MovieChat Forums > Extreme Couponing Discussion > my problems with coupons-does this affec...

my problems with coupons-does this affect anyone else?


The coupons I find are for stuff my family rarely, if at all uses. Or we like the generic form of said item just as well.

Take cheerios for instance. Name brand cheerios in my area is $4.89 a box. On sale, they go for $3.49 a box. The generic brand/store brand cheerios is normally $2.29, $1.99 on sale. I see coupons for $1 off name brand cheerios, so using the coupon when the name brand is on sale, I'd pay $2.49 a box. But for 20 cents cheaper *without* a coupon I can get the generic brand my family likes just as well as the name brand.

This goes for lucky charms, milk, canned veggies, precut veggies, salad mix you name it.

My mom dyes her hair every other month. She found a brand at the dollar tree for $1 she loves and works just as well as the hair dye at rite aide. Even with coupons, the hair dye at rite aid would still cost $3.99 or more while the dollar tree brand she likes is just $1.

We do buy a few name brand items, and I do use coupons on those when I find them -though I don't go hunting for them and if I remember to use them...

Like laundry soap. Take Tide laundry soap for instance. I see coupons all the time for them. At the walmart in my town, a box of 120 load tide goes for $17.99. With a $10 coupon I found last week, it would only be $7.99. Yet the Walmart Brand laundry soup, same size, was only $5.99. My family likes it just as much as Tide-they can't tell a difference any way and don't mind I use generics.

Anyone else run into this same issue?

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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Absolutely. Mostly everything I buy is a generic brand and I mostly buy from Dillon's (Kroger) and Wal-mart, so most coupons are really useless to me. For example, if I see a coupon for 50 cents or a dollar off of a Daisy sour cream, it is of no use to me when the Wal-mart sour cream is still cheaper without a coupon. There are some brand that I don't buy generic, but most of those don't have coupons, or if they do it is very seldom. So yeah, I definitely see your point.

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You found a $10 coupon for Tide??? All I ever see is 35 cents off Tide! It's ridiculous because Tide costs so much to start with! I've found pretty good deals for Purex laundry detergent lately... good sales + decent coupons.

Like you, most often I find the generic is cheaper than buying the name brand, even with a coupon, and sometimes even when it's on sale. There are some tricks though... look for a GREAT sale, when the product is at it's all-time lowest sale price (keep a price book and you'll know the GREAT sales from the okay ones), and then combine that with a store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon, PLUS it's a bonus if you're store doubles manufacturer's coupons. And on top of that, if you have a catalina that gives you $$ off for spending a certain amount on some category (like frozen, or dairy, or produce), then you'll get even more savings. I'm just learning all this.

A Fact Of Life...
After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F....

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I shop a lot at Dillon's (Krogers) and in the past few months, or maybe longer I don't really know, they have had signs in their store that says they will no longer combine e-coupons with manufacturers coupons. So I assume this means that you can't use two coupons, one store and one manufacturer, for one item.

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I'm not sure what e-coupons are, but I don't think they're the same as store coupons. E-coupons may be digital coupons that are loaded on your Kroger card, and they're probably sponsored by the manufacturer, so that would be like using 2 manufacturers coupons. I don't know this for sure though. Maybe someone else can chime in?

I also know that Kroger store has different policies in different regions of the country.


A Fact Of Life...
After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F....

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Thanks for the suggestion.

Honestly with all the stuff I'm having to deal with in my personal life with two disabled children, a disabled spouse and caring for a disabled mother in law plus working full time (though I'm working from home..) I do NOT have the time to keep a price book and hunt down 4 or 5 coupons for one product nor drive the 3 hours (one way) to the nearest store that doubles coupons.

I'm not jealous, nor am I bitter. I'm glad for anyone who has the time to pull off the stuff we see on the show, or even half the stuff we see on the show. I'm glad if someone has the time to track down 15 coupons for one product and keep a little price book.

It's just with all the crap I'm juggling right now I can't. It's hard enough getting everyone rounded up at the table with the weekly flyers to plan a shopping trip.

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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Not really a 'problem', you're buying an entirely different product which isn't covered by a coupon. A generic brand which is usually inferior to the brand name in many aspects.

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I have found, in my experience, that most generics are NOT inferior at all. Sometimes they are actually superior to the name brand product. Case in point: protein bars. Special K has some peanut butter and chocolate protein bars that are very good and usually $5.xx for a box of 6. But Aldi's has their own brand of protein bars that are much cheaper and taste MUCH better, for the same nutrition. I love Aldis! Best milk in town and $1 cheaper per gallon than Walmart! Super fresh, too! Fresh and cheap eggs and the best cuts of meat. I will stick with Aldis.




"then my donkey fell down your waffle hole!"

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I used to buy the Fiber One bars and then Wal-mart came out with their own brand and they taste exactly the same, have the exact same nutritional stats and pretty much the exact same ingredients. Someone my family knew who used to work in the food industry, or maybe a plastic or paper factory, I really don't remember, but I just remember he said something like generic brands of paper towels or toilet paper are basically the same thing but with a different packaging and label on. Don't know if it's true, but I have found that generic things are the same, if not better, than name brand items.

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As a rule I stick to generics. Many times with a coupon I can get the big brand for the same price. I dont care. I like the generics I buy. I shop mostly Ralph's (Kroger) and Walmart. Never had anything I thought was inferior. I did stop shopping at Vons and Albertsons because of some generics I did not like. I also dont shop for food at places like the 99 cent store because I dont like some of the off brands that most people have never heard of (i.e. Herman Brand Tuna?). Who knows whats in it.:)

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sixxlet - they're supposed to be putting an Aldi's in our town. I'm excited because we don't have a lot of competition.





I'm an automatic steeple for depressed and lonely people ~ Blue October

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I love Aldi too! They currently sell cookies that tastes just like Samoas and Thin Mints! LOL It's seasonal though! =p

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That really isn't true that store brands are inferior. Maybe in a some instances, but many times there is no difference, or the store-brand is even better. Also, many times store brands are actually made by the same manufacturer as the name brand... just a different label slapped on the product.

A Fact Of Life...
After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F....

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yep... its true, most name brands manufacture the store brands. This is even true for makeup. I had a friend in marketing who insisted that max factor sold its formulas to Tommy Hilfiger and I didnt believe him... so he took me to the store and showed me the exact items between max factor and TH that were the same---same exact formula. I couldnt believe it and never bought high end makeups again.

even if u read the backs of OTC, u'll find the exact same ingredients and percentages. However I am guilty of choosing JIF over "Peanut Butter" and its probably just a mental thing that it is supposed to be better.

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i don't understand the connection between not using coupons and getting a good price on generic products and saving money on those.

would someone explain please?

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Generic products are cheaper than name brand stuff, even without coupons.

Once in a blue moon depending on the sale, I'll find name brand stuff cheaper than the store brand. But this is very rare.

Generic is cheaper than name brand 98% of the time. At least in my area.

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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For all the people saying store brands are just as good in quality as name brands.... I'm a scientist [chemist], and in my workplace most of us have come from working at multiple laboratories. In one well known lab in our area, we did food testing and product testing... you'd be very surprised by some of the crap we found in generic brand items that weren't in name brands. You're paying for quality... at least to some extent, lol.

------------
Hey Jin! You better not be cheating on me!!

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I am not a chemist but I have a very sensitive sense of taste and smell and I cannot eat many store brand foods. I am also on several medications in the last few years that apparently have changed the way everything tastes so store brands I could sometimes tolerate before now taste so bad I would rather just do without than save what little I would save by buying "generic".

Luckily we have Publix in our area which runs frequent BOGO sales on many items I use regularly and when combined with coupons I can get name brands MUCH cheaper than the store brands. No matter what anyone else wants to do I will stick with name brands almost every time and just shop wisely to get them cheaply. I disagree that many store brands are "better" quality or even equal quality to name brands. I certainly know the taste is NOT the same or even close for most items in my opinion.

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Not necessarily. I once worked in a factory that made canned veggies for top foods, albertsons, and Safeway. I loaded the label machines. The canned veggies for all three stores came from the same fields, cooked in the same pot, made at the same time, yadda yadda yadda. Only difference between Safeway brand french cut green beans and top foods french cut beans and western family cut green beans?

The label on the can.

Really.

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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Most generics are made by the big producers.

Most generics have near same ingredients compared to the name brand.

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[deleted]

Nearest store in my area that doubles coupons is a 3 hour drive, one way. While most of the stuff we use is no name, we do use some brand name stuff, due to the taste/quality issues. I do use a coupon for them when I find them/remember to take them with me.

Interesting note though-I once worked in a factory that made canned veggies. I loaded the label machines. Many of the canned veggies you see on the store shelves come from the same factory, same pot, made at the same time as name brand veggies. Only difference? The label.

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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So your issue with coupons is that you find better deals outside of the coupons?

The coupons on the name brand items are trying to compete with the generics...that perhaps you will try the name brand (and like it) over the generic option...and continue to use it going forward.

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Yes. I find better deals buying generics than name brand with coupons more often than not. Doesn't mean I don't use coupons at all. It just means I find great deals with sales, store loyalty cards and buying generics. Though anymore some generics are costing almost as much as name brand anymore.

Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap

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Yes, I have the same problem. The majority of brands that I buy are the generic, so I hardly ever use a coupon. Very rarely do I find that the name brand item on sale with a coupon is cheaper than the generic item, so it's useless for me to clip coupons. There are a few items that I do purchase which are name brand (coffee, coffee creamer, to name a couple), so I do look for those coupons.

(I buy my laundry detergent and dogfood at the dollar general store. It's the Purina "come & get it" 15 lb bag for $8 and at WalMart it's about $4 to $5 more. Plus, I hate lugging big items out of WalMart with my regular groceries lol.)





I'm an automatic steeple for depressed and lonely people ~ Blue October

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Yes, many big brands make generics and put their store label on it. But heres the thing. What name brand? For instance, I like Heinz Ketchup. Ralph's (Kroger) and Walmart taste just like it. Albertson's and Vons taste like Hunt's Ketchup. I cant stand Hunts ketchup. So it all depends on who the manufacturer is.

Wow, I just realized I'm a ketchup connoisseur.

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I think one of the main things to point out and a couponer's #1 mantra is to stockpile items when they are at their cheapest so that you don't get stuck in a situation where you have to buy it for full price. With that being said not many people have time to put forth into cutting coupons, printing coupons, looking at store ads and matching the circulars, etc. I also buy weekly items at stores like Aldi. Cereal, milk, bananas (to name a few), etc. because I don't have the mindset to be bothered to search for matching rock bottom sales for cereal every like 6xs a year or however often "extreme couponers" do it. BUT with that being said I do go out of my way to coupon for items I want for dirt cheap. I've gotten stuff for free. I was paid to take the item out of the store (aka moneymaker). It's an adrenaline rush for me. You pick and choose your battles but most of these "extreme couponers" have stores that double and they go for a really good sale [price] because not all sales [prices] are created equal. I sometimes find that even Publix items on sale can cost more than Target not on sale, but that also depends on the coupon you have. Because of doubling alot of these people have it better with 50 cent and 70 cent coupons doubled than I do with my one 75 cent coupon not doubled. My state is a LOND - land of no doubling. So if your supermarket doubles and you match it with a great sale price it can very well cost less than the generic but timing/research is definitely key.

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