Tip 5: Coupons, Stockpiling & Bargain Hunting
In Tip 5 of my blog series on how to save money on your grocery budget I’m giving you some tips and websites that you can use for research.
Couponing, stockpiling and bargain hunting in Ireland is quite difficult to do. Coupons haven’t taken off here in the same way as it has in the US, you will rarely get an item for less than 50% of the recommended retail price (RRP), and if you do, it’s unlikely you’ll get more than 1.
The majority of suburban houses aren’t designed with pantry/larder storage in mind and so it’s nigh impossible to stockpile to any large extent unless you reassign a living area. In my teeney, tiny galley kitchen I can store very little food and so I’ve converted a small part of the understairs area by putting in a bookshelf on which I store food.
Related to couponing but not quite, you can accumulate store loyalty tokens and these will then be translated into discounts, coupons or vouchers for your shopping during the year. Both Tesco & Dunnes have a well worked out loyalty system so if that interests you then by all means sign up to receive quarterly discounts and extra offers in the post.
Here are a couple of great sites here that you can browse to your heart’s content and find discounts, bargain alerts and perhaps even more shopping tips than you will find already in the Budgeting section of the blog. By doing this in advance of going shopping, you will be up to speed on the latest information on markdowns in your local supermarket, how much discount your coupons will get you etc.
Pigsback
The biggest go-to site for a large number of coupons all at once in Ireland
Positives: The coupons can be printed off more than once. They are generally quite good value.
Negatives: Some of the grocery items can be obscure and highly branded so you can choose a cheaper own-brand version rather than use the coupons in the first place. You do have to register with the site before being able to print off coupons.
For discussion and pointers on all things couponing in Ireland.
Positives: It’s regularly updated and you can keep up to speed with most of the coupons that are available in the Irish market.
Negatives: If you want to participate in the discussion then you will need to register. It can be a bit militant at times.
A very, very busy forum focused on discounts, which also has a section for bargain alerts requests which is handy too.
Positives: Very fast moving and out of date bargains are marked as such as soon as the moderators become aware of that.
Negatives: If you’re not online at the right time you will miss certain bargains. Take all online mispricing bargains with a pinch of salt.
Do you have any other sites that you would like to share with my readers that are good for couponing/bargain alerts in Ireland?
Do share them below!
Caitriona Redmond
I'm an Irish mother to 2 boys, born & bred in Dublin, Ireland. I like to cook simple & fresh food for the family, with the family on a budget.
9 Comments
Joanna O'Sullivan
I have room in my kitchen and am a tins and jars stockpiler. My 5 tips are: 1)Whenever you do a shop (large or small) buy ONE thing for the stockpile. The reason for this is it will have only a minimal effect on your budget and it’s possible to keep it up. I like tins of beans/peas/fruit/chopped tomatoes/chickpeas/creamed rice, jars of sandwich spread/beetroot, that little folded packet of pancake mix/dry baking mixes. 2)Only buy things that you will enjoy eating because the stockpile can be very handy for when you have unexpected visitors/a power cut and you’ve only wasted your money if you can’t happily dip into your stockpile in those circumstances. 3)Become aware of what you like in different shops so you can buy a particular product or buy something when it’s on offer. E.g. I find no difference between Aldi 20c peas and Batchelor’s 80-something cent peas so when I’m in Aldi I always throw in a tin for the stockpile. 4)Do not attempt to stockpile things in easy open packets like crisps or biscuits as your other half and/or children will find them and consume them in the blink of an eye. Do stockpile things that do not open too easily and/or may involve some level of preparation. 5)Whether you have room in your kitchen or you stockpile in a box under the bed group items so that you can tell at a glance what to stop buying for a while.
Wholesome Ireland
They are fantastic tips Joanna. You are brilliant. x
bryantbunch
We are AMericans living in NI and just this week found our first coupons since coming here a year ago! They were in a Mexican dinner kit box. 🙂
Wholesome Ireland
It’s crazy isn’t it? Amazing how much people just expect to pay and not even consider looking for vouchers/coupons!
ruzzel01
These are definitely additional to my list. Thanks for directing us. I am more eager and excited to do couponing on my next shopping!
Dave Carville
There’s a site called Cheaper Than Coupons that shows groupon goods vouchers and shows that they’re cheaper all the time on Amazon. Could be worth a look… http://www.cheaperthancoupons.com
Wholesome Ireland
That looks like a very interesting site Dave. Thanks for sharing.
Kayraa
I think it’s the fact that aldi is so cheap that it’s hard to get couponing going well in Ireland.
Wholesome Ireland
Hi Kayraa – actually traditionally it’s not the supermarkets that offer coupons it’s the brands. There are many reasons why they don’t offer discounts in the Irish market but overall they are not done as regularly as in the UK even as it’s a smaller market with huge brand loyalty.