My Solution to the Dearth of Good Coupons

I've been a reasonably avid coupon user for the last three years.  I'm not extreme by any stretch of the imagination, but I go through all the free weekly circulars that come in the mail and I take the coupons from my parents' Sunday paper nearly every week.  Because I don't buy a lot of processed food, my savings mostly come on household products - cleaners, bath tissue, etc.  Lately, though, I've noticed a distinct downward trend in usable coupons.  In fact, I haven't found a single usable manufacturer's coupon in the last two weeks.

Since I try to be a frugal shopper, I looked around on the internet to see if there is a better way - and had another look at Amazon's Subscribe and Save feature.  Basically, you get a 15% discount if you sign up to have household items delivered to you on a regular schedule, which can be as frequently as every month or as infrequently as every six months.  What I like is that you are not locked in  - you can cancel your subscription at any time, even after just one purchase, or you can temporarily halt delivery for one or more delivery cycles.

 

Prices are comparable to my local Family Dollar and Dollar General (the cheapest source for household goods in my area) for Charmin Toilet Paper, Bounty Paper Towels, Cascade Complete Gel Dishwasher Detergent (although you have to buy a lot of it at once), and Mr. Goat's favorite local coffee blend, Community Coffee Private Reserve Whole Bean Coffee, Kona Blend (we can't afford his all-time favorite coffees for everyday).  They don't carry generic, but they do have cheaper brands like Quilted Northern and Sparkle.  (I buy the premium brands because, over time, I have found little savings in buying the cheaper brands as they are less effective at their respective tasks.)

In addition to the time and gas savings of direct home delivery, I also save because Amazon does not have a physical location in my state, and so is not required to charge me sales tax.  Sales tax in the closet town is currently 9.5%, of which only 2% is state sales tax.  Plus, I get 3% cash back on everything I purchase from Amazon, versus 1% on everything I buy at discount stores.

Once I started thinking outside the coupon box, I realized that the savings from switching to Amazon really add up.  I'll continue to keep my eye out for coupon/sales combination bargains, but it will have to be a pretty sweet deal before it cancels out the benefits I get from Amazon.