I took this week off from grocery shopping so don't really have any savings to write about. I thought I'd take this opportunity to share my basic rules for saving money at the grocery store. These are some of the rules I shared when I was asked to present as part of a series at our church on "living simply".
- Subscribe to your local newspaper. Some places require you to subscribe for a whole weekend (like here in Kansas City), but if you get in on a deal you can save quite a bit of money having it delivered to your house vs picking it up in the store each week. I save $1 a week that way!
- Try to clip your coupons on Sunday, that way if the coupons are really great you can run out and pick up a second paper - I've done that several times.
- Look for online coupons at sites like couponmom, Kraft, Grocery Game, etc.
- Sign up for free samples - often those samples come with high value coupons!
- Stack coupons whenever you can - that's when you combine a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon on the same item. Target, CVS, Walgreens and Hy-Vee (midwest grocery chain) are my favorite places to stack coupons.
- Be wary of warehouse clubs (Sam's, Costco, BJ's) as the price you're paying is not always the lowest. We go to Sam's once a month to buy a few certain items (5 pound brick of cheese, Goldfish crackers, apple juice, oatmeal and french toast sticks).
- Plan your meal based on what's on sale and what's already in your stockpile.
I also highly recommend the following websites!
The Grocery Game - this is a site I pay a small fee to every 2 months. This streamlines my grocery shopping and I feel 100% certain I'm buying at the lowest price.
Money Saving Mom - this is a site I check several times a day. It's great for finding top deals/freebies at places like Target, Walmart, CVS, etc. This site is also great for finding out about free samples, deals at restaurant chains and more.
Frugal Freebies and Deals - this is a site similar to Money Saving Mom but I often find different deals. I subscribe to this one by e-mail and each night an e-mail comes with all the deals posted earlier that day.
Thrifty and Chic Mom - similar to above site and again is one I subscribe to.
I hope you found this little lesson helpful! If you're in the KC area and have a group you'd like me to give my 20 minute presentation to just get in touch with me. I don't charge and I have a nifty Power Point presentation.
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7 comments:
Helen, thanks for the savings info. I was able to use some good coupons on buy one get one today. Question though - do you have an easy way to file your coupons?
Thank you so much for the information.
I love your blog because that saving tips help us a lot.
Have a wonderful weekend.
PS: Check my blog I give you an award.
Kathie, I use a small accordion file. I believe my sister picked my most recent one up at Target. It has 12 slots that I labeled (breakfast, snack foods, health, beauty, etc). Each category is then sorted by expiration date. I'll try to remember to include a picture of it in next week's post!
I use a small accordian file too. I got it at Office Max for like $4.
Helen- do you have a hard time using coupons printed off the computer? I hear mixed info about stores accepting them.
Sam, I use internet coupons on a regular basis and the only time I personally have had a hard time was when I had a coupon that was valued at more than $1. Apparently one of the stores I shop at will no longer accept internet coupons worth more than $1. I know some people have trouble if the print quality is bad, so just make sure your printer has enough ink!
Helen,
Am I the only one who can't see the typing in your post. I was able to see it when I highlighted it, but otherwise it doesn't show up? Is the background and font color the same or is it my computer???
Seems to be your computer Alicia as I haven't heard of issues from others. Sorry you're having problems! Is it just this post or all posts?
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