Coupon slump?

[Gardencook]

I'm sure your pregnancy has a lot to do with your frustration right now. Give yourself a break. Anyone feels drained by the process of bringing a new life into the world and hormones can drag anyone down.
Setting high expectations about how you much you think you should be saving, based on what you used to spend is only going make you feel like a failure. Eventually that will cause you to give up -- then nobody loses but you.
I've always hated the high expectations set by the "coupon experts" in the news media. While it's great if you live in an area where you can save a huge percentage on your grocery bill, that is not reality for most of us.
I was teaching couponing classes more than 25 years ago and have couponed for decades in one of the most coupon-unfriendly cities on earth. Getting something free is the rare exception here. No winetags, double coupons are few and far between, bait-and-switch is rampant. Clerks in our stores actually yell and disrespect customers in unbelievable fashion.
Our grocery chains run the same sales as their sister stores in other regions, but charge us higher prices -- just because they can. Competition drives prices down, but lack of it drives them up.
I've watched countless couponers get discouraged and give up, simply because they set their sights based on what the media tells them they should be saving, instead of what they can realistically expect.
Free toilet tissue, paper towels, laundry detergent -- what's are they? I got the free Marcal Qs for years, but the stores refused to stock them. The store that "doubled" 25 cent paper towel Qs to a dollar on rare occasions, made sure never to have the ones that sold for $1 on hand when the sale came around. Amazing how they reappeared the minute the sale disappeared. Then the store complained to the corporation, so now the offer is made in cities a few hours away, but not here.
I ended up giving away most of my free laundry detergent/softener Qs to HCW members, because they were going to expire before I could use them. I got to a store for free Purex softener today and once again the store was out on the first day, and will not honor the sale, because it offers a Catalina which it won't raincheck.
Calling a store to pre-order sale merchandise? You've got to be kidding! I can't even get one item on many sales, forget about ordering 200. I once spent more than six months nagging a store to honor a raincheck and I've had to use other rainchecks in different cities because our stores refused to get the merchandise in.
Buying hundreds of dollars worth of groceries in one trip? NO WAY! You're too busy watching for overcharges to make the mistake of buying more than a few items at once. If you don't catch it at the register, the customer service clerks don't want to give you your money back, and get angry if you expect them to honor the "Accra-Scan Guarantee" promising you the item free.
You can talk to store managers until you are blue in the face, but it does little good. It's a sad commentary when you spend much of your life reminding yourself that living anywhere in America is a dream compared to life in a third-world nation.
Am I saying all this to be negative? Not at all!
I'll never be featured on an episode of "Extreme Couponing," but who cares? We've saved thousands of dollars and we've had a much higher standard of living because I've kept going when others thought it was a waste of time.
While I still try to get the few "mega-sale" bargains, when the stores will honor them, the sad truth is the store that gets most of my grocery dollars doesn't offer mega-sales, double coupons or many Catalina cashback offers. It gets my loyalty because it doesn't play games and treats customers with respect. In the process, it gets a whole lot of money from all the coupons I spend there -- which is money I would be losing if I didn't use coupons at all.
You'll have to accept your new surroundings for what they are. Set new goals for yourself. Don't look at what you used to save, look at what you can save in spite of your new challenges.
Be creative. Think outside the box. Now you may not get free shampoo, but the dollar store stuff is so watered down, that a coupon matched with a not-so-great sale, will still buy name brand shampoo for about the same price you would pay for it at the dollar store -- especially when you figure you have to use a lot more of the watered down stuff.
Yes it hurts that you can't get it free like some other people, but saving 50% on a superior product is still better than paying full price --and money in your pocket.
Meanwhile, not everything that dollar stores sell is junk. I've gotten some great deals on name-brand merchandise. When the good stuff comes in, stock up. Just because you're used to getting it free, doesn't mean that paying a dollar is a bad deal now. Often the prices are much better than you can get with coupons in regions where there aren't many big sales. And don't be afraid to give dollar store brands a try. We actually like a dollar store drain opener better than the name-brand.
The Internet is a huge resource for coupons -- not just IPs, but also manufacturer sites. Order recipe books, samples and calendars. They often come with coupons. If you get near a thrift store or yard sale, check to see if they sell recent issues of magazines. I've sometimes gotten multiple copies of great coupons by purchasing 4 or 5 copies of the same magazine for 10 or 25 cents each.
Don't overlook clearance items. My husband has always gotten a chuckle about how I can walk into a store I've never set foot in before and head straight to the clearance bins. They aren't hard to find, you just have to know where to look.
Combine clearance merchandise with coupons, and often you are saving as much as you would on a mega-sale. Some stores routinely rotate merchandise or discontinue particular fragrances or packages when new ones arrive. That doesn't mean it's no good, it just means that lavender is out and the new fragrance is jasmine.
Canned and boxed goods that are close to pull-date are still fine, just make sure to use them first. Be spontaneous with meal planning. If you find something marked down, make it a new challenge to turn it into a gourmet meal by adding a lot of the ingredients you are now using in your scratch cooking.
When you get the opportunity to drive to a bigger store, make it a family outing. Check the Internet for cheap restaurant coupons or fast food burgers. Make it a challenge to see if you can save enough to pay for the cost of your gas.
Get the kids in on the act if they are old enough. Turn it into a game. Teach them to help you find bargains, and you will be teaching them valuable skills to last a lifetime. I was clipping coupons for my mother as a little girl and a lot of them were only worth 3 to 5 cents each in those days. Look at what a favor she did me!
You can learn a lot about marketing trends, just by stopping at stores in areas where you don't normally shop -- and often find a clearance bargain and extra tearpad coupons in the process. You don't have to make a special trip, just make it a habit to stop when you're traveling.
I find a grocery store in a different city enjoyable and a lot cheaper than buying a new clothing item that I really can't afford.
Even if your dollar store doesn't sell the Sunday paper, remember that isn't the case in other cities. If you're traveling on a Sunday, drop by a dollar store and see if the newspaper in that city is sold at a reduced price. You can leave the newspapers behind in the motel room and take the inserts with you, or clip the Qs to save even more space.
I just went to give my Mom a hand while she recuperated after surgery. Since the airline was already charging me $50 to bring a suitcase of clothes, bringing much home wasn't an option. However, coupons don't take much space and I came back home with a gold mine.
Never compare yourself with others. Different circumstances require different approaches and what works for one person, might not work for another. Saving $20 a month is better than saving nothing at all, even if you know you used to save, or someone else is currently saving hundreds.

[bonniebabies]

Same here! I have started buying more organic food, natural toiletries and cleaning products. The Sunday paper in my area has very few coupons for these types of products. I discussed this with my husband and we agreed to try buying in bulk/cooking from scratch. So far it's working out great, he even learned to bake cookies from scratch. :) When I do use coupons they are free from other sources (internet, mail). Gas prices are rising so I recently suggested to my husband that we try doing the bulk of our shopping biweekly or even monthly.
Feel better.