Grocery coupons worth it? (San Pedro: cost of, groceries, stores)

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by wellguy

That's pretty sad when those several seconds can't /won't be taken to enter a code. I realize this may sound dumb but that policy would prevent me from shopping there even if it were over a 50 "cent off" coupon.

Do you think that policy exists do to the time it takes the clerk to stop and enter the code? I'm sure they have to get us in and out of the line as fast as possible to keep those behind us happy. It's all about numbers and $$$$ these days. I wish I knew why HEB won't match prices like Wal Mart does.

Stores will kiss your tail when you're there but I honestly feel they could care less if you ever return. There is always someone entering the store as you leave.

The policy is definitely making me rethink about shopping at HEB, wellguy. When investigated further from the coupon experts/fans, lots of folks say that HEB has a hard time really defining what their policy is. If you ask, they answer the question but do not give you a copy of their policy.
I think it's a matter of two things: the time factor and the fraud with the coupons.
I totally agree with you on your last sentence.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by cakmke

Last week on NBC nightly news, they had a story about a lady who has learned how to save a ton of money clipping coupons: bill was $167 and she only paid 42 cents. I have seen other segments on other shows/channels about the same subject.
I get the Sunday paper with all of the coupon inserts, but honestly, the coupons are for stuff I never use or processed junk that I would never buy. I have tried looking at coupon websites and its the same. They suggested using coupons and combining them with store sales...etc.
Anyone have ideas or thoughts?

IMO, with no local stores offering double coupons, it's not worth the effort to use coupons. It takes time to clip the coupons, time to organize the shopping list to include the coupon items, time at the store to find the items and verify that they comply with the terms of the coupon and additional time at the checkout for the cashier to ring the coupons. If one item's coupon doesn't apply and the cashier doesn't tell you (which I've seen HEB cashiers do more than once), you can quietly lose all of the savings from your coupons. I'd rather keep the time for myself than deal with that... my time is worth more than that to me.

[Dwangle]

Originally Posted by Bowie

IMO, with no local stores offering double coupons, it's not worth the effort to use coupons. It takes time to clip the coupons, time to organize the shopping list to include the coupon items, time at the store to find the items and verify that they comply with the terms of the coupon and additional time at the checkout for the cashier to ring the coupons. If one item's coupon doesn't apply and the cashier doesn't tell you (which I've seen HEB cashiers do more than once), you can quietly lose all of the savings from your coupons. I'd rather keep the time for myself than deal with that... my time is worth more than that to me.

I agree with you. I clip coupons with the best of intentions but when I try to use them I find that it just isn't worth it. A dollar off of a item if you buy two might sound good but if the item costs five or six dollars buying two can really run up your total. Most of the time the coupon doesn't make the item cheap enough for the trouble--especially if you don't know the price until you find the item. 25 cents off of something you get as a store brand for 50 cents less doesn't make sense to me unless the store brand is really bad. I used two coupons today. One was an HEB coupon for a free package of Tortillas--free is always a good price--and 50 cents off of Heinz Vinegar. I use Heinz for canning because it is worth using the best for all the trouble home canning is. Home canning isn't worth it either but it is something I like to do.

[RoamingWolves]

Thats weird. I often see them manually entering the coupons if the scan doesnt work on the newspaper coupons. But they will not override a print yourself coupon.

[Herbrocks]

One big savings with coupons is when items go on "quick sale" or clearance. While I usually only actually use coups on items/brands I use anyway, I still clip ones for products I'm only a little interested in. If they turn up on clearance or in a "meal deal" later on, the items are usually just pennies or free after coupon.

Also, coups marked "no experation" (rare these days) are gold! I recently found a bunch in storage from 20 years ago. We had fun looking at all the brands/products that no longer exist, but many were for items that are still around. The store still takes then, even though many are pre-UPC code.

[xsa210tx]

I logged into twitter today and saw this tweet by HEB, "We've revamped our coupon policy to be more accepting of online coupons."

Awesome!

Here's the info from their website:
H-E-B Coupon Policy | H-E-B (http://www.heb.com/yourHEBStore/specialPromotions_CouponPolicy.jsp - broken link)

H-E-B Coupon Policy At H-E-B, we know how important it is for you to maximize every dollar you spend with us. Coupons are a big part of that, so below we have outlined our guidelines for your convenience.
H-E-B accepts the following types of coupons:

• Manufacturer issued coupons obtained from printed publications (newspaper, FSI, magazines, etc)
• HEB Issued coupons
  • Manufacturer-sponsored coupons (Type M coupon; has an ‘M’ in bottom left corner)
  • Store-sponsored coupons (Type S Coupon; has an ‘S’ in the bottom left corner)
  • Big Savings coupons (Type B coupons; has a ‘B’ in the bottom left corner)
  • The above mentioned H-E-B issued coupons are typically
    • Available at store level and typically yellow in color
    • Generated by a coupon printer at the register and provided with customer receipt
    • Distributed via direct mail to customer households or other printed publications
• Printable coupons with a bar code (i.e. Online or Internet coupons)

Please consider the following guidelines and limitations:

• Coupons can only be redeemed for items, brands, and sizes as specified by the requirements of the coupon.
• Only one manufacturer coupon per item is permitted.
  • Combining a manufacturer issued coupon with an H-E-B issued manufacturer coupon (Type M) on the same item is not permitted
• H-E-B will combine store sponsored yellow coupons with manufacturer coupons for the same product
  • One (1) manufacturer issued coupon and one (1) H-E-B issued Store-sponsored (Type S)
  • One (1) manufacturer issued coupon and one (1) H-E-B issued Big Savings coupon (Type B)
• H-E-B does not double or triple coupons.
• H-E-B cannot give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.
• Coupons must be presented to the cashier at time of purchase.
• Coupons cannot be redeemed for cash.
• The following coupons cannot be accepted:
  • Expired coupons
  • Competitor coupons
  • Coupons without a barcode
• HEB accepts valid Online and other Printable Coupons as follows:
  • Online and other Printable coupons should be legible and have a scannable bar code.
  • Buy-one-get-one-free coupons (BOGOs) are accepted. (i.e. Buy X, Get X Free)
  • “Free product” printable coupons are not accepted (i.e. Get X Free)
  • Printable Coupons will not be accepted if they appear copied or are altered in any way. They should be printed directly from the website or email in which they were offered.
  • Printable Coupons have unique serial numbers and follow an industry standard format; they are non-transferable, and should not be copied, scanned, sold, traded, or otherwise distributed.
• H-E-B reserves the right to refuse any coupon or limit quantities.

[skeet09]

Sweet! Thanks for posting; I am relieved!

[xsa210tx]

A few days ago, HEB also put a link on Twitter for more coupons that can be used at HEB:

Coupons

[Backliteyes]

In general I'm too lazy to bother with coupons. I do 99% of my grocery shopping either at Sam's or Walmart, I usually only venture into an HEB when I can't find what I'm after at the other two places. The idea of spending my free time finding and printing coupons doesn't appeal to me, but I don't see why I shouldn't spend more time doing things like that while I'm bored at work.

Also, it would be sooooo much more convenient if HEB just came out with a loyalty card and you automatically got whatever coupons applied to what you were buying when you check out. They could still advertise what's on sale at the front of the store so that people could get things they might otherwise pass up, but the whole system of dealing with physical yellow coupons is just archaic to me.

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by Backliteyes

Also, it would be sooooo much more convenient if HEB just came out with a loyalty card and you automatically got whatever coupons applied to what you were buying when you check out. They could still advertise what's on sale at the front of the store so that people could get things they might otherwise pass up, but the whole system of dealing with physical yellow coupons is just archaic to me.

A lot of the East Coast grocery store have the loyalty card you can put on your keychain. We need something like it!