To buy or not to buy?

Coupons that is! The easiest way to get coupons is to get a subscription to the newspaper. It really only takes the effort to set up the delivery and then they show up at your door week after week without much effort on your part.

The question has been asked, "how do you get so many copies of coupons?" I get several copies of newspaper inserts every week - I have a subscription to the newspaper and both of my grandmothers happily supply me with their unused coupons and nice people my husband works with send them my way too. (Thanks to all of you!)

But when there is a deal that I really want to stock up on, like the Kraft Shredded Cheese at King Soopers a couple of weeks ago that ended up being about $1/bag or the Mission Tortillas for $.25 a bag, I actually purchase coupons.

"Purchase coupons!" you say. Yep, that is what I do. Coupons say on them that you cannot buy, sell or trade them but you can get around this by saying you are paying for the time and effort the person puts forth to clip, sort and mail them to you.

There are many sources to purchase coupons from, but my main source has been and probably will always be ebay. I've purchased through other coupon clipping sites and they have almost always been more expensive than purchasing from someone on ebay. Just make sure to check their feedback before sending money! Also, make sure to order them as early as possible to get them with enough time to receive them before your sale is over. It is no fun to get coupons a day after the sale you wanted to use them on just ended. I only purchase coupons for sale with the option to 'Buy it Now' instead of having to wait for the auction to end, to ensure I receive them as quickly as possible.

Another question I've been asked is "why spend money on coupons just to save some money?" I'll give you an example. I bought 20 $.75/1 Mission Tortilla coupons on ebay for $1.50 shipped. We eat tortillas all the time in our house and they freeze great, so I figured that since they are on sale right now for $1.25/pack and with my coupon doubled up to $1, my final cost per pack is $.25, now was an awesome time to stock up. I spent $1.50 for the coupons for the equivalent of $20 of savings, since each coupon will save me $1 each time I buy a pack. These tortillas are usually $2.25 each when not on sale, so I'd spend $45 buying 20 packs at regular price. If I buy 20 packs of tortillas using my coupons, I'll spend $5 on them. Factor in my coupon cost and I'll spend $6.50 for 20 packs of tortillas or $.33/pack with coupon costs figured in. Needless to say, I won't be needing to purchase any more tortillas for a really long time.

What do you think about buying coupons - good idea or a bad one?