The following is a reprint of a previous post. Enjoy!
I was given a copy of Amy Dacyczyn’s The Complete Tightwad Gazette when I was on maternity leave with my now ten-year-old son.
It changed my life.
This book saved my family countless thousands of dollars through the years.
One thing I disagreed with though, was the author’s stance on coupons. She wrote that:
“Most food coupons are for convenience foods. Often the foods are more processed. Even when these items can be purchased cheaply, it should be considered that your family is acquiring a taste for these more expensive and less healthful items.”
How could she say that?!
I loved using coupons! I snagged extra Sunday circulars at work, and hoarded the Safeway double coupons.
It was pretty normal for my grocery receipt to show a 40% savings most every trip.
But then our income went up, and I let the coupon use dwindle, until it became an occasional endeavor.
I’ve been reading that the current economic crisis had seen a sharp increase in coupon usage. And that sparked an old hobby. Perhaps I should ramp the coupon use back up again. After all, there were no internet coupons ten-years-ago. It might be a way to tighten our belt that much more.
So I pulled out the glossy coupon circulars from the Sunday paper this week and grabbed a nice, sharp pair of scissors. I turned page after page without finding a single coupon for an item I would normally buy.
Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Huh?!
But I figured it out. Ten years ago I bought a lot of prepackaged food. My goal for feeding my family was to spend as little money as possible. Always. These goals have changed. Yes, I want to spend as little as possible, but it’s more important to serve healthy, fresh, local food.
And frankly, there are no coupons for this type of shopping.
So I put my scissors away, and tossed the coupons into the recycling.
And I no longer need to feel like I’m missing out on potential money savings.
And I now agree with Amy Dacycyzn.
Agree? Disagree? Please share your coupon philosophy in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve learned it’s where and how you shop and eat that really nets the savings, not coupons.
FWIW, I snagged a copy of AD’s Big Blue Book at our last book sale. I have a personal copy, but I’m going to save it, so I can be as kind to someone else as the person who changed your life ;-). I’m kind of excited to have it waiting in the wings, which makes me a total frugality geek, but I’m good with that.
I do use coupons for household items; detergent, paper towel, otc meds, etc. otherwise I agree with you.
There are a few coupons that make sense. Safeways sometimes has three dollars off 15.00 on produce. I get a buck off of yoplait yogurt and they have low carb that is a must for me. Coffee coupons ( we are not coffee snobs) always help.
Most of the coupons are for what I call junk food. It’s like shopping at the goodwill, you have to plow through a lot of junk to find the real treasure. lol
As a subscriber of the original Tightwad Gazette, I’m also a big fan! It definitely got us on the right track financially.
Agree. I seldom see coupons, ok never, for fresh food from the farmer’s market. I have never seen a coupon for generic dried beans either. I have used a store coupon for canned vegetables. Since ny diet is basically eggs, fruits, vegetables, dried beans and pasta or rice, I have very little use or most coupons. Maybe an exeption for dog food, or olive oil….I clean with generic vinegar, baking soda, and in a pinch, dishwashing soap.
Safeway will often have e-coupons for dried beans, which I do download.
I totally agree. I used to feel that I should use coupons, would clip, sort, and then never remember to use. All those expired coupons laying around made me feel guilty. Much simpler for me to purchase items on sale at my regular store.
I do coupon, but will admit to also using prepacked food more often than I should. There can sometimes be coupons on things that I would consider to be whole foods.
In the past month, I’ve used paper coupons to get deals on: natural peanut butter, dry pasta, unsalted butter, raw almonds, tofu, pickles and yogurt.
Plus used rebates from phone apps (Ibotta, MobiSave, Shrink, Checkout 51 and Snap) for yogurt, bananas, oranges, apples, lettuce, onions, carrots, and tomatoes. It’s not a ton, but for January to date, I’ve gotten produce rebates totaling $6.10 so it does add up.
I will, however, admit to my fair share of using coupons on less than whole foods – frozen pizza, jarred pasta sauce, frozen egg rolls (yummy!), tortillas, tuna fish, organic mac and cheese, organic and non-organic soup, canned oranges, grands biscuits, cereal, and a candy bar – so I probably should do a better job of not buying junk food because it’s free/cheap.
Side note is that I love the Tightwad books. And I’ve never been successful with couponing. It’s too much work for stuff that I don’t buy anyway. :):)
I too loved Amy D’s books! I still have a copy of one of her books, all dog-eared and worn. I tend to agree with her about coupons. They are often for expensive products that I wouldn’t normally buy. Still, if you are careful and only use the coupons for things that are always on your shopping list, then they can be useful. But they are not a big part of my grocery shopping and I try not to let coupons dictate what items I will buy. One exception: when there is a coupon for a free item, I can’t resist.
I completely agree. I picked up that book from the thrift shop when I first got married a couple years ago and learned a lot too. We mostly stick to fruits/veggies/pasta/rice/beans and a lean protein. Once a week we roast a chicken and use leftovers for lunches like chicken salad or soup. I make my own detergent (so easy and cheap) and we use an olive oil soap for hair/body/shaving that I buy in bulk once a year for toiletries. I read a lot of mommy blogs that got into couponing but I find that though my daughter is in diapers (since I work full time we really couldn’t do cloth at her daycare)- I find better deals through Amazon that don’t require couponing. She still breastfeeds and eats the same food that we do so we saved ourselves from the expense of formula.
Regarding coupons and clothing- I buy my stuff and my daughter’s items used from a local thrift shop or consignment shop so I don’t need store coupon deals. my husband buys his business shirts and pants at the same men’s store and he is signed up for their email coupons and we use those when he needs to replace shirts. Aside from his clothes, coupons aren’t too useful based on what we consume.
I’m with The Frugal Zealot (what Amy called herself in The Tightwad Gazette) and with Katy. There are VERY few coupons I use. I sometimes get store coupons for 10% off entire purchase or something, but for the most part, I don’t use coupons for individual items. I buy almost zero processed foods, no disposable dinnerware, laundry detergent, or shampoo, and I wait for sales on the items I do buy. I used to coupon some, but I realized one day, just like Katy, that I was turning page after page (now it’s clicking and clicking) without seeing anything I needed. And after subscribing to the Tightwad Gazette, then reading the books, I realized I could do just fine without them. I shop the lowest prices I can find for the healthiest, humanely produced, local foods I can find. Portion control, not wasting, leftover magic, and careful storage keep my food budget reasonable for someone who buys organic, local, grass fed, non-GMO, pastured food. Disclaimer — I also could never remember to use coupons when I had them. So that was part of the decision to drop them, too. 🙂
I think you and Amy are both right, mostly. When I have a coupon for say $2 off any $10 or more produce purchase at Kroger that is definately a keeper for me because I can use this coupon even on the reduced bin produce. They have coupons for meat that are the same. Free Friday download coupons are also keepers for me. I can’t always use the items, such as cat food, so I pass them along to friends who will. I’m pretty sure digital Free Friday downloads and the meat and produce coupons didn’t exist when Amy wrote the books. I just reread The Tightwad Gazette and was amazed at how many things still completely apply to today. Last time I read it was 1995, I think.
Another example is Ivory soap. My kids have allergies so they can’t use a lot of soaps. Kroger has it on sale so I will pair with a coupon to stock up a little. Also, I frequently roast and make my own BBQ pulled pork in my crock pot. I then freeze multiple meal sized packages. This week Kroger(yes I said it again, sorry) has a certain brand that we have liked in the past. It’s BOGO and combined with 2 coupons is gonna be a little over $2 per package. This is pulled pork already frozen in a container with BBQ sauce on it. If I can find a good sale on pork then I MAY get it for less money but this is pretty good I think. Most things I make are homemade but if I find a super good deal on a convenience food then I occasionally get it to make things easier on myself. It’s important to note that each package of pulled pork will feed my family of 4 more than once because I will put it on buns and I have small children. I do use coupons for dish detergent but I use it very sparingly so it lasts forever. I used to use more coupons but now I keep it very specific which saves time and $.
I was never organized enough to do much couponing and I only do it now for cat food, cat litter, and the occasional eat out treat (BOGO burritos at Moe’s, BOGO blizzards at DQ).
I should get my AD books out and re-read them…they really are great!
Our local grocery store chain, HEB launched a digital coupn app that has actually has great coupons. Just this week I used coupons for bacon, lunch meat, butter, sugar, beans, cheese sticks, and fresh mushrooms.
Thanks! I live in Austin, shop at HEB and am downloading the app now!
I totally agree. Now I do most of my shopping at Aldi’s. It is mostly produce and ingredients and I can feed our family of 4 for less than $300/mo 🙂
I was a subscriber to the Tightwad Gazette newsletter, which taught me so much stuff that it made it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom for seven years and for our family to weather a lot of financial ups and downs. I own three of the books and refer to the Complete edition constantly.
I also agree with her take on coupons, in that they’re generally for highly processed stuff or name brand items that are still too expensive even with a coupon. Pet food is the main thing I look for coupons for now, as my cats are big fans of certain types of canned food.
What works best for me in feeding the family are the store-brand loyalty coupons we get at Food Lion, where we buy the few items we can’t find at Aldi or Save-a-lot. FL’s store coupons are often for things like apples, celery, pears, fresh pork, peanut butter and other healthy items. Occasionally FL also gives out high-value “buy X amount, get X amount off” coupons.
We also sometimes get 20 or 15 percent off coupons to clearance discount stores like Big Lots or Ollie’s Outlet. Big Lots carries discounted Bob’s Red Mill items, and I stock up like crazy when there’s a Big Lots coupon. Ollie’s is a liquidator store and is not that great for food, but things like soap, shampoo, food storage bags and household stuff is crazy cheap there.
It’s not so much using coupons as knowing how and where to shop that brings the biggest savings. Coupons do help a little, but not more than about $20 a month on average in savings for us.
I also love The Tightwad Gazette – I learned so much from them. I don’t use coupons either, but they aren’t really available up in canada. At least not for the food that I would buy. Instead, we read the sale flyers and stock up when prices are low.
I *totally* use coupons – insert (SmartSource comes with our ‘shows up free unasked Wed paper), printable, snail-mailed (sometimes I write to brands we often or exclusively use, sometimes grocers send them, sometimes you can fill out a form for a manufacturer to send you one), and mobile (loaded to store card/rebate apps)! I only use them on staples and things that I can get for free – or that end up putting money in my pocket. I am SUPER lucky that in my area two of the main grocers I shop double manufacturer’s coupons – $0.50+ becomes $1 off. I am doubtful this perk will hold for much longer, as it has gone away in other areas of the country in the past few years.
I am HUGE on having a price book. I’m not using a coupon on an item if it won’t make it equal to or better than the best price I can buy something in town or online through a trusted website either all the time, or regularly when items are reduced to sales prices (that tend to be the same each time a sale is held). We donate almost all of what I get for free to our local food bank; sometimes I get something that I can add to cute teacher & school staff appreciation gifts that I could not otherwise afford (have about 2 dozen folks to thank each time, so even $0.50 on candy or tea, etc. adds up).
Another huge thing is that I stay home full time, and always have. I can’t come up with a job that I could work inside or outside the home, that wouldn’t drastically change my availability to my children/our family life right now. But I can follow blogs throughout the day (I have four I follow, one national, three for local grocers) when I have time, I can click, print, clip, set in my coupon envelope and shop around the kids’ schedules easily though. This allows us to buy the high quality foods (and sometimes junky lol) foods we desire, within budget, to give more than we could monetarily to the food bank, share more at pot lucks/in gifts than we could normally, and even make a little extra on the side. I normally haven’t kept track, but I’ve been inspired by the NCA fb page to start – and for 2016 I have *made* $21.18 on items (I would say a lot of this is from the rebate app Ibotta (overlapping sales, manufacturer coupons and rebates).
Not ever having been an “extreme coupon” user, I find that price matching at Walmart and using a coupon often saves me quite a lot (not to mention the savings in gas). I still use coupons selectively, as others have commented.
I Love the Tightwad Gazette!!!! I also use very few coupons. When I do, they are digital and are generally for non-food items. I also believe that eliminating processed food is better for overall health and well-being.
Every week I look through the coupons. I only cut out ones for stuff that I normally buy. I do not find too many but they add up especially if paired with a sale. If there is an exceptionally good coupon for something I don’t buy I will leave it in the shelf if I remember.
My main grocery store does most of their sales by yellow coupons hanging by the product. I do use those but I find it kind of a pain when I use a lot of them. Most cashiers are nice but I occasionally get a grouchy one. I wish they would just put things on sale. I do save a lot of money by using them so I will continue.
On straight-up coupons I would agree! I always wanted to become a good couponer but I live alone and mostly eat out of the outer rim of any grocery store. I also don’t have a need for lots of cosmetics, medications, or small packages of cleaning supplies/toiletries.
I’m not sure if it counts as coupons but iBotta does give you cash back for fruits, vegetables, and meats (both branded and generic) and that has often been how I build my meals for a week. Here’s a referral link that gives you a bonus: https://ibotta.com/r/qheqdso
I do use a few coupons, but not that many. I sometimes use them for toothpaste or toilet paper. Also for juice and occasionally cheese and King Arthur flour. But I mostly cook from scratch and buy a lot of produce (often at Aldi).
Australia is not big on couponing. Instead our two major supermarkerts (Coles and Woolworths) offer 1/2 price specials each week. Mostly, it is for name brand processed foods, with very little in the way of whole or healthy foods. Aldi is the best place for buying the staples – so much cheaper than the ‘Big Two’.
I remember seeing a TV show called ‘Extreme Couponong’ and the American lady managed to fill trolleys full of food, paying a few dollars at the checkout. It must have taken a lot of time to do the calculations to end up paying next to nothing.
Like many other posters I am a great fan of The Tightwad Gazette. I like grocery store issued coupons because in this area they are often for meat and produce. I don’t use too many others but I do look through the Sunday supplements and occasionally find one for an item I need. I would love to be a coupon queen – just never quite figured out how to do it – I usually cook from scratch and those products are rarely offered in my experience.
Coupons are not really a thing in Australia, but the general principle stands. If you look at many supermarkets loss leaders, they are for processed and over packaged junk foods that I will never buy – even at half price.
And I’m with you – the TWG changed my life as well.
I very rarely use coupon because it’s mostly for packaged crap, which we tend to avoid. But there’s sometimes good ones for dish soap, shampoos, toothpaste, etc, Or the odd cookies package, because we are human!
I focus my energy on finding the best deals in the weekly flyers and bringing them for price matching instead. This week : cucumbers, cantaloupe, cauliflower, potatoes, etc… All good stuff!
Thanks for the reminder that it’s probably time to re-read my Tightwad Gazette books, as I find that as life changes something may click with me that didn’t mean as much as few years ago!
As for coupons, we do use them selectively. Not much for food except dairy and cheese, the occasional baking or snack item, coffee and tea. But I do use them and combine with sales for paper goods, pet food, cleaning supplies and personal care items. It only takes a few minutes per week to clip or print the ones I am interested in, and last year I kept track of the savings just to see if it was worth it. Almost $400 was definitely worth it for the small amount of time I invest in it.
I was on a ‘coupon crazy’ wagon 3 years ago, mostly CVS. I was able to get $300 worth of shopping (razors, washing detergent, shampoo, toothpaste, etc) for just tax. It was taking a lot of my time though. And since my household is just 2 people, I would give away most of that stuff anyway. I was exhausted after a year or so.
Now, I just look for sales or clearance, no more coupons
I get 2 sunday papers( 20.00 a year for both) and use the coupons from those. I also do some at home printing. I don’t think ANYONE should buy detergent, dishwashing liquid, deodorant, shampoo, razors, drug store makeup, lotion, sunscreen, etc, etc WITHOUT a coupon. I also LOVE target coupons. I just got a sabra hummus for .50. I had a 2.oo target coupon. My target keeps extra target coupons on a register(thats closed) by self checkout and they are free for the taking. I always go thru them and I take the best value ones. I donate a lot of items to the women’s shelter too so for me its a no-brainer.
I do use coupons, although I save more by waiting for the regular items to go on sale, and combining both is even better. It seems I always have some reason for buying candy for one holiday or other–and the coupons do come in handy for that. Also non-perishables are definitely included in my couponing—especially cat food and supplies. If you get SNAP benefits, our local farmer’s market has had the program for the past two summers that allows you to double your SNAP benefits by buying at the market. We do have family members who benefit from that, especially those with young kids and lower incomes. I also cook from scratch, which is a big savings that some people don’t have the time or inclination for—I enjoy cooking, but I know my DD does more frozen and convenience foods than I do. She dislikes cooking, although she doesn’t mind baking so much Whatever you enjoy or don’t mind doing is great for the budget. I profess I am not as strict as Katy, however, I am retired and older, and I have budgeted my way through the high spending years of raising kids, and don’t mind an occasional indulgence at my age to save time. I am certainly not a super-consumer, even though I don’t always meet the strictest non consumer standards either. We do what we can with what we have at the time. I do enjoy the hunt for a bargain, so I’m quite careful how I spend my money.
Amy was also my introduction and mentor to the world of frugality and allowed us to homeschool our 3 kids on my husbands paycheck. A garage- saled hard bound edition of Complete TG was one of my gifts at my daughters bridal shower. It was well received with a precious smile because I used my copy for part of our Home Eco./Money course, good times-good memories.
As far as coupons, I load some of the ‘just for you’ online coupons from Safeway for products I regulary buy and Fred Meyers sends coupons once a month or so for things regularly purchased. When I have my list made, if a coupon matches, it goes into the re- used envelope with the grocery list on the back. That’s the extent of my couponing…. except Joanns of course, I don’t buy there without one.
I was once a semi-coupon queen. Over time drifted away from it. It’s true that most foods bought with coupons are processed.
I’ve been cooking from scratch for a long time now, very seldom eating out. We vowed no eating out at all in January. Even before our vow of no eating out I’d found I don’t even like the taste of fast food burgers anymore. Also, the cheesepuffs I used to love from Aldi tasted awful to me when I tried them recently.
I believe eating more whole foods corrects our taste buds to want more natural foods, or so it seems!
It’s true. I’m often amazed when I watch those Extreme Coupon shows at all the junk they buy. I watched a woman buy 30 candy bars because with the coupons they were free.
It’s like those folks get a high off the process and the elation of “getting something for nothing” and don’t realize that they do pay a price with their health and their time. It’s just sad.
I should have added that I (gasp) sold my complete tightwad gazette a long time ago (after using it up, wearing it out)! This article has me missing it though, so I went to amazon and ordered a new copy, which I will love and hug and never let go!
Correction..I ordered a new “used” copy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I’m sticking to the compact!
My Sunday paper has only a few coupons I can use.. my hair color in a box,L’Oreal often runs a $2.00 off coupon and I can usually find coupons for toilet paper, dish soap and deodorant.Other than that, not much– it’s all processed food,which we don’t eat. No coupons for brown rice, lentils, cous cous,etc.
I read the Complete Tightwad Gazette about 30 years ago and mentions here took me to the library several times looking for it to reread. But every time I go (for something else so no wasted gas), all the books are checked out. So I guess a new generation has found them.
The one thing I remember about that book was Amy said, it really wasn’t about money so much, as about power to control your own life. If you owed nothing and had your money in order YOU had the power.
I agree and here’s why:
1) We don’t take the Sunday paper – which is now a $1.50 and they won’t deliver to our home – so the only coupons I use are the ones I receive by mail or email for the products I actually use.
2) In my opinion, coupons are a way for the marketing companies to entice people to use brands that are often marked up, in order to make up for the coupon they give you.
3) Like you, most of the food I use is fresh. The packaged stuff is Aldis off brand. The few coupons I use are for the dog food brand I buy, the toilet paper we use, or when Harbor Freight sends their super coupons for things we use around the house – tools, repairs – if we need something.
4) I make my own household cleaners from vinegar, baking soda and citrus peels.
The more things I don’t buy at the store, the more money I save. For me coupons were just an enticement to spend money on stuff I didn’t use very often. I loathe the over abundance of printed marketing ploys, so the Sunday coupons are not something of much use to me.
I find I use coupons mostly for personal hygiene and toiletries. But instead of playing the convience store (cvs/walgreens) game, I’ve started to look at the price of an item at Costco before buying in to the couponing game. If I can get the same item/quantity within a buck or two at Costco….why put all the effort in to couponing? Personally it can drive you nuts.
I rarely use coupons as there are seldom coupons for the things I buy. The cashiers always ask if I have any and I always tell them I would, but all the coupons are usually for junk I don’t buy. So it is not a savings if I don’t use it.
Oh, yes, I do use coupons. I might not find something in THIS week’s paper, but next week’s might have two coupons, and three the week after that. I cut out only those for products that we regularly use. I combine these with store specials, again only for products we use. I regularly save 30-40% on certain things using coupons. These include: coffee, eggs, sugar, spices, canned tomatoes for soups & stews, olive oil, tuna fish, meats, paper products, bread, pasta, butter, yogurt, oranges, toothpaste, detergent, and (yes) crackers & cookies. I resist all the junky offers, even the free ones. I agree with previous posters that the key is knowing what to buy and when to buy it, also in planning meals around the fresh products available at a low price.
I guess I will have to read the CTG.
I cook from scratch 95% of the time and I use coupons all the time. Perhaps it depends on the stores you have available. I normally buy my produce from Aldi. Both Kroger and Meijer offer coupons (usually X off of X.XX purchase) for produce, meat and dairy. Around here our farmers markets are soooo expensive I don’t typically buy from. Also Ibotta & Berry Cart have produce and dairy rebates. Yesterday alone I had from Meijer -free eggs, free milk & free carrots. On Ibotta there was .25 for eggs, milk & onions. Ibotta helps if you have others that can help with monthly bonus. Like picking up change on the ground-no different with Ibotta it adds up. 🙂
I’m glad to hear someone else say what I’ve been thinking. When my kids were young we always used coupons and it seems like they were for everyday items. Maybe they were more about prepackaged than I remember. Now I can rarely find any that I would use including soap, toothpaste and garbage bags. As a retired single person I don’t need two of something or the extra large size. Yes I will buy those on occasion but it is the exception to the rule.