then using the coupon so of course i go with the brand that is the cheapest to of course save money. I need to find some coupons that say FREE ITEM or something because i must be doing something wrong.
I use my coupons from the sites i use that pay me to use coupons or give me points to use the coupons. I go to all the sites i use and print out coupons all the time and i just dont seem to be doing something right.
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
12 Jan 11
I cut coupons all the time, and get them from websites as well. When I do groceries I either use no coupons or a maximum of 4 in one trip. That's a savings of, wow, a couple of bucks or even less. I like the freebie websites. I get free samples in the mail. They are just samples (travel size bottles of shampoo for example), but it's still free.
2 people like this
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
12 Jan 11
Yes I think that a lot of the stories out there are rather exaggerated for various reasons. Now you can save money on coupons. However, you still have to spend at least something. Of course I love coupons in the sense that I look at everything in the sense of it is not what you make, its what you save. So coupons are something that I enjoy utilizing in life.
2 people like this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
14 Jan 11
I have not had very good luck with coupons either. I never find any for the items that I buy and find the the generic is cheaper then the national brand with coupons. I also have started making my own cleaning products and cooking mixes or from scratch. I don't often by even canned god except for tomatoes. I'not sure I believe them.
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
15 Jan 11
I am one of the lucky people that can double coupons and have a low grocery bill. We end up paying in other places with high housing costs and the telephone bill for having a land line is terrible. I use the telephone for work, so a land line is required.
These days I am shopping at Target once or twice a month and can use an internet printed coupon with a Sunday Coupon. The grocery store down the street doubles coupons.
I do stockpile for items we use often like bathroom tissue, canned and frozen vegetables, coffee, laundry detergent, and paper towels. I did get all the recent bathroom and paper towels for free. One of the brands had free coupons in the paper, so I did get a year supply according to my husband.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72116)
• United States
16 Jan 11
I live in an area where most of the groceries stores close by double coupons. The one that is in my town and the closest to me doubles coupons up to $1. I dont know how they can afford to do it but its awesome. A landline phone here is only $24 and since I have no income coming in I get assistance and only have to pay $14 a month for the landline phone.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
16 Jan 11
Stores in my area limit doubling to one of a kind, so they don't have people getting 1000's of a product each week. I will stop in every day and my husband stops in also to get freebies. Several of my friends sell their stockpiles at their garage sales to earn money.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
17 Jan 11
Seldom do the stores in my area double coupons. And the very occasional time they do..they limit it to 10 or so and only $1 or under for the doubling.
@BarBaraPrz (47278)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
12 Jan 11
I feel your pain. I used to use coupons regularly. Now, hardly ever, for the same reasons you mention. And some products, such as tea and cookies (chocolate chip), I prefer the President's Choice brand to the name brand.
At one (short-lived) time in the late 70s in Vancouver, the two major grocery chains offered double value coupon days as they do in the states, but that didn't last too long.
I remember the days when getting a 7-cents-off coupon was a big deal...
1 person likes this
@FrugalMommy (1438)
• United States
13 Jan 11
I really do envy people that can walk into a store and do that. I just started clipping coupons again because I found out I could earn by printing them through certain sites. Most of them are for products that I don't use. If I do use the product, the coupons are almost always the ones with really low values. I save more by buying the store brand than I do by using the coupons in most cases.
The only time I really save big is when I can stack discounts. I watch the sale fliers online and I shop stores that allow me to load offers onto my frequent shopper cards. A lot of the time Safeway has coupons that are identical to the ones I get from Coupons.com and I haven't had a problem with stacking the coupon and the discount I got from the card. They've been running a deal where all coupons are worth at least $1, too. I saved a bit more with that.
The best deals I ever get are usually when I buy meat in bulk from Safeway. They have great sales. This week I was able to pick up a 6-pound roast for just under $12. The deals rotate pretty regularly, so I stock up and freeze what I don't plan to use right away.
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
13 Jan 11
I wish there was a way we could get across to the manufacturer's how we feel about the coupons - that the no name brand is cheaper even with the coupon, that the coupon values are too low, that there aren't enough, that products aren't varied enough.
It just really bugs me that so many people are able to make such huge purchases at so little money with coupons. I can't see that happening anywhere around here with the piddly coupon programs we have.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
22 Jul 11
It can be quite frustrating when refering to the price of items in a Grocery store anymore, and it makes you wonder how these people on like Ellyn or the Coupon shows can get so much for so little? And why would anyone want like 20 of one item unless it is something you would use up quickly? Where do they store everything when they buy tons of extras, or do they donate it to Churches, or Food banks to help out those who are having problems with buying food?
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
13 Jan 11
I do use save.ca but the expiry dates on these coupons are too quick. To get the best value I like to use the coupons when the product is on sale (if it is not an item I purchase on a regular basis). With only a 2 month window for save.ca coupons, I usually end out throwing them away.
@shaggin (72116)
• United States
16 Jan 11
I wish I was able to buy that much stuff for so little. I dont get the sunday paper so I do not get coupons very often. Sometimes I see them laying around shelfs in the stores and then sometimes I find some that I can use. Some places that I go to like thrift stores have little baskets where you can look through and take coupons that you can use. The best times are when they have products that you can try for free if you have the coupon. Those are the best! I wish coupons had longer expireation dates though like you said.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
17 Jan 11
Coupons have changed big time since years ago. Years ago I did really good, but the coupons have changed. Used to be $1 off an item. Now it is 30 cents of three items. And the expiration dates are shorter now than before.
The key to what these woman say they can do...and what they don't mention or make clear is that it takes alot TIME for collecting and WORK to find the coupons, and WORK AND TIME to shop around to find the items on sale or at least to where the coupon item is cheaper than a generic or other brand. And I'd bet if they added up gas to get to the various stores some of their savings goes to the fuel bill. All that adds up to a full time job. Granted,if you get low grocery bill...it is worth it..but at the same time... they act like it is just a "get up this morning and get free groceries today". IT takes time and work and not to mention cost...do they pay for a program in order to get some coupons? Is there a memebership going on somewhere?
But I'd have to say, it can be done, but it isn't easy or quick. And even once accomplised...it is still time and work to continue and keep it up.
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
18 Jan 11
Thanks for explaining that. I also wonder whether I am limited because of where I live. I am in a small town of 32,000 people. Today we went to a city 45 minutes away and hit a couple of stores. The sales they had at the Walmart were like nothing I've seen in our Walmart in our small town. Perhaps we're at a disadvantage simply because of where we live. 
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
18 Jan 11
You definately are. Supply and demand. Plain and simple. Why give you guys the good sale prices, when there isn't any where else in town to get any better?
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
13 Jan 11
I don't find it worth my time & effort to do couponing either!!! Then again, I've never saved $400 because I've never spent $400 at one time ( except for a television). The lady on Ellen today bought $400 for $0.00. She also bought $300 for $14 & $200 for $12. She bought 46 toothbrushes & 46 tubes of toothpaste. Yes, it sounds like a waste of time. However, she donated ALL 46 sets to an organization that will be delivering them to Haiti!!! Also, when she finds somebody down on their luck, she opens her pantry to them & lets them just take what they want for FREE!!! She put herself & her daughter through college with the money she's saved, so she must buy better when she's not on TV. I've watched a lot of these coupon addicts on various shows & I just don't have the talent (or maybe it's the desire) to do what they do!!!
@Nadinest1 (2016)
• Canada
12 Jan 11
I am all for a sale. I check save.ca frequently....although the coupons are not all that great....and a lot of the products-I don't use.
I live in a border town and a lot of people go cross-border shopping....many groceries are so much cheaper in the US and with the Cdn dollar at or near parity....it's great for us.
It's too bad that a lot of stores do not accept online printed coupons anymore.
My mother, sister and I always are looking for great coupons.
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
13 Jan 11
My neighbour was going to shop in the U.S. and since she doesn't have a printer she asked me to print off coupons. She simply had me do searches like "coupons for *name of store*". These were percentage off coupons as opposed to cents off. You might want to look into that.
@puccagirl (7294)
• Israel
12 Jan 11
I know what you mean, coupons are not widely available where I live either, so I know the feeling. But luckily stuff like Groupon are catching up here at least, which is great!
1 person likes this
@Jcroichy (4)
• United States
13 Jan 11
OMG! I watched a special on coupon people and I want to do it so bad, but i don't understand the whole fundamentals of using multiple coupons. Does anyone know how to use them properly? The supermarkets by me won't accept multiple coupons.
