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While I was so ready to buy $200 worth of groceries for $7.49, I’m almost glad retailers are striking back.
Basically, because of techniques of superhero shoppers, shows like “Extreme Couponing” and the always present “cheater,” the stores are cracking down.
I already feel guilty when I forget my 25 cents off coupon for a $4 bottle of lotion. I would catch stories about couponers who could feed their family and two of the neighbors’ families weekly for about $2.98 and wonder what I was doing wrong.
I would ponder buying every Sunday paper at QuikTrip. Searched for websites featuring coupons where stores were basically paying me to shop there.
I would pause in fascination and wonder “what if.” What if I just boycotted sleep? Surely I could clip enough coupons to pay my mortgage a couple of months. It was true—I really started to lose my mind about this. But sleep kept calling and crazy-coupon-gathering went to 492nd on the to-do list.
Here’s an example of the retailer and manufacturer changes:
Target· Target no longer accepts online coupons "for free items with no purchase requirements," according to the coupon policy. · A BOGO store coupon can't be combined with a manufacturer's coupon to get both items for free. · Target is "limiting the number of store coupons that can be printed off its website to two (there used to be no limit).Procter & GambleProcter & Gamble now limits consumers to four of the same coupon per shopping trip.Wal-MartIn contrast, Wal-Mart is headed in the other direction, dumping limits on coupons per transaction.Now I feel officially justified that I couldn’t pull off this wizardry. Has anyone else struggled with this?
My admiration for the couponers from another planet has not waned but I am going to enjoy my sleep.
And I was so ready to grocery shop with just $5.
I'm with you, I would love to be the "crazy coupon lady" but really can't grasp how to do it. Yeah, it seems like simple mathematics but really it's so time consuming to figure out who does what and how it can calculate to get it free. With so many changes in couponing, I'm sure others will follow and start limiting, which mean more complex math. I'll just go with clipping my few that I need and feel lucky when I can walk out of the store saving a few bucks on the items I needed. Plus, where the heck would I store all of that stuff?My problem with coupons is having to buy two or three of something to save half a dollar. First off, I don't NEED three rolls of paper towels right now. Second off, I have very little storage space in my house, so it makes no sense to buy multiples of things because I have no place to put them! And does anyone remember when stores used to double coupons on Sunday? I just don't bother with them. I've tried, but it takes too much time and I don't save that much. I could never make a career out of it. But I'm with you, Christi--I'd love to be able to buy a week's worth of groceries for five bucks, but it's just not gonna happen in my world!My husband and I have started to look at couponing, we've done a little bit at CVS for things like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste (store sale + coupon + extra care bucks will get some pretty good deals). We don't put lots of time into it, we just do the deals we find on a few couponing blogs. As far as food, all the food coupons are usually for stuff we don't eat; we don't eat many sweets or boxed convenience foods, and there's never coupons for fresh produce or meat and rarely coupons for dairy items. I've only watched the extreme couponing shows a few times, but each time I remember thinking "all they are buying is junk food!". Maybe I'm just a food snob.My friend and I contemplated doing this but alas, it is just too much work. If my life is going to be consumed by something that is not it! I can save money in other ways and still have a life. For example my husband and I bought 11 cornish cross chicks for 1.97 each. We raised them and took them to the Amish who prepared them for 1.10 each. Bam! One chicken which will feed my whole family (6 of us) cost less than 5 bucks. We also have 5 hens for eggs. I also menu plan so that I utilize what I have so I am not buying more than I need to buy. Those things coupled with normal everyday couponing save me money and I am satisfied.It's not really for the retailers to come down on using coupons to make items free or close to it. It's the manufacturers. The retailers don't lose money by accepting coupons. They gain. They generally make more money from the manufacturer than they pay out in coupons. When they choose not to accept coupons in a certain way, then fewer people will try the product or people will go to other stores to buy the products. Those other stores would make that money. As an example, if Target chooses not to do the BOGO coupons with the BOGO deals then they will lose a lot of money. Generally, most people who coupon will share their hard work with others. Many people try products that they normally would never have. Manufacturers do studies all the time to determine if their coupons will bring them new consumers and will those consumers generate more revenue for the company. Walmart is not stupid at all. They know what they are doing heading in the opposite direction. They welcome the revenue that Target does not. And let's be very clear...if Target never wanted people to pair BOGO coupons with BOGO store offers, all they had to do was never have that same deal while the coupons are valid. Walmart does a very good job of this. And they don't have to change their coupon policy. Couponing is not a get rich endeavor. It takes a lot of work. People are not really getting the deals for free because it is very labor intensive. They'd be better off standing on a street corner begging for money. However, it does teach people the value of merchandise and about retailing & wholesaling strategies. The article you got this from missed the point entirely. And the retailers like Target are missing the point also. If they want to cut out some of the bad apples, they should change their return policies. Those people who buy 200 dollars worth of good with coupons then return them for cash, as well as those who sell their goods at flea markets are the bad apples. You could just as easily criticize wholesalers and stores for having sales. Why don't they just keep their prices lower so people don't have to use coupons? Well, the wholesalers often will set what price they want to get from and item. And those people who use coupons will pay that price. But there will always be those who do not want to use coupons and they will pay the higher price. And that is just the icing on the cake for the company reaping the profits.I don't use many coupons, but love the rewards programs some retailers use. I used the $10 Penney's coupon from the paper and a $15 coupon sent in the mail to buy $25 of merchandise. I get credit for spending $25 and will get another coupon in the mail next month. I also got $5 free and 15% off at Kohls, and Steinmart coupons good on red dot clearance (din't find anything, so didn't buy anything). Not too hard to do, and saves a bit.
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