Question for coupon users

[jody]

Do you just roll the money saved using coupons back into your food budget or do you separate it out for another use?

I did the former for a while, then decided to separate it into its own little account. I don't have a use for it yet but I'm enjoying watching it build up.
I'm easily entertained, kinda like watching grass grow.

[lessisbest]

I don't use very many coupons because they are rarely for items I use, but this is how I work with them and I try to keep it simple.

I try to stack coupons for more savings. If I have a coupon for 40-cents off peanut butter, I'll try to use it when the peanut butter is also on sale. We no longer have double coupons anyplace, and that was another way to stack savings along with waiting for a sale price AND a coupon. I can't use coupons at Aldi, and the ones I use at Dillons are sent by the company for things I commonly purchase. We get a free weekly paper that has some coupons in it, but I don't find very many to use. When we took the local newspaper we cut it to Sunday-only delivery because of the ads and coupons. When the coupons didn't even pay for the subscription, we quit the newspaper all together. There are other ways to save WITHOUT coupons.

My food budget is for food ONLY. I pay for non-food items separately with my "walking around money" (allowance, for want of a better name). The total of the food, plus 8.4% tax, minus coupons = total. I pay the total and deduct it from my $125.00 month food budget. I don't figure them separately - I don't have that many. It's essentially free money that reduces the total spent. Kind of like finding a quarter in the parking lot and using it towards my next purchase.

I should have added, I could never be the "coupon queen", even though I'm a really frugal person. I'm just not that interested in all the "crap" they purchase and the extremes they go to. When I look at the bottom of my Dillon's receipt, it has calculated my savings for that day and also for the year. What I'm interested in is the amount of money in my food budget left unspent. I've spent $714.78 for the year and have $285.22 left unspent.

[jody]

I am also far from a coupon queen. I do shop at Aldis. My local store does double the coupon value and I buy most of my paper products there when they are on sale and I have a coupon to stack. I really only average $7 to 10 a month in coupon savings but its a great hobby. I do get a kick out of using them when I can.

[Lainey]

Our local Safeway just stopped doubling coupons too. I'm like you jody, I might save $10 a month or less, but that includes non-food items like a box of hair dye, etc.

But now I'm wondering how these "extreme couponers" will do if most grocery stores no longer double the face value?

[jody]

My store doubles up to 50cents. And yes, I use coupons mostly on non-food.

[Chicken lady]

I use coupons if they are for something I was going to buy anyway or if the coupon makes the name brand cheaper than the store brand and we like the name brand (my children will not eat Kraft cheese for example).

I don't track the savings. Now rebates, rebates i totally pocket for " mad money" but I don't take them into acount when I figure the purchase price.

[lessisbest]

Rebates.... Go into our Christmas/Emergency Fund, which is also where we deposit our $1 bills we collect each month (at least $500 each year, and as much as $1,000), as well as the $20 I pay myself each month to cut my own hair ($240 each year). When we had debt, rebates went towards the debt. Other "found money" also goes into our Christmas/Emergency Fund - recycling metal, pet/house/yard sitting, garage sale, selling something on eBay..... After we pay for Christmas (less than $100 TOTAL), and barring any emergencies (we bought a dishwasher last year just before Christmas), we clear the account of all but $1,000 and give the remaining money to charity.