A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

How are you preparing
Arzosah
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by Arzosah »

Thanks itsy!

Just thought ... two other sources of info are the weekly email from moneysavingexpert - you don't even have to sign up, a link to the latest issue is always in the top right hand box on the front page.

The other thing that *might* help is http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/. After all, the cheaper your shopping, the more money you have available for your preps. And, um, shopping *is* prepping :)
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itsybitsy
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by itsybitsy »

Well, my first foray into coupon shopping was a roaring success! To be honest, I was expecting the self-service till to start wailing like a banshee and flashing at me when I put my coupons through - but of course it didn't. Interestingly enough, though, you still need to have your coupons 'verified' by a human - well, you do in Asda, anyway.

I bought six boxes of Bachelors CUP-A-SOUP, which is currently on offer in ASDA for 2 for £1.50 (normal price is 95p per box) and used six coupons for 20p per off per product, so I got the soups for 55p per box.

I had a voucher for 50p off Velvet toilet tissue, so I paid £1.50 for a pack of four quilted loo rolls rather than £2.00.

This was really an experiment to see if coupons do actually work. Now I know they do I will be scouring the net for the best promotions!!!

I think I can feel an addiction coming on... :mrgreen:
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tigs
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by tigs »

speaking of coupons i watched a program my wife downloaded the other day ( no idea what it was called , Scrimpers i think ) where an american couple bought a months shopping at a supermarket for $985 by the time they had handed over the coupons and used the supermarkets bonus there shopping came to -$32:37 ! they made money from going shopping? i wounder if that would ever happen here ?
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itsybitsy
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by itsybitsy »

tigs wrote:speaking of coupons i watched a program my wife downloaded the other day ( no idea what it was called , Scrimpers i think ) where an american couple bought a months shopping at a supermarket for $985 by the time they had handed over the coupons and used the supermarkets bonus there shopping came to -$32:37 ! they made money from going shopping? i wounder if that would ever happen here ?
There's also a US show called Extreme Couponing.

Yes, it is possible to make money here - loads of people did it on the Double the Difference promotion that one of the big supermarkets were running just recently!
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tigs
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by tigs »

i think it might have been that show !
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Arzosah
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by Arzosah »

itsybitsy wrote:Well, my first foray into coupon shopping was a roaring success! To be honest, I was expecting the self-service till to start wailing like a banshee and flashing at me when I put my coupons through - but of course it didn't. Interestingly enough, though, you still need to have your coupons 'verified' by a human - well, you do in Asda, anyway.
itsy, well done! I've only just caught up with this bit.

I mostly use till spits these days (thats the "coupons" that literally spit out of the supermarket's own tills, that you save till you shop there next time). I often have to get a human to put it through, because the scanner face is dirty and won't read it or something - and they always check whether you've actually bought the thing you're claiming the extra points for. When all the couponning first started, about 4 years ago now, people put through loads and loads of coupons for stuff they hadn't bought, and were *regularly* being paid to shop ... you can't do that now, or not so easily, but thats why humans get involved.

If you're following their rules, they *owe* you that money/those points, whatever it is :D
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PreppingPingu
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by PreppingPingu »

You just have remember not to get caught into buying stuff that you wouldn't normally buy in order to get a coupon or to use a coupon, as then you might end up spending out instead. For example I saw some 50p off kelloggs vouchers but as I buy some of the Lidl alternatives (the ones that taste ok that is.) I ignored the 50p off offer, as it would still cost me more in the end to get the 50p off rather than stick to my Lidls cereal. But when the till spat out some sainbury's tinned soup offers, I nabbed those as I often keep quite a lot of their tins in the cupboard.
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itsybitsy
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by itsybitsy »

PreppingPingu wrote:You just have remember not to get caught into buying stuff that you wouldn't normally buy in order to get a coupon or to use a coupon, as then you might end up spending out instead. For example I saw some 50p off kelloggs vouchers but as I buy some of the Lidl alternatives (the ones that taste ok that is.) I ignored the 50p off offer, as it would still cost me more in the end to get the 50p off rather than stick to my Lidls cereal.
I think that's common sense, no? :lol:
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by Hardulph »

I got £13 off £90 shop first week, then 5 weeks of £9 off £90 shop in the post from Tesco, normally shop online but as these were instore only going to use them as that's £58 of preps for free + saved £18 delivery charges - just got to stick to the list ;)
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itsybitsy
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Re: A Challenge for October - Food and Household Items

Post by itsybitsy »

Arzosah wrote:
itsybitsy wrote:Well, my first foray into coupon shopping was a roaring success! To be honest, I was expecting the self-service till to start wailing like a banshee and flashing at me when I put my coupons through - but of course it didn't. Interestingly enough, though, you still need to have your coupons 'verified' by a human - well, you do in Asda, anyway.
itsy, well done! I've only just caught up with this bit.

I mostly use till spits these days (thats the "coupons" that literally spit out of the supermarket's own tills, that you save till you shop there next time). I often have to get a human to put it through, because the scanner face is dirty and won't read it or something - and they always check whether you've actually bought the thing you're claiming the extra points for. When all the couponning first started, about 4 years ago now, people put through loads and loads of coupons for stuff they hadn't bought, and were *regularly* being paid to shop ... you can't do that now, or not so easily, but thats why humans get involved.

If you're following their rules, they *owe* you that money/those points, whatever it is :D
I never seem to get any till spits. I do most of my 'big' shops online, could that be why?