So here are the basic tools that I use in order to stretch my dollar.
1. Sale Fliers in the Mail
2. Meal Menu (for one week)
3 Sunday Newspaper/Coupons
4. Store Savings Card
Before I even get to the grocery store, there are a few tools I need to be thinking about. The first one is every Tuesday I receive my sale fliers in the mail. Using these I make my meal menu and grocery list. First I start with my meat (right photo), since that is the core of our meal. The fresh whole fryer chicken is .79/lb. That's a good price and we like to make Beer Can Chicken. Actually we use Sierra Mist or Gingerale, but it's still called Beer Can Chicken. At that price I could buy a couple if necessary and freeze one for later in the month. Now, the next step is to pick my veggies. Down next to the Cokes, I notice that sweet potatoes are .59/lb. Can't pass that up. On the back of my sale flier (left photo), asparagus is 1.99/lb. Score!! Some people have told me to look for it at .99/lb but I have never been so lucky as to find it at that price. I think it's a myth. Under the picture of corn I see that cantaloupe is 2.50/each. A nice healthy dessert. So there I have one dinner (plus tons of leftovers for my lunches the next couple of days) for just about $2.50 per person.
The next thing I need to do before I get to the store is buy my Sunday Paper. Buy the largest paper you can. For us it is the Charlotte Observer. In Montana the Billings paper will have the most coupons. Coupons are going to be your third tool, which I will explain more in depth later. Cut out all your coupons, don't be picky. Well ok, so I don't typically cut out the coupons for denture cleaner or adult Depends...Common sense please. The best way to organize your coupons is whatever way works for you. I use baseball card holders in a binder. But if you find that an accordion file or an envelope work for you, go for it. I'll get into how I use my coupons once we're actually in the store.
At this point you have your menu and shopping list ready, your coupons are cut and organized. Now you'll need to start making sure you have a clean space to put away all the items you will be bringing home. Clean out the fridge, pantry and closets if you need to (I suggest doing this through out the week in order to not be stuck for an entire day doing this). Not only will this help you make space, but you will be able to double check for the items that you are running low on or already have 6 months worth and don't need to purchase any more.
Now, head out the door. You are FINALLY in the store. You will need to plan about an hour to do your shopping trip. If you have your kids with you - which I strongly urge you DO NOT BRING THE KIDS - then plan for about 2 hours. Have your calculator ready (I just use the one on my phone). If your budget is very strict, write everything down to make sure you are not going over your set amount. Get what you need on your list, but as your are moving through the store look at what's on sale that wasn't in the flier. After a while you will start remembering what your family uses a ton of and you need to stock up on. We use salad dressings like crazy, so if there is a good sale (with a coupon, of course) I will stock up on it even if I have 5 at home already.
Ok, now we are ready to talk about coupons. Typically you will have most of your savings come from your in-store sales that you see in the fliers. Your coupons are an additional perk to help maximize your savings. For example, my last big shopping trip I saved $116.00, but only about $25.00 of that was coupons. The rest was in-store savings. The best way to explain is to give you an example. You can see in the right hand picture below 4 items which at full price would have cost me $23.99, before tax. Here is a break down of how I was able to pay only $6.35.
Colgate: 2.99
Sale price: 1.49
Coupon: -.75
Doubled: -.75
Final price 0.00
Skintimate Shave Cream: 3.29
Sale price: 2.00
Coupon: -.55
Doubled: -.55
Final Cost: .90
Schick Razor: 11.99
Sale price: 9.59
Coupon: -4.00
Final Cost: 5.59
Got 2 B Hair Product: 5.72
Sale price: 2.86
Coupon: -3.00
Final Cost: +.14
When you see "Doubled" that means that the grocery store's policy allows for my manufacturer's coupon to be multiplied by 2 up to .99 (if the coupon is not coded "do not double"). Double check with your grocery store what their policy is. Simply ask someone that works there, or look up their website and print off their policy. It's always a good idea to have it printed off and take with you when you shop.
As you can see, my coupons are simply a tool to provide additional savings, but the majority of my savings come from the in-store sale price. Now that I have my items in my cart (or buggy as they say here in the South) I am ready to use my last tool, my Store Sale Card. This is the little key chain tag with the bar code on it. If you don't have one, go get one now. Miss Kelly says you have to. Get one for every store you plan on shopping in.
Does this take time, absolutely. But is saving $100.00/week worth it? It is to me, but I'll let you guys decide how much time you want to invest into your budget. Saving money is just like anything else, the more time you put into the more results you will see.
These are the basics, nothing too fancy. And there are definitely 100 more ways to save even more, but that's another blog. If you live in the South, SouthernSavers.com is a great site to utilize for savings, coupons, freebies, information, etc.
The most important thing I have learned from "couponing" is that it takes more patience than sometimes I think I have. It takes a few months to build up your pantry and freezer, and ever a few more months to start seeing the savings you hope for. The first 3 months (at least) I was almost in tears because I didn't think I'd ever stay within my budget. But at about the 4th month, I was saving on average $100.00 each week. Last year I was elated to see on my receipt that my yearly savings was over $7,000 just at one store alone.
Good luck, I hope this helps!
