Calling Coupon Connoisseurs
Happy Sunday morning. So, after posting last week about cutting back on the grocery/food bill, I am checking out the Sunday newspaper for coupons. I’m starting to think this may be counterproductive. I got my income tax return Friday, so my bank account is quasi-flush. All these Office Depot and Best Buy ads for LCDs, GPS’ and laptops have me drooling. All I wanted to do was check out the big box and grocery store chains so I can stay within my $50 food budget this week and now I am tempted to spend hundreds.
*sigh*
Anyhow, please let me know your coupon clipping strategy. Coupons are all the rage. I’ll let you know how my clippings go, but I think there’s an art to this.
How do you find grocery deals?
11 Responses to Calling Coupon Connoisseurs
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I do all my grocery shopping online and before I start going ‘up and down the aisles’ I check out all the specials. You can save a lot, especially on the 2 for 1 deals
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My wife is the one who clips the coupons and finds the sales, but the basic strategies she follows are this.
1. Clip any coupon of a product you may buy. Anything that you would never take even if it was free, you can forget. But anything that you have used in the past or are considering using in the future should be cut out—note: if you keep the coupons for several months like we do, then you don’t have to clip out as many.
2. Before clipping the coupons it is helpful to look through the weekly grocery circulars to find out which items are already on sale and considering purchasing. Some items which are double discount (sale & coupon) are marked in the actual ad–usually items on sale at Publix.
3. My wife has a coupon organizer divided into various sections which all the coupons go into which stays in her purse. That way she has all coupons at her disposal anytime she is out.
4. Look at the CVS and Walgreens fliers to coordinate with the coupons. For example, there is a coupon this week for $1.50 off Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste which is on sale B1G1 @ CVS. Same thing with toothbrushes; there is a coupon for 75 cents off and B1G1 at CVS.
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I’ve heard good things about The Grocery Game but it really wasn’t that useful for me. The types of things I buy on a regular basis generally don’t have coupons. That said, you could try it and see if it’s helpful for you. I believe it costs $1/wk but what’s $1 if you’re really saving money?
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I am so old school! I shop at one grocery store (I don’t go to many different stores, because I figure the cost of gas negates any savings) and will just look through their circular and bring coupons. Some weeks I use a bunch of coupons, and other weeks zero coupons.
I also clip coupons for household things and will take those to Walmart to save even more!
I’d love to hear any suggestions for better coupon websites that I can scroll through!
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Ok, this is great advice. It was hard for me to find what I normally buy on sale. And I found a lot of products on sale like detergent and make up, but I was in the market for food. I’m going to keep at it.
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The grocery game didnt work for me either AND it there is a small fee. I use http://www.couponmom.com. She lists all of the coupons that come out in the paper, ties them up with the weekly sales papers of the major grocery chains in all the states as well as walmart, cvs, walgreens and rite-aid. You dont have to clip the coupons that you want to use until you get ready to go shopping. She tells you where they are located etc…. i started using the FREE site in December and have saved hundreds of dollars (single mom family of 4) and got lots of free items because of the sales and coupons. they even tell you how to make money from these things.
50 bucks a week that you have budgeted for just yourself is great. I can feed my entire family with that using the strategies they outline. Not to mention that we are NOT always getting the store brands either. The fam has finally been able to get used to having name brands!!
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I normally just look at the weekly circulars. Unfortunately, I have not been very diligent with clipping coupons and the like.
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I usually just glaze over the Sunday circulars also. I really need to do better.
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I buy at the same store each week. They rotate sales on staples such as pasta, sauce, chicken and stuff I use about every 8 weeks- meaning some staple is on sale every week.
What I eat is what they have on sale that week- nothing different. Since I don’t eat much prepared or processed food, the coupons don’t help me much, though I do look them over.
Stick with the foods on the perimeter of the store- produce, meat, bread. Stay away from the processed foods and you will easily make it on $50 per week!
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I buy at the same store each week. They rotate sales on staples such as pasta, sauce, chicken and stuff I use about every 8 weeks- meaning some staple is on sale every week.
What I eat is what they have on sale that week- nothing different. Since I don’t eat much prepared or processed food, the coupons don’t help me much, though I do look them over.
Stick with the foods on the perimeter of the store- produce, meat, bread. Stay away from the processed foods and you will easily make it on $50 per week!
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I have found that, the more often I cook, the more good stuff I have hanging around in the cupboards. Once you build an arsenal of favorite spices/ingredients, you’ll find you can do more with what you already have.
I’m blessed with a BF who’s a genius at making something out of nothing. Usually, by just opening the cupboards and scrounging, he can come up with two days’ worth of meals just when I thought we were in dire need of groceries. It has become a game for us to see how long we can go between grocery runs, and since he came to town we’ve never had anything go bad before we could use it up.
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