My stockpile sucks!
My complaint!
Ok, it my not suck for real but it sucks for me at the moment. I have not been posting a lot because I have been on the sick side. (Barely ditched a sinus infection, felt it coming on but nipped it in the bud) I have a yucky throat and the sniffles. I wanted tea and honey. But to my suprise we don't have tea. Suck number 1 for stockpile. Then I get a stuffy nose and can't sleep. I wanted nose spray. Suck number 2 for the stockpile. Why do I always find good deals on HBA items and meds, I find good deals on cough drops but no nose spray.
Less Good Deals!
I have been noticing that over the past few months there had been less good deals. Last year we got Quaker oatmeal at Albies for less then .50c a box with the back to school sale. This year it was $1.00 a box with the same sale and coupons. I know I got free Skippy at Safeway. They had a super coupon for .99c less .50c coupon and it was free. I never saw a Skippy coupon or low sale to get it this season. So we are down to 2 jars from last year. I refuse to pay for it. I think the biggest thing that is irking me right now is the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. It used to be on sale at least once a month and had coupons out. I have not gotten butter in 3 months. I will not pay more then .99 a tub for it. And the big one has gone from $3.99 up to over $6.00. That is crazy for oil and chemicals!
Store brand vs. Name Brand
One of the first questions that gets asked of seasoned couponers by newbies is "Are you brand loyal?". Well most of us are for the most part. When you see what deals are out there and the coupons that go with them you will become brand loyal to a lot of them. But you will also find products that you have not tried and once do you, like or love. So switching between name brands on things like shampoo and pasta sauce will become no big deal. I am brand loyal to a lot of things. Peanut butter is Skippy, then there is Hamburger Helper (no store brand for me), Dove deoderant, Kraft mac and cheese, and Kraft singles.
Some products there is just no competing with them on sale/coupon price. For instance Yoplait yogurt. It is always on sale at one store or another and a coupon is always out for it. So coupon plus sale makes it a better price then even store brand when it is onsale. Plus they have more yummy flavors. (check your store for a sale I bet one in your area has it). Right now with Kroger (Fry's) trippling coupons and taking competitors you end up with a sweet deal.
On sale for .50. Buy 12= $6.00
Coupon out for .40/6, trippled= -$2.00
Coupon in competitors paper for free cereal wyb 10 yogurts
Total is $4.00 for 12 yogurts and free box of cereal (ends up being .17c each)
Even if you don't have this sweet deal they are normally on sale for .50 ea often. And no tripple coupon is a normal occurance. So a normal sale occurance would look like this....
On sale for .50, buy 12= $6.00
Dbl coupon .40/6= -$1.60
Total is $4.40 or .37c (still a good deal.)
Even when store brand goes to a low price it is only 3 for .99c. So name brand is only .04c more. This is the case for most products. Hamburger helper on sale with a coupon is lower then that store brand low price of .99 (how often does that happen). The trick is to buy sale items with coupons and get enough to last you until the next time it is on sale. Most sale tend to run about 12 weeks. Some might be more often (like meat and yogurt) but you will learn the cycles in your area the more often you shop.
For example if you eat Hamburger Helper once a week. You would buy at least 12 when they are on sale with a coupon. So instead of paying 2.59 a box every week on your weekly shopping trip, you spend $9.00 (.75c a box X 12 boxes) one week and save yourself 22.08 over the next 12 weeks. That saves you 71% and 82.32 a year! Ok, that may not sound like much. But that is just one product. What if you have the same savings on 10 products. That is almost $1000 a year. Almost enough to cover gas for your car.
I know I rambled a lot today. But I hope it is a good explaination of couponing and the reasoning behind it.
2 comments:
I like your blog. But refusing to pay for peanut butter is a little extreme, don't you think? You can get it at the food shelf if you really want some and can't pay. Otherwise, it seems to me that you should buy what you need, and any coupon bargains or other sales help make ends meet.
I guess not for us. Our daughter is allergic to it. So we rarely eat it anyway. (usually when she is not here) But there are just certain things I will not pay for. I think a lot of couponers feel this way about things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos and liquid soap. But there are things that I would pay full price for if we need it like milk, eggs or certain meds. :)
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