I'm new at couponing, I'm usually feeling good just to bring a few dollars in savings to each shopping trip, so yesterday when I went to my local supercenter with $15 worth of savings, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I told the clerk I had coupons and laid them in plain sight. Once she finished scanning all my groceries, she quickly pressed the total button before I could "remind" her that I had coupons. She said it was too late for her to be able to do anything about it - I told her I still wanted to use them - she asked a manager what to do - they told her to tell me that I would need to go to customer service to redeem. With frozen groceries and a clock ticking away (needed to pick up kids at school), I headed to the customer service line to find about 10 people in line. While waiting in line, a manager walked by and noticed my full, bagged cart and coupons in hand and said, "She forgot your coupons?". I said, "Yes, she did." and she turned and walked off. So, I waited and waited finally getting my coupons redeemed with no time to take cold things home before picking up kids. Obviously I was a little irritated. I can't help but wonder if everyone, whose coupons are overlooked, are treated as poorly and must wait in the customer service line like I did?

I would love to do more couponing.  However, all the stories I hear about are up North or on the East Coast.  What about all of us out in the western wastelands?  I live in a midsized city here in NW Texas.  Many of the small towns (some 30 miles distant) depend on this city for their shopping needs.  The grocery stores here are not particularly coupon friendly and none  the ever offers double or triple coupons.  l(Although they used to when I first moved here over 25 years ago.)

Forget coupons, if you're gonna fish, look for the whales too. anandtech.com's "hot deals" forum has produced some whoppers of saving. One HP color printer costs -$69, negative means, that is the cash left over in my pocket that was not there before I purchased the item.

In this case it was a price-match, comined with a rebate from the store that I purchased it at, plus a HP rebate which required that I "recycle" a printer (any printer would do, so I found one at the local dump).

slickdeals(dot)net, is great and so is fatwallet.com, and often "threads" keep you up to day as to frauds (rebates that nobody ever seems to get), or ways to avoid getting rebates denied (one required the store's address to be on the register tape, but many do not have that, but I have found that the courtesy desk usually has an address rubber stamp--very helpful an $24 rebates on wine.

In early 2009 the US dollar had risen so much against the Australian dollar that wine dealers were having great sales with $4-6 off per bottle, this combined with $3/bottle coupon, plus a $2.50/bottle dropped my cost to less than $3.75@ and in one case, the cost became so low that the rebate returned a profit. Most Australian wines have almost doubled since then, and the once $8.99/bottle is now $14.99/bottle, making the "deal" all that sweeter.

Rebates, coupons, email offers, and sales can be quite remunerative and also a lot of fun.

Shopping a military commissary, there isn't much I can use coupons for since I buy mostly fresh food other than bread, rice, pasta and cereal. There aren't coupons for meat, milk and produce - which comprises about 90% of my food purchases. And even when I lived in the States, none of our 5 duty stations had double or triple coupons in the local stores. Though I did keep track of what was cheaper in town and at the commissary and buy where most economical.

sorry for the double post

I live in MA and the coupon flyers I get with my Sunday paper all seem to have coupons that I have to buy 2 of whatever to save $1. There are very few coupons that are for just 1 product. Years ago, there were many stores in our area that tripled manufacturers coupons if the value was under $!. Now they no longer triple. They do offer in-store coupons that aren't allowed to be doubled, but even those seem to be for products I can't use or are for "junk" foods that I don't want to serve my family. I also find so many coupons with expiration dates that are so restrictive. Most are only good for one month and if I have just spent full price for a particular necessity, I feel a bit robbed in not being able to use that coupon when I would like to.

I know that couponing can be very frustrating at time ladies, but don't lose heart. The payoff is worth it in the end. I have found that the best way to get "fresh" produce is to switch to frozen if I am going to cook it anyways. A lot of times, if I pair up a sale with coupons, my grocery store is practically paying me to take their frozen veggies. Also, read into your stores coupon policy, and print it out. I carry mine with me to make sure I am doing what is within policy whenever their is a discrepency with the cashier, and sometimes, if I ask, they make an acception.

But try to remember too, when you feel some "coupon discrimination", that the cashier is probably a high school student or college student who is just no learning the value of a dollar. Maybe we can all teach them something with our savings. I told a girl the other day that the money I save on groceries, my husband lets me save for fun things to do with the family or for little treats for myself, like a pedicure or new outfit...which we otherwise would not be able to afford. She was more understanding at that point. I find that education and a little grace go a long way with anyone:)

This is a great article. I am a coupon shopper and make every attempt to save 50% or more each and every time I shop for groceries. My family knows that for most items if it is not on sale AND I don't have a coupon, we won't be purchasing it. Meats and fresh produce are the only items that I usually end up purchasing without coupons, although there are times when either the store or a manufacturer will offer coupons on meats and produce. Milk, juice, eggs, bread, frozen goods, baking goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies, feminine products, baby items and the list goes on and on and on...I try to get as close to free as possible. The key is to plan, make a list, couple the list with sales and with coupons. Some store will accept their store coupons coupled with manufacturer's coupons. Some store double and triple coupons. There are countless ways to save. I encourage all of my friends, family members and whomever I meet to use coupons! It takes time, but it pays off in dividends!

There are countless blogs on saving money...mine included...www.mochamom04.wordpress.com...that give insight on how to save, where to save, freebies and so much more. There are numerous online coupon sites that offer coupons. I frequently contact companies that don't publish coupons and they usually will send coupons or vouchers for free products. Use rebates and money back offers.

Happy saving everyone! Remember, that saving money takes time and proper planning, but it pays off in $$.

The report didn't say if this woman shops where grocery stores double and triple the coupon value. I live in the Midwest and the grocery stores DO NOT double or triple coupons. Many stores will not match the flyers issued by other stores and many will not honor other store issued coupons.

Also, I can't believe these shopping "results" are typical. You have to do a lot of prep work to shop a grocery store to get decent savings. Also, it's rare to find coupons for produce and that's huge.