Since I posted about my
78% savings and encouraged everyone to clip coupons last week, I've received a lot of questions from overwhelmed people about where to start and how to do it. So I'm breaking it down for you. This is my system and it
might not work for you, but please feel free to
steal borrow any of my methods and adjust them to fit your lifestyle. This might look like a lot of work, but I can honestly say that
I only spend about an hour or two each week doing everything you're about to read below. That's it. It's not much time compared to the money I save on our bottom line.
The supplies (I always keep these items in my purse or in my car):
- a file-o-fax-type coupon organizer - I wrote in my own categories for separating my coupons - the ones that made sense to me fall in groups like: breakfast, baking, canned goods, seasonings and dry goods, frozen foods, dairy/meat, personal items, baby items, paper products and cleaning supplies.
- a little notebook to write the sales I want to take advantage of.
The process:
1. Clip coupons - If you don't get the paper, now's the time to start. You can order Sundays only for a discounted price or get one at the gas station on Sunday mornings; it's up to you. Just buy one. Or two or three if you want multiple coupons, but one works for me.
* Pull out the coupons and label each bunch of coupons with the date in a visible place on the front.
* Go through and cut out coupons for items that you normally buy. Personally, I'm no longer brand loyal on paper products or toiletries. With the ridiculous sales some of these stores run, you can often get those items for free, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
* Don't ignore teeny little coupons, like $.25 off. Stores go through promotions where they'll double and triple coupons up to $1. I just bought free butter because it was on sale for $1 and I had a $.35 coupon that I almost didn't clip. I have to remind myself of this point every week.
* DON'T throw away the coupons you didn't clip! Just trust me - I hate clutter as much as the next person, but if you keep them altogether in a file in your office (most recent first) you'll thank me later. Hanging onto old coupons has saved me big bucks in the last few weeks and I'm SO glad I finally started doing it. I'll explain why in a minute.
2. File your coupons - do this right away. Seriously - procrastinators, I'm talking to you, too. It takes 2 minutes and you won't be kicking yourself at the store next week wondering where that coupon is that you just KNOW you clipped this weekend.
3. Look through the grocery ads - each Wednesday, the new grocery ads come out and are valid through the following Tuesday. I am no longer in a neighborhood where they send me the ads in the mail, so I have to look up the ads and deals online. The local stores I look at are: Fry's, Albertson's, Basha's and Safeway. I have their weekly ad website saved in my favorites on my computer. I FAR prefer to look through a tangible ad (especially when the store offers coupons in the ad) but for now, I don't have a choice in this.
* I take my little notebook and write down the store sales that I may want on a list. One store at a time, not too overwhelming.
* Sometimes the list for a particular store has 20 things on it, sometimes only 1.
* This IS NOT my grocery list, just a list summing up the good deals for the week.
* Don't assume that because it's in the ad, it's a good deal. The longer you look through ads, the more you'll recognize which are the TRUE deals. TIME SAVINGS TIP: the best deals are usually on the front page.
* If you've never done this before, start here!
4. Look at the drug store ads - These come out on Sundays and run Sunday thru Saturday. If you want to save some serious cash, consider playing the CVS and Walgreens game. It may seem a little complicated, but they want you to bring in your prescriptions BADLY (that's where they make all of their money) so they want to get you in their store. I have attached links that explain the "how tos" for each store:
CVS 101 and
Walgreens 101. Personally, I shop at CVS more than Walgreens, but just this week, I spent $3.76 at Walgreens for an 8x10 photo, 6 cans of Progresso Soup, 2 packages of pantyliners and 2 cans of pumpkin. My original bill was over $20 before coupons. Even the check out guy was impressed. I had a store coupon PLUS a manufacturer's coupon for each item I bought. Walgreens lets you "stack" those coupons for double savings. I'll talk about that at the end of this post.
5. Look at the blogs that summarize the best deals -
Money Saving Mom and
The Good Deal Gal do this for a variety of major grocery chains. Sometimes I look at their list before looking at the grocery ads, it just depends. Also, they list deals for Walmart and Target. They're rarely better than your local grocery store, but sometimes they have freebies, too. My last Walmart trip was $7 and I bought $22 worth of stuff!
* The reason you want to do BOTH is because these blogs link to printable coupons that you can use for sale items AND they explain which items you can get for super-cheap with the sale plus coupons. This is where your older, filed coupons will also come in handy. Both of these blogs tell you which week certain coupons were offered.
* So, for example, last week, I saw that Betty Crocker frosting was on sale for $1 at Albertson's. I always bypass those coupons because I prefer to make my frosting from scratch. (I think it's cheaper, tastes better and doesn't have all of the additives.) BUT there was a $.50 coupon available a few weeks back, and Albertson's was doubling coupons last week, so by taking a minute to go back and clip that coupon from my file, the frosting was FREE. She also had a printable coupon link. With birthdays coming up and holiday pot lucks and all, I stocked up on frosting. Because if you invite me to your house, I know you won't care that I made the frosting from scratch. Let's be honest.
6. Write out your shopping list, separating by store. Even if you think you're not going to go to multiple stores, please do this! I can't tell you how many times I've needed to stall for 20 minutes before getting Ryan from school and knew I needed just one thing for dinner tonight, so I ran into the closest grocery store. Looking at my handy list, I knew to also grab buy one, get one free strawberries and 2 boxes of Cheerios with my coupons.
7. Pull out the coupons you plan to use this week. This will save you time and frustration when you're in the store. Even when I go to the store alone and don't have the kids to distract me, it never fails - I run into someone I know and it throws me out of my money-saving, coupon-using, task oriented zone.
A few more tips:
* Look for ways to "stack" coupons - most stores allow you to use a manufacturer's coupon PLUS a store coupon on the same item. Find out your local store's policies because this saves big bucks and sometimes you even get money BACK. CVS paid me $1 to leave with a tube of toothpaste last week. Can't beat that!
* Some stores accept competitor's coupons - my local Albertson's has always done this, but lately, stores are so desperate for our business that many are running "temporary specials" where they take each other's coupons.
* Some stores match ads from other stores - all Super Walmarts ad-match and I know there are others out there that do, too. But I have to warn you: this isn't always as great of a deal as it sounds. Again, Walmart wants you to get in their store so you buy other items from them, usually impulsively. They don't double or triple coupons, which may not seem like a big deal, but it could add $5-10 to your total bill each time. I've spent the better part of the last year only shopping at Super Walmart and can honestly say that I've spent more money doing it that way. Even with ad matching. I still go there for non-sale items, though, because (as a general rule) their prices are usually cheapest.
* Stick to your list. Period. If it's not on the list, you likely don't need it right now. If you're trying to stick to a budget, shop from your list.
* Don't dawdle in the store
- Get what you need and leave. I've heard it said that for every extra minute you spend wandering the aisles, you spend an extra $2.50. On a bad day (primarily when Kaylin was younger) I've been known to bring the kids to the Kids Club at my grocery store and slowly walk around with a cart, just to get some peace after a hard day of mothering. I wonder how much extra money I spent doing that?
* Meal plan - I know that seems like a lot of work, but by sitting down for 30 minutes every week and simply writing out what you want to make for dinner each night, you'll avoid the take-out trap (saving money on dining out), you'll save last minute trips to the store because you're out of buns or spaghetti sauce or rice AND you'll waste less food by throwing out things that go bad before you're able to consume them.
I hope these tips have been helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions, but more importantly, if you start doing these things and you save yourself some money. I got a call this weekend from my BFF whose first words on the phone were, "I'M A BELIEVER!" She finally started clipping coupons and saw the money that can be saved. You will be a believer, too, I promise!!!
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