Getting Started with Couponing

MissionImpossible

Hi Everyone,

Well this is my first post on MSE!

I have been watching Extreme Couponing recently and whilst I appreciate that much of the content is unrealistic I have found that there is alot of sense behind building a stockpile.
I have recently started building my own stockpile when items are on offer in the supermarkets particularly when items are half price or even buy one get two free! and I am already starting to notice just how much money I can save by buying in bulk on items that I will use anyway.

I am interested in taking this to the next level by incorporating coupons and wondered what experiences people can share with coupons? The UK has obviously not caught onto coupons like the US but I believe there must still be some good savings to be made.

What is the best way to get started with couponing in the UK and does anyone have any tips/advice for a couponing newbie?
In particular - can you use coupons along with BOGOF offers etc? and what are the best websites to search for coupons?

I know there is another couponing thread but it is quite large and I have tried to read alot of the pages and it seems to talk about alot of current offers rather than the basic rules of couponing (apologies if I am wrong)

Thanks in advance for any tips anyone can offer.

MissionImpossible

MagicCats

MissionImpossible wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Well this is my first post on MSE!

I have been watching Extreme Couponing recently and whilst I appreciate that much of the content is unrealistic I have found that there is alot of sense behind building a stockpile.
I have recently started building my own stockpile when items are on offer in the supermarkets particularly when items are half price or even buy one get two free! and I am already starting to notice just how much money I can save by buying in bulk on items that I will use anyway.

I am interested in taking this to the next level by incorporating coupons and wondered what experiences people can share with coupons? The UK has obviously not caught onto coupons like the US but I believe there must still be some good savings to be made.

What is the best way to get started with couponing in the UK and does anyone have any tips/advice for a couponing newbie?
In particular - can you use coupons along with BOGOF offers etc? and what are the best websites to search for coupons?

I know there is another couponing thread but it is quite large and I have tried to read alot of the pages and it seems to talk about alot of current offers rather than the basic rules of couponing (apologies if I am wrong)

Thanks in advance for any tips anyone can offer.

MissionImpossible

+ 1 I'm keen to get started also

frugle

Me to :j me to :j!!!

I love that programme, what channel is it on again?

3010

MissionImpossible wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Well this is my first post on MSE!

I have been watching Extreme Couponing recently and whilst I appreciate that much of the content is unrealistic I have found that there is alot of sense behind building a stockpile.
I have recently started building my own stockpile when items are on offer in the supermarkets particularly when items are half price or even buy one get two free! and I am already starting to notice just how much money I can save by buying in bulk on items that I will use anyway.

I am interested in taking this to the next level by incorporating coupons and wondered what experiences people can share with coupons? The UK has obviously not caught onto coupons like the US but I believe there must still be some good savings to be made.

What is the best way to get started with couponing in the UK and does anyone have any tips/advice for a couponing newbie?
In particular - can you use coupons along with BOGOF offers etc? and what are the best websites to search for coupons?

I know there is another couponing thread but it is quite large and I have tried to read alot of the pages and it seems to talk about alot of current offers rather than the basic rules of couponing (apologies if I am wrong)

Thanks in advance for any tips anyone can offer.

MissionImpossible

I think this is the thread you mention.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3840565

If you read through the first page you will find plenty of coupons there. There it a lot of information about policies and stuff that is worth reading for stores.

MissionImpossible

Hi Frugle - its on Discovery Real Time - there have been so many repeats on today I have loved every minute of it!

Thanks to 3030 - I couldn't seem to see anything about actual how couponing works in terms of using them in conjunction with offers etc though last time I read this, I go the impression it was more about coupons that were actually available rather than the best way of using them. I will have another read tomorrow as I have probably missed loads!!!

Can anyone recommend the best way to get started?
Is it the manufacturers coupons you can use with store offers such as buy one get one free? how many coupons could you use with a BOGOF?

Thanks

MissionImpossible

dasophster

Not only is 'extreme couponing' not realistic; many of the episodes are set up especially for the show; counterfeit coupons are used frequently and it is all very shady. Most of my friends are in the US and they say unless you're just buying headache medicine and hand soap in a shop or something like that; its impossible to get your entire shop for free.In many ways there are less restrictions on using coupons in the UK than in the US, the US rarely has PDF coupons and when they do they tend to be for BOGOF offers or half price offers as opposed to money off-these are offers that we get set by retailers in the UK anyway.

While it is the case here (and also in the US) that stores don't have to accept your coupons, they usually will if you have bought the item. Except for some branches of Sainsburys there is no limit on how many of the same coupon can be used per transaction either. A few branches of Sainsburys particularly in London and Manchester have an updated version of the till software which means the till cannot scan more than one of the exact same couponstar coupon per transaction, however it will be able to scan two different coupons for the same product. E.g. two coupons for plenty the big one; even if the personalised barcodes are different it still cannot scan both. However if you have another normal plenty coupon which can also be used on the big one, and one specifically for plenty the big one both can be used in one transaction.

The rule of using coupons is usually one coupon per product purchased; even if one of those products was a freebie, i.e. with a BOGOF or a 3 for 2 offer. A few coupons are one per transaction and you get the odd one that is one per household too so its important to check the terms and conditions.

Printable coupons in the UK fall into two categories, PDFs which tend to have long expiries and are not personalised so techincally speaking you can print off an unlimited amount and use many in one transaction; and personalised coupons which have a personalised barcode as well as one that tells the barcode scanner about the product. With the personalised coupons issued by couponstar (I'd say these make up about 95% of all personalised ones) these do tend to be limited to a certain number per computer and this cannot be got around even if you reformat the computer completely as it writes something onto your hard drive, the print limit is usually 2 or 3 per computer. A few companies do seem to reset the coupon software after a few months so you can print the same number of coupons off again; from the same computer but this is quite uncommon.

Other major personalised coupon issuer in the UK is kukutoo, it seems the limit on those is based on either IP address or email address, also the limit varies from one coupon per customer to up to 10 per customer. With the kuktoo coupons a print dialogue box will pop up it is very important to not print more than one copy of a coupon as it will not have a unique barcode then and will be fraudulent to use. Instead clicking the try again button on their actual webpage will mean you can print out more unique versions of the same coupon. If the limit is set to IP address most ISPs give you a dynamic [aka changing] IP address these days so if you try again in a few days you will be able to print more off.

As for the best sites to get coupons I honestly believe this site is; as it is the only one I have found with all currently available coupons on the sticky thread along with special offers in the supermarket that said coupons can be used alongside xx

myrtleturtle

hi
with regards to coupon use.
most coupons will say not in conjunction with any other offer
and stores can refuse use of a coupon for an item on offer if they so wish
BUT
this mostly isn't followed by the stores.
i myself have only encountered this once in morrisons with the campbells coupon.

with a bogof offer if your lucky you should/maybe able to use 2 coupons( one per item purchased). but if using coupons on such offers best to include them in your main / good size shop. not on their own.

the wording you need to be most wary of on coupons are:
one per transaction = so one coupon per shop
one per person= one per a shop
one per purchase= one coupon for each item to match that coupon in shop , so buy 5 of an item in one shop use 5 coupons

i have posted a shopping list of offers to use with coupons on 1st pages of coupon thread that i update each week.

another thing is not to get carried away just print the coupons you know you'll use.
saving the pdf one to your pc

coupon thread is not just for available coupon but their use and help/info about them too. so any questions just ask

MissionImpossible wrote: »

Hi Frugle - its on Discovery Real Time - there have been so many repeats on today I have loved every minute of it!

Thanks to 3030 - I couldn't seem to see anything about actual how couponing works in terms of using them in conjunction with offers etc though last time I read this, I go the impression it was more about coupons that were actually available rather than the best way of using them. I will have another read tomorrow as I have probably missed loads!!!

Can anyone recommend the best way to get started?
Is it the manufacturers coupons you can use with store offers such as buy one get one free? how many coupons could you use with a BOGOF?

Thanks

MissionImpossible

Browntoa

locking this thread as there is an existing extreme coupon thread and someone has posted the link to the printable coupons thread