Sep182012
INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: The key to prepper coupon clipping
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image by Manchester Library
Years ago I was a champion coupon clipper. There was quite an adrenalin rush when the cashier said, “You’ve saved 70% today!” Wow! I would rush home with my bags of groceries and a receipt a mile long.
After a while, though, I began to notice that my cupboards were overflowing with processed foods. Yeah, we enjoyed the 10 bags of Chips Ahoy and all the sugary cereals, but I knew it wasn’t healthy. For the most part, I set couponing aside because I wanted my grocery dollars to go toward real, healthier foods. Once I started a food storage pantry, I realized those convenience foods generally had short shelf lives anyway.
Now that I’m stocking up on everything from ibuprofen to toilet paper to oatmeal, I’ve found that coupons can be most helpful with items that are non-foods. Recently, I came across some great coupons for shampoo, lip balm, and paper towels. Not only do we use these items and I know they won’t go to waste, but most of them can be stored without worrying about the effects of heat.
If you don’t get the newspaper and Sunday coupons, there are tons of great sites online with printable coupons. Here are just a few:
What are your favorite online coupon sites and how are you using coupons to be better prepared?
© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
(16) Readers Comments
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Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
Mosquitos are definitely an issue with this type of design. There are
Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
mine has a watering tube running up the inside wall of the pot, which
Space-Saving and Effective Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPS)
How do you control for mosquitos breeding in the stagnant water at the
H. (eyes wide open)
Great post! I recently came to the conclusion that all those coupons I kept clipping were no longer relevant. For the last couple years I started cooking just about everything from scratch. I also buy store brand which in most cases is still cheaper than using couppons. The coupons I was using were for junk food. I don’t buy soda (my teens buy their own every once in a while) which saves a fortune. We make home made cookies and other goodies like caramel corn when we have a sweet tooth. The only weakness we have is Doritos. I stock up on those when they are on sale. If I would have to, I think I could figure out a comparable recipe for the nacho flavoring and make corn tortillas that I could then bake. hmm…I should experiment with that idea.
thanks for the links on coupons, I need to cancel my Sunday paper.
Michelle
I may be able to help with your nacho flavoring dilemma! Kernel Seasons (in the popcorn aisle) sells popcorn seasoning in Nacho Cheddar, among others. We are chip junkies, so I may have to try making my own, too! Thanks for the idea!
Becky
Couponing was a way of life starting at age 14, I am still doing it. In fact my husband
was better at it, but I started to notice if we had a coupon we had to buy that item. Not that
we needed it, “we had a coupon” for it. The grocery bill was going up along with
items we did not need. So we stopped couponing for a while.
I now have a binder with pages for coupons,dividers and an organization sheet for where to locate
the coupons I am going to use.
1st rule for using coupons, only collect for items you will use. Watch specials that the
grocery store offers( use their coupon) and use your manufactures coupon for the product. It will save you money. Price compare, you need to be a walking “I know that price” for
the items you purchase. If you can not remember set up a graphic page showing your
grocery markets you buy from and list the items(ie: canned vegetable, sub listing–corn $.89).
Then put it into your coupon binder, you will know if the item is truly a bargin or not.
Last but not the least, know the brands in your markets you shop at, family name brands (without a coupon) can be cheaper, they also can be processed by the same company. Only difference you are paying for the name. Not sure, try one can of a product to see if you can taste the difference. This is my 40+++years of experience, if it fills your pantry and saves you money. Then I have done a good deed for the day.
SharonAnne
When I was young my mother would work in the canning factory during harvest time. She swore that Libbys brand was better than the Kroger store brand and nothing could convince her otherwise. Then, one day while filling Libbys cans with mixed vegetables, suddenly, the cans she was filling were Kroger brand. Same line, same food, Libbys, Krogers, same cans.
That ended her buying Big Name brands. From then on she bought Kroger vegetables. That is for only those things we did not can ourselves. We kids hated preparing and working in the garden; but we appreciated having fruits and vegetables that were out of season.
Out of season is pretty much unheard of today. With food deliveries from all over the world we get pretty much what we want, when we want. However I remember when if you did not can it, you did not have it.
Ava
Hey, check out southernsavers.com (not just for southern shoppers). The site has great tutorials on the process of couponing and how to avoid buying these you don’t need just because you have coupons.
As a personal testimony, couponing has save me SO MUCH MONEY since I began 8 months ago!!! As Becky said, you really do need to combine manufacturer and store coupons to really save money. In my experience, when you do that, you save much more than you would if you buy the store brand. I regularly buy name brand spaghetti sauce for less than 50 cents. Once I even bought it for 9 cents–a whole lot cheaper than the store brand.
There ARE coupons out there for junk food, no doubt, but I have to tell you that I have cut my grocery bill by 40% WITHOUT buying junk food. I use coupons for food items ALL of the time and still manage to by whole grain, all-natural, etc. I think couponing used to be all about processed foods and unhealthy items, but as the consumers’ buying habits have changed, so have the coupons.
By the way, I have come across many friends and complete strangers who ask me about my couponing success, because I think people are realizing just how bad our economy is and how close we are to economic collapse.
thesurvivalmom
That was the one I was trying to remember!! I follow them on Facebook.
JL
If I get something for free I will get it even if we don’t eat it. I donate those things to charity. I did just get 11 months worth of pads for free, well I had to pay tax. I do watch the sales ads and buy in bulk. But the grocery bill keeps going up.
RightWingMom
Couponing and prepping go hand in hand. I’ve been using coupons to increase my stockpile for 4 years. Agree that you can overload on the prepackaged items. While convenient, there’s nothing better than homemade. With coupons you can also purchase staples, just not in as large a quantity.
My biggest savings has also come from coupon shopping for: OTC meds, toiletries, feminine products, paper goods, first aid supplies, and more.
I can’t remember the last time I paid full price for toilet paper.
My favorite site is TheGroceryGame.com You have to pay a fee, but the lists are very accurate and easy to use.
S.L.
If you live in the Northwest, fabulesslyfrugal.com and frugallivingnw.com are great sites. Fabulesslyfrugal puts stars by products in their store sale match ups to show which items are better than generic and when they are stock up price. A great help! Both sites have great recipes and show other ways of saving money.
Hazel
There is a group of super couponers (DealPros) that have banded together on a site called savings dot com. This is a convergence of the best of the best in the nation. They will let you know when there are classes coming up, etc. They do more than regular Qss, if there’s a deal, they post it. It would be great if we could get some preppers as DealPros that can alert us to the bargaining prepper side of things.
I’m in Colorado and use BargainBlessings dot com, but frequent the other site as the founder of BB is a DealPro.
A few other sites for Qs are:
coupons dot com
smartsource dot com
couponnetwork dot com
HTH -
Dawn
I never have really been a coupon user….I KNOW!! Shame on me! We have only just begun prepping (about 6 months ago). We already have alot of thigs stockpiled but can always use more. I do find going to my local Dollar General store that their brand of OTC medicines are cheaper with exactly the same ingredients in them! So I use the store ALOT! Beans, rice, pasta, spices, TP, feminine products…..you understand. Now I think I will begin to start clipping coupons to help out with the food items I can’t find there! You all have inspired me to start saving even more!
Maureen
I watch the ‘Extreme Couponing’ and nine times out of ten they people started couponing because of a time of financial crisis, they achieve impressive results. I do understand that the fresh/processed balance is important.
Probably teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, any flour/grain products that might get weevils if frozen for a few days will not get them.
Sid
The best site I’ve found is passion4savings.com. They cover sales at all the chain stores with coupon matchups. Sign up for emails to get info on all kinds of deals, even freebies. They don’t try to sell you anything. Also they have weekly list of items free or under $l at drug store chains. They also have free on line classes in couponing. I highly recommend this site.
Manda
Wanted to add- Afullcup. com is another great site for coupon advice.
It was couponing that actually put me in a position to be better prepared. While I saved money on our everyday items, I not only stocked up when things were free/cheap, I was also able to divert some of that cash to buying things we did not have coupons for (ammo for example).
Being thrify helps to organize and prioritize your life- we keep up to date on what we have stocked up, we know what sales are coming up, and we also are able to find ways to use things until they are wore out.
Neely
A couple companies that have printable coupons for fresh produce are Earthbound Farms (organic) and Driscoll’s. For Earthbound Farms, you have to sign up on their website (free) and you can print (2) $.75 coupons every week to use on any of their products. Driscoll’s is a little stubborn with coupons but they do offer them on occasion. Again, you do have to sign up (free) but you will get e-mails when there is a coupon. Also, Perdue puts out coupons for their chicken quite a bit. Keep an eye on Fresh Express on Facebook as they will offer coupons once in a while too!
bareheadedwoman
well there are a few processed items that you can get really cheap with coupons even if you don’t want to eat them: 1) coke cola soda…excellent rust remover. Leave tools, bike or auto parts in a bucket of coke overnight and wipe off the rust in the morning. 2) non-dairy creamer powder, excellent flammable for fire starting or as a quick flame/thrower deterrent as defense with minimal prolonged fire risk…it is what they use to simulate explosions and fireballs in movies. 3) Endust and a lighter makes a good portable flame thrower. I’m not necessarily talking about defense against humans here either, but errant wildlife or dog packs who might become more of a threat if we get thrown back into survival living.