Do you chase all the deals? Every one? Hubby could give us all a long (boring) lecture on the value of money. He figures things out to the penny on the cost per pill, cost per ounce or cost per particular unit. He uses the value of my time to figure if it worth chasing a deal.
Ummm I probably shouldn’t tell you what value he places on my time.
Actually, he’s getting better. A few shouting matches here and there, and we are all good!
But seriously folks …
I no longer chase all the deals. I plot a course Saturday evening for my deal routes Sunday morning. Since dense retail is only 15 minutes away, the cost of gas/car wear and tear, etc is the same whether I visit one store, or whether I visit 20 stores. If I stay in the general vicinity the drive-cost is minimal.
But what of the time cost?
Hubby and I are out nearly every Sunday morning. Since there are two of us, stopping into one store yields twice the results. Shouldn’t that mean that chasing every deal is worthwhile?
Well no, not exactly. I figure in the true out of pocket cost, the possibility of stock, the known attitude of the cashiers (seldom a problem in my area), the ease use. For instance, ECB are easy, SCR are easy, RR require thought and diligence. All these intangibles are figured into the shopping equation along with the tangibles of cost and necessity – and let’s face it, with my stockpile, cost is my biggest concern; I do not really need to add to the stockpile.
I decided a while ago that Walgreens Register Rewards just are not worth it to me. I do not have a local store that will accept them (you lucky SuperValu folks!), they expire in two weeks, they cannot be rolled, and, unless I am going to immediately flip them on newspapers, RR are just not worth my time digging through the stores, finding a filler, etc. The Register Reward program has become too much of a hassle to me. While on one hand Walgreens may be thrilled that a “coupon queen” isn’t depleting their stock, I am also not making spontaneous purchases (well, hubby is not). Way to go Walgreens!
I do not currently shop CVS often because the nearest one is over 20 minutes away, in the opposite direction of my dense retail. It truly does not make economic or time sense for me to stop at CVS unless the deals are extremely compelling.
I made the determination that Walgreen’s is a waste of my time, CVS is a waste of my gas and time to drive. However, CVS will not be considered a waste of my time once the store opens 5 minutes from my house!
CVS and Walgreens are just two of the stores where my shopping habits changed once I really sat down and figured out exactly what I was/was not gaining shopping at those stores. I did an analysis and they were found wanting. That could change with a program shift, and, as in the case of CVS, a new store.
How do you value your time? Is it worth running to the store for four double coupons? Is that even enticing? Did you run to KMart to double five coupons per day? Do you chase Walgreen’s deals and have the rolling down to a science? Or do the Register Rewards frustrate you and you wish they’d bring back the once a month rebate program?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I do, on a REALLY good week, shop 5 different stores but they are all really close together. I don’t shop Walgreens for the same reasons as you. I feel if I have to buy a “filler” then I’m really not saving much, since I’m buying something I don’t need, even if it doesn’t cost much. Way to confussing. I love CVS and the one in my area is always well stocked and very nice. I always go out on Sundays too. Time wise, I try to stay out as long as possible. I’m a stay at home mom with 4 kids (ages 6,5 and 2 year old twins) and it’s the one day aweek that I get out by myself. So, my time is worth my sanity
I find it really refreshing to go shopping by myself and I try to squeeze in a treat for myself too. Usually Starbucks or a quick lunch out, with a coupon of course! In reality, I do find it worth my time. My pantry is well stocked, we don’t need HBA’s for months and I’ve lowered our over all budget by $100-$150 a month. My husband tells everyone who will listen about my coupons too LOL!! I will never go back to “regular” shopping and I am a life time couponer now 
Thanks! Sorry this ended up being so long!
Laura
Great great post. One of my favorites. This probably doesn’t apply to any of your readers but… here’s my cost of my time:
I think about this all the time. 1st with doubles — sometimes we get $1 double cpns in the S&S flyer (4) each, but is it truly worth my time to drive out there and go? I have decided no – even if I can get 4 things for free or just tax. Both S&S’s are still quite a drive away – one is a turn off b/c to get there, the long street has A LOT of red light cameras that are timed to catch someone. I really hate them. Saving $4′s and getting a $40-60 ticket or just the stress of them, not worth it to me. (I bet no one has had this experience before — and we actually got caught once cause the yellow is literally 1-2 secs here in the city unlike the really nice long yellows in the suburbs). To alleviate the stress, I usually take a longer roundabout way to avoid the 3 red light cameras. The other one is in another direction and not close either. Another factor is that we have to find parking on the street – sometimes it takes a good 20+ minutes of driving around to find parking when we get home. Another time waster. I thought about Kmart doubles too (first time in a year that we got them) and I read a lot of posts in regards to people at my store doing 10 transactions at once. (I don’t know how they did that). But I ending up opting to skip and go to Target for easter clearance (which I walked to or took the bus)
I was happy. And got lots of stuff cheap for DD. $0.25 and $0.15 board books, even free (or just tax) shampoo can’t beat that.
Time wasted dealing with cashiers who make up their own rules or don’t know their own policy and managers who are just as ignorant or mean — too much and not worth it. Rite Aid – I have not been there in a month except on the 27th to complete my vitamin deal. No plans on going back except, I need to make a trip to use up my $20 GOS by end of April. CVS – I let $20 in ECBs expire $15 by accident, $5 on purpose (oh the horror). Even worse — I let $16 in RRs expire on Monday by accident. And it was only the 2nd time I’ve been to WGs in 2-3 months – I still accidentally let them expire. So clearly I am in the negative on these RRs/ECBs and am not doing myself any favors or saving money. (mostly due to illnesses in the family). So I only have $4 in ECBs left unexpired and will be taking a complete break from ECBs and will spend the rest of my RRs tomorrow and be done with WG. I still need Cerave & Cetaphil for DD but I may just spend more and buy online until I can get more time to do deals.
We currently shop Costco (and DH is very willing to go there and shop for us!! I will take advtg for now) and I am enjoying Target clearance once in awhile (no cpns, but I’ve gotten some good deals and don’t need to deal with one per purchase hassle or anything). If something amazing comes around, I will take advtg but until then, I will just cpn casually and not beat myself up over it. I still need to save $ but I need a break to regroup my priorities in terms of time. The weather is nicer and we take DD out to play instead of shopping. Some days I wish I was a SAHM
I think the value of my time is so much more than what I can save in through getting all these deals that just make our already small apt even messier. DD will only be little once.
Yikes!!! My comment is a novel!!! Sorry about that Ann.
I didn’t go to CVS very often although I would look at the ad longingly every week. It was about 20-30 minutes away but now one opened up 5 minutes from my house! So now my weekly trip is CVS, Target, and two grocery stores. Occasionally I will stop at Walgreens and more often at Rite Aid. These are all within about 5 miles of my house so it doesn’t take too long when I’ve taken the time to write my lists from the ads and pull the coupons. Walgreens is rarely worth it for me. I like Rite Aid but hate taking the money from my grocery/toiletry budget each week to wait for the SCRs. My trip varies from 30 minutes to 3 hours but it’s the only time during the week that I am out of the house by myself and can just enjoy shopping.
Well, I should be more concern about it but reality couponing and getting the deals is my escape from reality. I really love it and it is the one thing I do for myself. My husband travels constantly (only been home for 3 weeks this year) and I have 3 kids–one with OCD so I need some escaping sometimes. I also love to see how much I can get free or almost free and donate. Last year I donated almost $6000 worth of stuff and lots of my friends shopped in my stockpile. There were a lot of people who were out of work who shopped in my stockpile, too. Also, I haven’t really used any of my husband’s paycheck since last April (just started couponing in Jan. 2009).
So bottom line I might spend too much time but I consider it my job (not touching my husband’s paycheck helps us save more) and it is also a ministry too. My kids also now look for coupons on things they want. Helping them learn the value of money.
I love novels Liz!
Ann
i feel the same way you do regarding Walgreen’s and CVS. Depending on the sale and how easy I can work the RR’s, I’ll occasionally stop in Walgreen’s. I wish we had a CVS closer than Wilmington (DE), which is about 20-30 mins. away. I’ve only stopped in CVS a couple of times, before or after a doctor appt. in the area. I seem to do my best shops at Rite Aid and Shop Rite or Pathmark, sometimes Walmart. I gotta tell you, I would love to be an extreme couponer. You know, the people who get a couple hundred worth of product for like $10. I’d love to be able to share and donate items to those in need, but I haven’t gotten that good yet. I usually get most of my toiletries cheap or free. Grocery shoipping, I usually save 50-70%, but I really want to hit the “jackpot”, so to speak, to be stockpiled, but overabundant to give to others. Your posts are wonderful and relevaant to me, as I know I always say. Once again, thanks for all you do to help us all save money.
I too view this as therapy
Have only been seriously shopping for 3 months, have a nice size starting stockpile, have lots for gifts to those who are “under” employed. My grown kids love it! I mostly shop Walgreens- I LOVE IT! I have a job that has me driving around all day (I’m a sheriff deputy process server 
I pass a Walgreens at least 6 times daily so it’s not much of a chore and it’s a lot of fun- but in the middle of the week I get bored and am ready for the new deals of the next week! I have learned which Walgreens will give more of a hassle and which one to do the “trickier” deals on. Thanks so much for your help. Beth
I don’t shop Walgreens for RR deals. I only go there if there is a good deal w/ coupon and no RRs. Don’t do CVS b/c the closest one is probably 15-20 minutes away. Not worth it when Rite Aid and Walgreens are across the street. Love Rite Aid! Go there every week, not usually more than once a week anymore though! Tops is at the other end of town (not more than 8 minutes away tho) and I go there weekly.
I am actually thinking lately that Wal-Mart isn’t worth my time. I always seem to spend the most there! It seems I go there w/ tons of coupons and a huge list, and end up buying hardly anything or if I do, most of it is not really coupon deals and I spend too much. I can rarely find really GREAT deals. It is right up the street tho. :/
I find Walgreens tough too, I have to admit. The problem is I don’t have a CVS near by, though I have heard one is opening fairly close to the house but in the opposite direction of all my other stores. So for now, unless I can get a lot of freebies I don’t go. Maybe it will be worth it once it is closer. Basically I don’t have a choice I have to use Walgreens to get the stockpile going. I still have a little ways to go until I can start shopping only money maker’s (that is my goal, I am close and think just a few more weeks and I am good). I do my best to choose the filler items carefully and on Sundays it is easy, the news paper is my filler. Other times it is a 20oz drink, the hubby will buy them anyway…I can’t get him to stop so I figure if he is gonna do it anyway I might as well use it to help me save money.
I have been frustrated lately because Kroger has not been all that exciting sale wise, and Target and Walmart (which I detest) don’t double coupons. Target is kinda sorta on the way home from work, but not very coupon friendly and after a long work day someone that is crabby over a coupon is not high on my to do list.
I don’t have a choice, we have to keep the budget down, the economy hit us very very hard and we are barely making ends meet. I guess right now the time is worth it, however if I miss a sale I don’t fret it. If there were other things going on that week then great, there will be another sale.
I coupon at CVS, Walgreens and Target the most with my best friend. We started because my husband lost his job and we needed to cut back our spending, luck have it the week he got a job my best friend lost hers. So we got really into the couponing, because it was important to both of us we worked on perfecting it. We have come across the difficult stores and finally found stores and cashiers that we love. Luckily we live in a city that has tons of stores to choose from. So now we have places that understand our couponing and work with us. We have a great time and have saved so much money. We have been doing it for almost a year now and I don’t think that I could ever go back to paying full price for stuff.
Although they have been jobless, I have been working a full time job the whole time (plus moving, getting married, other normal life stuff). Occasionally I try to do my own weekly match-ups for the stores I enjoy shopping at the most, but it is really time consuming. That being said I really love the coupon blogs and match-ups. It makes it so easy on me to quickly read the post and pick what I deals I need or want. Thank you Ann!!
Lately I love Wags. Especially when they make a mistake and the RR are rolling. I have 4 Wags within a 1 mile radius of my house, but I have my favorite one to shop at.
CVS is about a 5 minute drive, so I usually head there once a week. I wish they had higher limits on items with ECB deals. The green bag tag is nice. I love getting back $1 ECB 4 my fourth visit.
We have 2 stores that are counting all coupons for $1, right now. Fry’s & Safeway. They have also been having some awesome catalinas, lately.
I feel the same way as Andrea…I coupon not only to save money but for my sanity
. All of the stores I coupon at are pretty close. I seem to switch favorite stores every couple of months. At the end of last year and beginning of this year I was really into wags but lately I just don’t feel like dealing with the headache of rr’s (seems I am not alone). I started couponing at cvs so it will always have a special place in my heart and is worth my time for sure 
my new fave is rite aid and if I didn’t feel weird about doing more than 2 or 3 transactions at one store than I would do 10 probably every time I go. I try to go to the cvs and rite aid once or twice a week depending on the sales, babies r us(for clearance) and walmart about once a month and I try to hit target atleast once every week or 2. I also will make a couple of trips to tops a week and only go to wags now if there is a good mm or something I love is free even though wags is only a few buildings down
I cut back on how much I chase deals. When I first started getting into it last fall, I tried to get every deal every week. Then once my stockpile filled up half of my walk-in closet, I decided to tone it down a bit. After all, I’m single with no kids. I don’t need 12 tubes of toothpaste. lol Everything in moderation….The deals have to be good for me to shop at Wags, b/c mine make up policies on the spot and it’s just frustrating. My CVS is wonderful! I did end up going to Kmart twice during doubles week, b/c I found one closer than I thought. I “bought” some things for my parents and a few household cleaners for a wedding gift basket I’m making. I don’t think I would have gone otherwise.
I definitely don’t chase all the deals, and since we have so much of what we need, i have really cut back on shopping. When we lived in Cali, all 3 drugstores were on the same street!!! i really miss that, since moving here they are more scattered and i really wish CVS was alot closer, so my deals there are very slim since their ECBs dont expire as fast. I shop at wags only with instore coupons and MQ, but definitely no more RR, it is so finicky. Rite Aid is once in a while for me. Usually i go now a days because the hubs loves his candy so i definitely buy that because if not, he will pay full retail for it. There’s this whole I don’t need this right now. Thankfully we are having that yard sale going on-otherwise i don’t know what we would do with all the extra’s. But then again there’s only me and hubs, so maybe after a couple of kids i might have to chase all the deals again, who knows??!!! LOL
by the way my nickname actually is DD, it does not stand for Dear Daughter as i have seen people use.
I LOVE Rite Aid and always get in my “retail therapy” a few times a week. I shop based on free rather than need. I have a store right by my house and 2 others within 5 miles. As I find more deals throughout the week, I make more trips. I LOVE getting a whole bag of stuff for under $1, then get a big fat $50+ SCR on top of my free stuff. I’m donating health & beauty stuff each month, friends shop at my house, and we’re having a BIG yard sale in 2 weeks to unload the boxes/bags of stockpile. I hope to make enough to pay our timeshare dues for the year for our vacation in Nov at Myrtle Beach.
My 2 Walgreens are full of coupon Nazi’s and everytime I’ve EVER been there and used coupons, they were rude. Unless there is a super good steal ($1 ink refills and 3/$1 reusable bags), I don’t even go near there. I’m going for retail therapy and super good deals, not a headache and stress. RR aren’t worth it for me because it’s putting $ out of my pocket to spend more “next time”.
There are 3 CVS stores in my frequent travels. At the one closest to home, the manager and her army are very nasty to couponers, so I don’t bother. (this is retail therapy….I want to feel good about getting a bunch of stuff for next to nothing and not have to argue or take a prozac) CVS by my work is REALLY awesome, good clearence and always have what I’m after in stock to fullfill rainchecks. I don’t shop CVS much since I feel that if I have to spend $4 to get a $4 ECB, I’m really not saving my money.
I check my local food stores weekly for must havs. Giant in PA and Jerry’s Greatvalue are usually my 2 stops. Usually 1-2 weeks a month one or both will have double or triple up to $1 limit 4-6, so I go through the line a few times through the week. Again, both are real close to home. I will sometimes make a trip to walmart for a few food items since they are usually real cheap.
Ann, I have been a fan of your site and started extreme couponing about a year and a half ago. I echo the sentiments of everyone… I have been asking myself the same question, am I really saving money or just fulfilling my shopaholic tendencies? Last week I decided that I should stop shopping at Wags, not only because of the RR but also realized that my OOP is getting high, chasing after the deals. I try to get my newspaper from CVS with existing ECB’s, but even the number of paper I buy decreased from 4 to 2, I figured if I have 2 like coupons, I will be ok when Publix has a BOGO sale.
Thanks for this timely post!