Comments on: Do Coupons Deserve Their Bad Reputation?

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:00:20 +0000

I use coupons only if they’re for something we regularly use or need. We don’t eat much in the way of processed food, which a lot of coupons seem to represent. I do like to peruse store ads to hunt for special deals. I’m fortunate to have 2 large stores (Fred Meyer and Safeway) right next to eachother, which makes it easy to pick up good coupon deals there.

We do use coupons or restaurant.com when eating out. We don’t dine out often, but like to cut costs when we do.

I prefer to just shop at places like Winco and Grocery Outlet, and I also buy in bulk and use food storage bags/bins. Because we live in a smaller town surrounded by lots of farms, I prefer to get my seasonal produce at the farm stands/farmers markets. Eating what’s in season really cuts costs as well.

By: Tracy Balazy

Tracy Balazy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:27:11 +0000

I clip coupons when they’re for items I would normally buy. And I’ve recently become a fan of Groupon, through which I’ve bought coupons online for items that are non essential but fun, such as half off at Mudgie’s, my favorite deli (in Detroit’s historic Corktown neighborhood; all locally sourced ingredients, and DARN tasty sandwiches and other fare), Kim’s Produce ($10 for $25 worth of goods), a green market that recently opened in Detroit, and one that cost me $10 for $25 worth of food and/or drinks at Cheli’s, a bar in my hometown owned by former Red Wing Chris Chelios. I like Groupon because it promotes local places and has gotten me to try new venues!

By: Beth D.

Beth D. — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:24:38 +0000

No one should ever feel bad using a coupon. The restaurants pay to have them printed and distributed to get you to their establishment. Some places even track how many they get back as a way to know if their advertising money was spent efficiently. When I use one, I always tip the server on the original amount and have never had anyone say anything rude to me or give me a bad look.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:52:18 +0000

When I first was able to finally quit my part time job and become a stay-at-home mom to my then 18-month old son, I met a friend for lunch at a fancy mall. When I pulled out a coupon for the restaurant we were dining at, she snorted derisively and said “wow, you really are a stay-at-home mom”. (She had her own business and put her child in daycare when she worked. Her husband made excellent money and she certainly could have stayed at home had she wanted to.) At the time, I was really offended and I quit keeping in touch with her shortly thereafter. Looking back on it now, I wish I’d pointed out to her that doing things like using coupons and being frugal was what was allowing me to have precious time with my son and I don’t care if anyone else thinks that’s not cool…I still use coupons (although not much at the grocery store) whenever possible—why pay more than you have to?

By: Bellen

Bellen — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:42:45 +0000

Now live in a part of the country that does not offer double coupons, no great on-line coupon site, and being seniors have very different needs than when the kids were home and I used tons of coupons.

Our local Publix offers a variety of BOGO deals every week so as long as it’s something we regularly use I take advantage. I also enrolled in a couple of sites that give coupons on their products – First Choice Haircutters that comes every 8 weeks for one – and will look for products that have coupons on the package – 8 o’clock coffee has a $1 coupon and Publix has a BOGO every 6-8 weeks so we stock up.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:12:53 +0000

I am not so much a fan of coupons because I rarely find them for stuff I would buy anyway. But I do love the Grocery Outlet and Restaurant.com, which I regularly search for new eateries or old standbys whenever the website has those 80% off deals. I hope these deals help our local restaurants as much as they help us enjoy life a bit more.

By: Dot

Dot — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:46:50 +0000

We rarely see double coupon offers in my area anymore. I used to be the local ‘Coupon Queen” in the day, but now only one independent grocer offers doubles and only up to 50 cents. I do use coupons other places, shopping the sale ads as much as possible to add to my savings. A place I just discovered to get coupons is on eBay; people in other parts of the country get access to coupons we might not have in our area and you can bid on different coupons for all sorts of stuff. You pay for the seller’s time, not the free coupons, and you pay postage.

Restaurant.com is a great place to join and get discount coupons for member restaurants – in fact, we used one last night at our favorite Japanese place – a new member (yes, we thanked them for being part of the program!). If you buy the restaurant.com certificates, rather than to a certain restaurant, you can redeem them anytime and they don’t expire, as the others do (in a year).

Just got back from G.O., spent $27, saved $21…whatadeal!

By: GLM

GLM — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:08:47 +0000

I like them, but I don’t use them very often. 1) I don’t buy newspapers and 2) I don’t want to download the programs that you have to install to get on-line coupons.

Instead, I buy based on what is on sale at my grocery store, and I watch for sales at the stores I like to shop at. Could I save more money? Probably, but I am comfortable with the amount of money I spend on food right now, and I’m continuing to work to improve on it.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:18:16 +0000

I use coupons. I’m not sure I should.

It’s hard not to be influenced by them, especally if the coupon is about to expire. I suspect I buy more than I need of certain things because the coupon is about to expire. My faves are for new items; these coupons are usually high value and my usual store is quite inexpensive, so I get the thing for very little. The $1 off Small Steps tissues have kept me in free tissues for over 6 months now.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:02:40 +0000

I’m not a coupon fan, because it often seems like you have to search through many, many pages before you find something worthwhile–i.e., not for processed food, and not expecting you to buy at least three to get a mere 17 cents off per item. The exception is that around Thanksgiving and Christmas, coupon booklets usually have good deals on baking ingredients such as flour, sugar and pie fillings.

However, I do make use of grocery store loss leaders and grocery store coupons. I also love to shop at Grocery Outlet and it’s good to know about the $5 off of $25 coupons they have online.