For all those who might be wondering how I do all the coupon stuff, I thought I would give a little summary on the helpful tools I use to save money and stay under budget with our grocery bill.
First of all, I love the money saving blog named
Southern Savers. This site is a free blog written by a woman named Jenny. Everyday there are many postings that help people save money. She gives lists that match the store sales with coupons. Basically she takes your grocery store sales paper and lists below each item on sale all the coupons that are available for that item. Most grocery stores change sales every Wednesday. Publix, Bilo, Ingles, Foodlion. She posts Kroger list on Monday I think. You must check this site out. It is awesome. If you are new to couponing and have never used the site there is a great little introduction she offers. When you go on the page on the right side underneath where it says, "Welcome to Southern Savers", there is a click here for any newcomers. You should definitely read this first, it helps to explain coupons lingo and how you can save so much at your grocery store.
The trick is this...
Stockpiling. I am sure that most of you go to the grocery store (or Walmart) two to three times a week to get what you need to make dinner for your family based on recipes or menu you have created. Well buying based on the rock bottom prices in the store is how to save the most. For example, when rice or cereal is the cheapest ever, it makes sense to go ahead buy two or three boxes (or more if you have the storage) so that you never have to buy it at the expensive regular price again. Usually grocery stores rotate sales weekly, and eventually every item that you use regularly will go on sale at a rock bottom price.
For example. Let's say Hamburger Helper is $2.49 a box at regular price. The grocery store often runs deals where the item is Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Well in Bilo or Publix lingo this actually means 1/2 price. So instead of paying $2.49 you actually pay $1.24. Well, then if it is combined with a coupon. Usually the Hamburger Helper coupon is $1 off when you buy 3. So for three boxes of Hamburger Helper you actually are paying $2.73. Wow! It is like you are getting three boxes for the price of one. In this case I think that it is a good idea to go ahead and get three or six boxes. I will have used all of them by the time they go on sale again. Walmart's "Everyday low price", will never beat that.
This is just an example, I do not actually remember how much Hamburger Helper is.
Where do you get all those coupons? First of all I usually buy about two to three newspapers every Sunday. The cool thing about Southern Savers is that they actually list the coupons that will be in Sunday's paper each week. This posting is usually on Thursday, so you can already know what coupons to look forward to on Sunday. TIP!!!! You will want to get a newspaper from the biggest metro area closest to you. Even though I live in Chattanooga, I try to get a Atlanta Constitution or Birmingham News because for some crazy reason the coupons in these papers are better.
On Southern Savers grocery lists, she provides links to the printables available for the items that are sale. It is as easy as that. When you look at the list all you have to do is click on the link for the coupons discounting the items that you want. You will understand when you look at the site.
There are other sites too.
coupons.com The update all the coupons at the beginning of every month. You can usually print two of each coupon.
www.redplum.comwww.smartsource.comA Full Cup. They offer an amazing coupon database that lists all the coupons in the world. Yes, it seems to be an exhaustive list of coupons. So if you want to know if there is a coupon for Post Cereal, all you have to do is search on this site and find out if there is a coupon for the item. They also have printables for Target and other stores too.
Fiddledeedee.com For all of you guys who have a Winn Dixie this site gives coupon match-ups for that store. Southern Savers does not do Winn Dixie lists.
Attention Target Shoppers This is a site that does coupon match-ups for Target. I have used it a few times and saved great at Target. Target has store coupons which you can combine with Manufacturer coupons for free or almost free items. Can I get a Wow!!!
I also subscribe to a magazine call "All You". It is a magazine you can buy only at Walmart. However I have a subscription so I do not need a reason to go to Walmart. They have tons of great coupons each month. Some of the coupons are higher value than you usually see in the regular newspapers. They magazine also has great recipes and tips for women.
CVS CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid is a whole different story. You can get tons of stuff for free or for very little out of pocket. Southern Savers has a great explanation for how to do it. It is so worth it. I prefer CVS. They are very customer friendly and make using their system very easy. If you are someone who needs toiletry items, make-up, diapers, even food items, and paper products. Whatever it is you can usually get it at amazing sales or free by using the directions through Southern Savers. She usually puts the lists up on Thursday or Friday and the sales do not begin until Sunday. This helps give you time to get your lists ready with the coupons that go with them.
Other sites that help with drug store deals
www.survivingthestores.comwww.iheartcvs.comwww.iheartwalgreens.comwww.iheartriteaid.comMy brain is full of couponing information. I have been doing it for almost two years. I have only been doing it aggressively for about five or six months. I usually save about 70% at the stores. Justin has a great spreadsheet that I track all my deals.
You ask how much time does it take. At first it make take a little time. I will not lie to you. However, once you get your coupons organized then all you do is pull them out each week and put your list together and head to the stores.
If you have questions please comment. I love seeing other people adopt this and save big.
Good luck!!!
