Coupon Hacks: Combo-Moves for Cheaper Carts
I used to be a coupon-phile a number of years ago and was able to get orders down from 100 bucks to under 5.
In my opinion it's more than an hour a week you need to put into it. First off you need to know the normal prices on the items in the store(s), to identify the weeks "loss leaders" or any real deals. This means either going to the store several times a week, or writing down the prices. (Which I can tell you from personal experience store management frowns on)
You need to know your stores policies as well. Up where I am places may in fact double manufacturers coupons, but they sure as hell aren't advertising it the way they used to (or even having those special triple coupon days)
And while once coupon per purchase should mean that you can use multiple coupons on multiples on the same item, a lot of store managers will not see it that way, so be prepared for some debating and letters to the district managers.
It helps if you can get a hold of the coupon insert before Sunday that way you can compare the current sale with the upcoming sale.
Coupons themselves have also changed. It's very hard to find a coupon for over 40 cents that doesn't require buying a multiple of the item. The coupons with the best savings are often for new products of the ultra convenience / stretching credulity health claim variety. A coupons main purpose is to convince you to buy a specific product, and I am sure there is a reason why each and every product is selected for a coupon, and I highly doubt it is to give something back to the consumer.
The article says that if something is BOGO or 5 for $5 then the single items will ring up as half price or a dollar. I can attest that this is not often true. At many of the stores in my area that use the bonus cards, the items ring up at the regular price and the bonus card will take off a percentage of the second or last item needed to make the sale price . But these are stores with highly computerized checkout systems.
Then add in the online coupon code sites and such and you can easily spend over an hour a day doing this.
I ended up with a lot of useless products, that I didn't really need or like. Plus it was like a battle every time I went to the store.
I just burned out on it, now I only clip coupons for things I already buy. Plus they never have coupons for the things you should be eating like fresh produce, meats/proteins, and certain staples which end up being cheaper to buy generic than any coupons save you on the name brands.
Kudos to Crissy, but to me it's more of a hobby or a challenging game that an effort that enriches her children's lives.

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