Couponing

[TaylorsMummyx]

Does anyone do this? I would love to do this lol but would no idea how to start, I'm in the uk x

 

[dizzydoll]

I caught the end of a show on tv called extreme couponning and it looks addictive haha
Not sure it would work here as a lot of places specify one coupon per transaction and silly things like that. Would be cool though!

 

[TaylorsMummyx]

Thats what I'm watching lol I think of I lived in america I would do it lol

 

[dizzydoll]

Haha yep me too Their pantrys are like bloody shops though! It's crazy! Hundreds of packs of noodles or yoghurts!

 

[Armywife84]

I do but not at an extreme level you see on the television. It's just me and my DH. However, I have scored some awesome deals such as expensive body wash for a $1, refill cartridges for razors at $2, packs of tampons for $0.02, and handsoap for free or $0.18.

-I get my coupons from newspapers, the have them at the grocery market, and internet has a ton of food coupons they change every month on the first.
-I use such websites as krazycouponlady.com and couponmom.com. You can also like your favorite brands on Facebook and stalk their page. Tide just gave out $2 off any Tide coupons these past few weeks.
-I have a binder that holds all of my coupons in certain categories so it's easy to flip to that coupon. If you're just starting out I recommend a mini expanding file folder.
-Write or email companies complimenting them on their product and ask for coupons. Sometimes you get rejected and other times they send you wonderful coupons.
-It is time consuming. If you have LOs to tend to, you may have to do it on a smaller scale.
-I check prices at the market I shop at, making sure I'll catch when an item I have a coupon for is going on sale.

Over here there are grocery markets that will double, even triple the value of your coupon. The store I go to will only double up to $0.50..other stores will double up to a $1.00. Trick is to follow the sale ads and go when your item is at it's lowest price then use your coupon to get the best deal possible. HOWEVER, the companies have gotten a little rude and shortened the expiration date on the coupons. And stores have gotten huffy releasing a coupon policy limiting how many coupons you can double in a transaction.

Overall, it's fun but time consuming. I've trimmed my grocery bill from $120 to $60 every 2 weeks. Although, I have been slacking off on it since we're moving soon and my recent grocery bill was $100 since I didn't have that many coupons.

Daily Mail had an article that it was catching on in your area..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...-takes-ruthless-dedication-clutters-home.html

 

[xolily]

yeah it's not really possible here cos any coupons/vouchers state they can't be used in conjunction with anything else i.e. something that's already on offer or more than 1 coupon at once.

 

[lodie]

i'm nothing like those women in the programmes, but with the all the coupons from the bounty packs and supermarket baby clubs I do get a bit obsessed with using my vouchers!!

 

[summer rain]

You can do couponing here; when coupons say not in conjunction with any other offers-they actually mean any other coupons. In store offers they can't exactly remove them and change their computer system just so you can use a coupon; but they very rarely refuse if an in store offer is on an item either. I did a shop 3 weeks back that would have originally costed £96 before offers and coupons but I got it for £53, £22 of that was directly from coupons. I am also close to completing my stash of a years supply of laundry liquid/powder and fabric conditioner and it is going to cost just over £30. So far have got over 200 washes worth of fairy non-bio and persil non-bio and comfort fabric conditioner and only spent £20.50, now have some Bold to get which I have a coupon for each box and its on offer, previously I was spending about £11 a month on laundry stuff and I thought that was cheap. I also got a pack of nappies that usually costs close to £7 for 58p the other week-again that was combining an offer and a coupon. You really need to go on money saving expert and see what is available they have a thread here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3703791

basically with ALL the printable money off coupons available in the UK currently, on facebook, on various websites and as PDFs, you can also get them sometimes by writing to/emailing companies and complimenting them xx

 

[summer rain]

I do but not at an extreme level you see on the television. It's just me and my DH. However, I have scored some awesome deals such as expensive body wash for a $1, refill cartridges for razors at $2, packs of tampons for $0.02, and handsoap for free or $0.18.

-I get my coupons from newspapers, the have them at the grocery market, and internet has a ton of food coupons they change every month on the first.
-I use such websites as krazycouponlady.com and couponmom.com. You can also like your favorite brands on Facebook and stalk their page. Tide just gave out $2 off any Tide coupons these past few weeks.
-I have a binder that holds all of my coupons in certain categories so it's easy to flip to that coupon. If you're just starting out I recommend a mini expanding file folder.
-Write or email companies complimenting them on their product and ask for coupons. Sometimes you get rejected and other times they send you wonderful coupons.
-It is time consuming. If you have LOs to tend to, you may have to do it on a smaller scale.
-I check prices at the market I shop at, making sure I'll catch when an item I have a coupon for is going on sale.

Over here there are grocery markets that will double, even triple the value of your coupon. The store I go to will only double up to $0.50..other stores will double up to a $1.00. Trick is to follow the sale ads and go when your item is at it's lowest price then use your coupon to get the best deal possible. HOWEVER, the companies have gotten a little rude and shortened the expiration date on the coupons. And stores have gotten huffy releasing a coupon policy limiting how many coupons you can double in a transaction.

Overall, it's fun but time consuming. I've trimmed my grocery bill from $120 to $60 every 2 weeks. Although, I have been slacking off on it since we're moving soon and my recent grocery bill was $100 since I didn't have that many coupons.

Daily Mail had an article that it was catching on in your area..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...-takes-ruthless-dedication-clutters-home.html

Actually back in the 80s and early 90s; before supermarkets set up their own loyalty schemes coupons were pretty commonplace here and a lot less restricted; but now since supermarkets set up their own schemes-they have fallen out of favour here-so its not a new thing. In the UK stores will only double their own store card coupons on very limited occasions (such as tesco clubcard); they will never ever double manufacturers coupons. You're never ever going to get a coupon system like you have in places in the US here; but you can still save up to around 50% on a shop and on the odd occasion get individual items for 75% or more off or even for free using coupons and offers together. It does seem here in the UK that coupons are seasonal, in the last quarter of the year there tends to be a lot more coupons out there and they tend to be higher value also; but from January to summer the ones around tend to be pretty crappy. We also have PDF coupons here which tend to have an expiry of 6 months to a year and you can print 5 million of them if you want, but a lot of the really good ones of those have ended recently xx

 

[smelly07]

No we dont here as there isnt much point but i would if i lived in america.........My husband watched a program and was amazed wouldnt stop telling me about the man who spent $1000 dollors on food and only had to pay something ridiculous like $20 after handing in all the coupons ...........thats just crazy!

 

[summer rain]

I have read that the extreme couponing show is a bit of a set up, some of the stores featured in the show don't normally double coupons and they specifically order in some items they wouldn't normally sell in advance of the show so the person on that episode is getting a percentage saving they never normally would do. Also in some states it is really hard to save as much because the coupons in those states are lower value and tend to have more restrictions; and in some states sales taxes are higher and coupons won't take these off in those states either. xx

 

[Armywife84]

The manufacturers who circulate the coupons are also shortening the expiration date. They used to expire in 5-6months, now they expire within 1-2 months. Unless of course there's coupons that come with items. For example, I bought a Crest White Strips gift pack and it came with several coupons inside that don't expire till the end of this year of next year.

Also the coupons they're releasing are at a lower value. 50 cents off of Charmin toilet paper isn't much, unless you went to a grocery shop that doubles coupons and had the toilet paper on sale. However, you do have to be careful because those grocery shops that double coupons also have higher prices than say Wal-Mart or other discount grocery markets.

 

[_laura]

It's really hard to coupon in the UK.
I seem to normally be able to knock a fiver off each shop with a few that I find or print out.

 

[summer rain]

An expiry of 4 weeks is normal here; inless you're talking PDF coupons with those an expiry of 3-12 months when they are first put online-is more usual. The only others with a long expiry are those on or inside product packaging (rare here) or ones the manufacturer sends you in response to a compliment or complaint letter. Also its rare to get any manufacturer coupon that offers more than £1 off anything, most are for 20, 30 or 50p off even if the product costs £5 or something. I have a personal policy though, if a coupon doesn't get me an item for a)less than £1 or b)less than halfprice if its a much more expensive item then I don't use it xx