When is it a good deal?!?!

[2busyboys1tiredmom]

I am very new to this forum and using coupons in general and was wondering if you all have a general rule of thumb for when you purchase certain products, i.e. what price makes it a great deal? I realize that just because you have a coupon still doesn't always make it a good deal, but sometimes I have a hard time knowing that.
I know there are so many smart people on here who know their prices, so do you have a set price for items (i.e. TP, paper towels, shave gel, detergent etc.) that you tend to buy for? I get that if you need it, you need it, but if you're just buying to have for later, at what price do you stock up?
I apologize if this has been posted before, I couldn't find similar posts.
Thanks in advance!

[MrsSunshine]

if your donating. free is awesome. nearly free is great too means you can donate more
if its for yourself.. free is awesome.. and nearly free is great too. means you can stock up. so if you do need it later.. you don't have to pay full price.. and some things never go bad. kleenex. toilet paper. etc..
somethings well. just aren't worth it. no matter what deal.. like for us pet food.

[vibrantflame]

Well for me the general rule that I use is I only use the coupon if (a) it is an item I have to have now or (b) if the item is already on sale for a good price. That way if I use my coupon on items that already on sale, I know I'm getting a good deal.

Another tip is that there are some great SC'ers that post a list usually every week for all the deals featured in the flyers and what coupons can be used, so you can check that and know if it's a good deal.

[Mrsb07]

If it's something you use and the price makes you think "Wow I can't believe I can get it for this" then it's a good deal.

[YOU AND ME]

A good deal is when it's free or almost.This pass February i donate 96 cans of soup to the foodbank,didn't cost me anything. I watch the sale and with coupons you can get some great deals

[darlenegrigg]

A good deal is what YOU are willing to pay for an item. with or whithout coupons. Coupons make a it better price for you though!

[Evie84]

You typically only use your coupons when an item is already on sale, unless you need it right away. Example, toilet paper is regular lets say $8.00-$9.00 (if not more), it goes on sale for $5.99, you have a 1 dollar off, makes it $4.99. That's a way better price than using your coupon on a full price item.

Someone else on SC had mentioned a little while ago about keeping a price book. Start keeping track of items you buy and what prices you buy them at, and over time you'll start to learn how low prices go. When I first started I thought $1.00 for toothpaste was awesome, and in some ways it still is. But I know that there are enough coupons out there that I should always be able to get that item for free or 0.25-0.50 because toothpaste regularly goes on sale for $1.00 somewhere (SDM, Walmart, Zellers, Safeway, LD, etc) and I can use my coupon on the sale price.

[Ashleyhegmans]

this is exactly how i felt when i started couponing a couple months ago and i posted and asked for some sort of pricelist or something. i know it's overwhelming at first, but pretty soon you'll start to know what's a good deal and what's not. if you look at the deals section - there are only good deals there so that will give you a good idea. basically what you want to do is find something on sale and then use a coupon with it to make it even cheaper, so obviously you want to use your coupon on something that is the cheapest you can get it already. one example is toilet paper: for 12 double rolls, i great price would be around $4 and then if you use a $1 off coupon it's even better! right now royale is $4.44 for 30 single roll and you can use a $1 off coupon too!! toilet paper is something that is almost always on sale somewhere and very easy to find coupons too. you can start making a price list and writing down the price of things you buy and then if you find it cheaper next time - make note of it and then you know not to buy it unless you can get it for that cheap. example: the kind of yogurt i buy - the cheapest i can find it anywhere is $3.77 at regular price, but the cheapest i've seen it when it goes on sale is $1.99 and there are $1 off coupons that i've collected, so i know i can get it for $0.99. i try to buy it only when i can get it that cheap if you have a price book made up you can flip to the item and see if it's a good deal or not.

[crazymom0617]

Read the sales ads weekly and it won't take long to figure out what things cost and when it is a really good deal. Of course free is always good and so is next to free, but to know about the other things you'll need to familiarize yourself with the prices. Good luck and have fun with it.

[NickiB]

And I'm pretty sure if I say I'm always looking to better my "best" deal, I wouldn't be the only one here on SC.

For instance, back when No Frills had their $1 sale, I was able to pick up the Country Harvest Vitality bread for $1 a loaf, and use my $2.50WUB3 coupons. Worked out to about 13 cents a loaf. My freezer has a couple of loaves left, and I noticed Giant Tiger has a sale this week for $1.29 a loaf.

So.. this is how my brain works.. I price match at Zellers, use my SPC discount, less the $2.50 coupon, and it works out to 32 cents a loaf. Still a great price, almost $2.50 off regular price.. but I keep thinking... darn, if only I could get it cheaper!

Two months later and I'm obsessed...

[abbasgirl]

A price book is a must, especially at first. It's the only way to keep track of all the different prices of things.
I made a price book before I started using coupons and I listed all the things that I would normally use. I went around whenever I was at a store and wrote down their lowest regular price for that item (or if it was brand specific, just the price of that brand.) Often it meant using a calculator to figure out the unit price. It was a lot of work and I think most people just write down their prices as they buy the items. But it gave me a really good idea of what stores offer the best deals (You would be surprised!) and what a good sale price would be, so I was no longer fooled by stores that have higher "sale" prices than regular prices at other stores.

[2busyboys1tiredmom]

Thanks everyone for responding! Alright, perhaps I will start a price book so I can figure out where to buy what and when. There isn't a ton of choices in my town so a price book shouldn't be too much work. I actually started keeping track of prices a year or so ago for Independent Grocer vs. Walmart Superstore, I tend to frequent both to get specific things that only one of the two carry. Thanks again for all the advice, I really do appreciate it.

[eyelessluz]

I got a free coupon here for u, http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/189152-...0-11-a-canada/