We're all making $250/hour?

[tobiwobi]

i think it's a bit skewed.. when you add in time spent on forums, time spent looking for coupons, time spent on trades... it's just like extreme couponing sure they say they saved 98% BUT now much did they spend on the clipping service, how much are they put for postage, how much are they really out for all the magazines/newspapers bought, and ink for the printer, how much of that product would they normally buy/use.. going in and doing a 45 min shop and using $200 worth of coupons saying that they made $200 in less then an hour is a bit skewed way to look at it

Definitely! And all the time spent obsessing about the deals and staring at the stockpile...

[Sally888]

That whole article was ridiculous.

[Big Pink]

Although discussing the savings in a "per hour" fashion is a bit dramatic, the math is not entirely crazy... and since I am obsessed with numbers, I actually do look at things in a per hour way... in a sense.

Use Metro's sale on Olymel chicken for example.

Regular price, $10.00.

Remember, we buy everything with AFTER tax dollars, which I think is one of the main things that article trying to say (poorly).

Depending on your tax bracket (let's use middle range), you have already paid 30% on the dollars you've put in the bank.

So you had to EARN about $14.50 to buy that chicken at regular price.

Those of you combining a coupon and a sale... a different story.

Sale price, $5.00.
Current coupon, $2.50
OOP, $2.50

Actual amount you had to EARN to buy... $3.60.

This is a difference of $10.90 between buying retail and the sale/coupon route in terms of what you had to earn to buy that one box of wonderful chicken nuggets. Not just the $7.50 you save at the register.

That's no small amount.

Not to mention if this was a taxable item... add an additional $1.64 of savings (plus the amount of tax you paid to earn to get that $1.64 in your pocket).

I used this example because the numbers were relatively easy, and obviously my math is not perfect and depends on a person's tax rate. But there is more value to couponing than just the dollar amounts on those little pieces of paper.

I am betting that the numbers in the article are close to correct... although the time spent might depend on the person.

In terms of time spent "enjoying" your stash... well... not sure a dollar value can be applied to that. LOL!

[$stretcher]

Although discussing the savings in a "per hour" fashion is a bit dramatic, the math is not entirely crazy... and since I am obsessed with numbers, I actually do look at things in a per hour way... in a sense.

Use Metro's sale on Olymel chicken for example.

Regular price, $10.00.

Remember, we buy everything with AFTER tax dollars, which I think is one of the main things that article trying to say (poorly).

Depending on your tax bracket (let's use middle range), you have already paid 30% on the dollars you've put in the bank.

So you had to EARN about $14.50 to buy that chicken at regular price.

Those of you combining a coupon and a sale... a different story.

Sale price, $5.00.
Current coupon, $2.50
OOP, $2.50

Actual amount you had to EARN to buy... $3.60.

This is a difference of $10.90 between buying retail and the sale/coupon route in terms of what you had to earn to buy that one box of wonderful chicken nuggets. Not just the $7.50 you save at the register.

That's no small amount.

Not to mention if this was a taxable item... add an additional $1.64 of savings (plus the amount of tax you paid to earn to get that $1.64 in your pocket).

I used this example because the numbers were relatively easy, and obviously my math is not perfect and depends on a person's tax rate. But there is more value to couponing than just the dollar amounts on those little pieces of paper.

I am betting that the numbers in the article are close to correct... although the time spent might depend on the person.

In terms of time spent "enjoying" your stash... well... not sure a dollar value can be applied to that. LOL!

You hit it right on. I have a family of five and save $400/month, but thinking your way it's even more. I always called this my part time job and figured I earn (save) about $15/hour, but it's probably alot more. Not a bad hobby at all!

[maliha44]

Never really thought about how much money I was saving/making per hour, very interesting way to look at it. Thanks for sharing!

[safielstar]

I don't save $100 a week (that would be awesome if I did), my average savings per week is anywhere between $25-$50 (price-matching plus coupons), depending on what we're buying. Even still, that's better than before we started couponing, so if I put in a couple of hours a week to save my family $100 a month or more, you can bet I'm going to do it

[sweet sparrow]

Sometimes when an item is a good price, I'll buy it with a coupon, even if it's not what we usually buy. Then, it's counted as an expense because it wasn't a pre-planned purchase.

I only consider it savings if I would have bought it anyways. By that method, I don't make anywhere near $250/hr. More like minimum wage for me, and I still consider that worth it.

[Giving-Small]

I counted things that way at first. Some of the things I tried became things we buy. I became more adventurous through couponing - trying new things and experimenting and finding some new things that worked.

Sometimes when an item is a good price, I'll buy it with a coupon, even if it's not what we usually buy. Then, it's counted as an expense because it wasn't a pre-planned purchase.

I only consider it savings if I would have bought it anyways. By that method, I don't make anywhere near $250/hr. More like minimum wage for me, and I still consider that worth it.

[Poirot]

I got a receipt from Shoppers Drug Mart at the end of January that said I saved over $60 I don't really think I saved $60.I bought a bottle of hair conditioner for $1.97 from a clearance table the regular price for the hair conditioner was $22.I wouldn't have bought that conditioner if it was regular priced and I bought a couple of other things too and only one of them I would have bought at regular price.The whole savings thing is exaggerated.