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Subscribe to RSSSusan Samtur, the original coupon queen appearing on TLC's "Extreme Couponing," talks about how couponing has changed since she first shared her strategies on TODAY in 1978, and discredits common myths, including whether a deal can be too good to be true.
To save on groceries, you gotta bust out the coupons. And before you do that, you gotta bust these four coupon myths that might otherwise discourage you from getting all the deals you deserve, Susan Samtur, the original "Coupon Queen," told Savannah Guthrie this morning on TODAY.
Myth 1: "A one-dollar coupon is always more valuable than a 75-cent coupon."
Busted! It's not just about the face value of the coupon. Check the fine print. If the store is offering double coupons on the 75-cent coupon, now it's worth $1.50, beating out the dollar coupon.
Myth 2: "The generic brand is always cheaper than the national brand."
Busted! Samtur snagged a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and used a dollar coupon to get it for 88 cents, versus $3.79 for a generic box of "Cinnamon Toasters."
Myth 3: " There are never coupons for fresh foods."
Busted! This one is tricky because it didn't used to be a myth. "Manufacturers have come to learn people aren't looking for coupons just for processed items, they're looking for fresh stuff," said Samtur." You can get fresh fruits, vegetables and eggs with brands from big companies, and the coupons to go along with them.
Samtur showed off how she got two cases of "Egg-land's Best Eggs," for "cheep." Retail price: $6.98. After coupons? 98 cents, 49 cents per dozen. "We bow down!" said Guthrie, pretending to genuflect before the 4"9.5' tall "coupon queen."
Myth 4: "If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is."
Busted! Samtur saw a jar of Mt. Olive pickles in the circular on sale for $1.98. Then, when she went into the store, there was a tag on it offering $1 off if you bought two. Combining the two deals, she got two jars of pickles that regularly go for $6.98 for the low price of $2.98. Now that's a deal worth bending your knee for.
To catch more of Susan Samtur, check out her appearance on TLC's Extreme Couponing tonight.
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By combining coupons with cyclical sales at chain drug stores, I regularly purchase toiletries for little to no cost. We don't hoard - we keep enough on our shelves so that we never have to run out and buy when not on sale. What we don't use we donate to the local homeless shelter.
I just can't find on-line coupons for stuff I buy anymore. I used to find the stuff everywhere. Now the sites just don't have it. Couple that with the fact that our local-yokel newspaper doesn't offer sunday coupons, and I am just stuck paying more!
Search online for printable coupons for items on items that you're planning to buy. Also know that some stores are only allowing you to use an online coupon or a print coupon, not both. And know whatever doubling policy your store has. My store doubles a coupon up to a total discount of 1.00. So a coupon for one dollar off two of an item is worth less to me than two thirty cent coupons for one of that item.
And know that when you hear that someone got 20 items for less than a dollar, those 20 items probably didn't include essentials. You can save a lot of money with coupons but the basics- non-processed food- don't often have such great deals. Usually I'm just getting a name brand of an item I need anyway for cheaper than the generic price. The most common amazing deals are like the one I got this weekend- one of those 'a little better than ramen' noodle meals was on sale for .85. I had a coupon for .50 off, so with doubling, they paid me .15 to take it home. It was only one, but it's a free lunch for my desk at work. :)
I agree, online coupons aren't much. Our area is rural and we used to get the Sunday paper from the nearest city, but because of theft it is very difficult to get a paper so I'm in the same boat you are. I wish there was a way to get Sunday paper coupons online. BTW, the coupon queen in my sister-in-law!
Coupons are just a scam.
I have a problem with the variety of coupons available. I just looked at Coupons.com and out of 250 coupons, 69 were for food items- cereal, pop tarts, cinnamon rolls, cookies or processed food. Not the healthiest products. The rest of the coupons were for health care, personal care, household items and even DVD's! It seems to only be saving you money if you're buying a lot of junk food that you shouldn't be eating in the first place.
You really have TO BE DOING NOTHING ALL DAY to do this kind of Grocery shopping.
I truly found it is a WASTE of ones individual time doing the COUPON SEARCH. What you over pay for one item you get negates the SO CALLED COUPON SAVING.
it is all a MARKETING CON-JOB to get you into the STORE.
If everything is ONLY COUPONS, and good luck with that then KNOCK YOURSELF OUT and waste your precious DAYS Looking and cliping and printing and driving around etc;
YOU DO NOT SAVE ANYTHING when you add up EVERYTHING. HA HA to the fools!!!
I used to do a lot of coupons but found my time -and savings- are much more effective by grocery shopping in discount stores, then supermarkets, typically hitting 3-5 stores in one trip. I'll start at a Costco or Aldi and perhaps a roadside stand. Then Walmart and then the big supermarket. I almost always put together a list first or go through Shoprite's or another online circular and print out a list so I'm not tempted to overbuy. After I print out Shoprite's list, I look at the prices at the cheap places first. And it's absolutely ridiculous to turn your nose up at store brand items. $1.25 pasta sauce is generally as good or better than most $3.99 sauces. And half-price canned items like stewed tomatoes are generally made in the same plants as the full-priced brand names. There are things where the brand name is important to me (Bush's baked beans, Dinty Moore Beef Stew, real Cheerios, etc.) compared to the store brands, but the cheap stuff is worth a try!