Am I the only one with a sad stockpile?

[amiejoy]

This summer's sales or lack there of, have left my stockpile pretty much non existent. With rising grocery prices and a lack of coupons lately, it has been difficult to catch good deals. There have been some sales but no coupons to go with them. I hardly see tearpads or peelies anymore and catalinas have been scarce as well. And no July event or at least not yet and I'm not holding my breath for next week either. Am I alone?

[$Saving!]

Well, whether the next coupon event begins on the 27th or August 3rd, there will be one soon and prior to (or in the midst of) there will a lot of inserts coming out. Two next Sunday and 4 inserts on the 31st

Then too, in August there will be the back to school inserts coming out and I'm sure the stores will gear up for sales related to that as well.

I agree on the prices on everything going up, it's insane. But stockpile what you can when you can, there are still good deals coming but not as many or as often - we just have to adjust to the changes.

Keep hope alive my friend!!

[Alice of the Palace]

The show Extreme Couponing has really hurt our one and only store! People are swarming now with their binders full of coupons,so not enough to go around anymore especially when the store isn't too good about restocking. It just isn't as much fun,and not as productive as SD or triples use to be. I may get to use 20 coupons on one or two trips but thats about it. :-(

[thompson589741]

i agree about the extreme couponing show ruining things.

with more couponers out in the stores now, there is only so much stock available. seems like if you're not the first ones in the store, you are SOL. I have also noticed peelies and tearpads and nbpr rebate pads being cleared quickly. I find myself on the prowl. but being a "seasoned" coupon shopper, i have to find other ways to save that the newbies may not realize yet, and keep my eye out too :D.

rainchecks are always great and it looks like I am getting more and more each month. oh well, better late than never!

[everprincess]

I'm really not affected by it all. I get rainchecks regularly for out of stock items. Once the item isn't on sale the next week I use the raincheck. But my store is still tripling which helps alot but the competition is severe. I went tonight to find several things gone but I still managed to get alot of free/cheap stuff I had coupons for. I find that using printables, non-inserts and regional coupons I receive in trades/trains help out alot!

[Annne30]

I have noticed that my stores are having a hard time keeping things in stock. I still have my secrets and I just keep them to myself. I have been couponing for around 10 years and there are waves of people trying to save but I think if we just give it time the competition will die down. I just find my deals myself and I don't use or wait on a database to tell me. I think doing that has kept me ahead of the rush.

[clippyclippy]

I'm having a hard time stockpiling cereal of all things. And granola bars.
It seems the killer double dip and triple dip deals aren't coming around like they used to, and I can no longer bring 10-20 boxes home at a time.
I am hopeful for the back to school deals, but I think last year was less successful than prior years, so who knows how it will be this fall.

[uummm]

I have a large stockpile of mini wheat but that is because I have started making a super yummy breakfast dish that is made with oats and baked....and my husband has been eating that. My kids won't eat it but during the summer they eat less cereal. They aren't big Kellogg's cereals eaters either for some reason and are currently on a coca pebbles kick. I bought a bunch at cvs of all places since getting a deal on post cereals is so difficult.

I have changed our eating habits and don't use nearly the amount of coupons as I used to but I have also had to raise our grocery budget from $250 a month in 2007 to $500 a month now. If money were an issue I would probably try harder but I M not sure I could still do it for $250 a month.

[thompson589741]

my stockpile is really lacking when it comes to mustard and ketchup. in the spring it was really disappointing to only have one round of ketchup coupons and the mustard coupons have been less than impressive to say the least. I dream of the days when we got mustard and ketchup for nothing, but I have come to grips that those days must be long gone and I have to bite the bullet and pay more than I want to, even with a coupon. cereal hasnt been that much of an issue in my stockpile, but I don't count on getting it as cheap as I used to, and I get as much as i can...and have been pretty successful with that. but with all the pancake mix and syrup that i have gotten over the past few events, for next to nothing, i think I can make pancakes for a while and not worry about the cereal :D. but some weeks it seems difficult to stay within my budget, and sometimes i have to let some deals pass by...which i hate todo, but it keeps me on track

[aurorahorse]

It's ALWAYS hard in the summer. BUT....I'm sure there have been even less good coupons this summer. Part of it may be I actually have a ton of stuff I need to use up, but I can't even remember the last time I bought a newspaper (other than the one my dad always wants, no matter what). I'm waiting, anxiously, for August....since things usually get good then. I miss the coupon high. :)

I'm having fun using a lot of the money to just buy fruit and meat right now.

I agree that prices are going up and sales lower, though. I'm just thankful I can stick with our $200 budget (3 of us) for now, but I'm not sure how much longer that will hold out.