Getting Started 

Once you learn to use coupons to maximize your grocery budget dollars, you will never return to your old way of shopping!  When you first read about the deals it looks confusing and time consuming.  It only feels that way in the beginning.  After a couple months of coupon shopping, you will be a pro.  Here are some tips I recommend doing to launch your personal savings program.

1. Buy 6 copies of the Sunday newspaper.  My local Sunday newspaper is regularly $2, but I purchase it at the Dollar Tree each week for, you guessed it, only $1.  That’s a 50% savings!
2. If you do not have a printer, purchase a cheap printer to use to print online coupons.  I got mine at Wal*Mart for $32.99.
3. Purchase a small accordian style coupon file for your purse or to keep with you in the car.  I got mine at Target for $3.99.
4. Purchase a good pair of scissors and a small cutting board.  You can buy a small cutting board at a craft store or office supply store.
5. Purchase a small calculator to carry in your purse or car.  They come in handy when out and about shopping at the store.

 

Tracking Prices 

Make a list of 20 staple items your family uses regularly (excluding fresh fruits and veggies).  Then follow your weekly ads and track the price of these items for the next 12 weeks.  I do almost all my shopping at Albertsons and Walgreens.  I find it easier to stick to a couple stores as it becomes too cumbersome to follow weekly circulars for all the grocery and drug stores.  It sounds time consuming, but you only need to do this in the beginning until you have a feel for what a true sale price is.  These might include:

• hamburger meat
• boneless skinless chicken breasts
• eggs
• butter
• cereal
• toothpaste
• hand soap
• shampoo
• toilet paper
• frozen vegetables
• juice
• yogurt
• pasta
• bottled water
• crackers
• cheese
• tuna
• peanut butter

The key to tracking the cost of the items is to only purchase them when they are at their LOWEST PRICE and only when you have COUPONS.  My kids know the rules to shopping, “Mommy only buys stuff when it is on sale and we have a coupon.”   Let’s take the following three items:  one pound chicken breasts, Skippy peanut butter, and Dial hand soap.

Week 1

Chicken breast – $2.79/lb, Skippy $2.99, Dial $2.99.  If you bought them this week you would pay: $8.77

Week 2

Chicken breast – $3.39/lb, Skippy $2.99, Dial: $1.49.  A coupon comes out for $.40 off Skippy and $.35 off Dial in the weekly coupon inserts.  If you bought your items this week, you would pay: $7.12.  This is $1.65 savings over the previous week. 

Week 3 

Chicken breast – $1.88/lb, Skippy $.99, Dial $.99.  The store is running a promotion that when you buy 5 Skippys you get $4.00 Catalina coupon back for your next shopping trip.  Remember, you also have you $.40 off coupons for Skippy and $.35 off coupons for Dial.  You would spend:

 Chicken breast $1.88

Skippy $.99 x 5 = $4.95 less $.40 x 5 coupons = $2.95 (remember, you get back $4 for buying 5 so this makes the peanut butter a “money maker”)

Dial: $.99 less $.35 coupon = $.64

Total: $5.47, but you get back a $4.00 Catalina coupon which brings your total to $1.47!!!

See how shopping this way saved you $7.30 vs the Week 1 prices?  You may think $7.30 isn’t a big savings.  However, think about if you shopped this way on every single item your family uses.  You will save thousands of dollars over the course of one year if you also purchase items when they are at their absolute lowest price point.  You have enough peanut butter in your pantry to last for a while so you don’t need to worry about buying that for a while. 

Stockpiling 

After you start shopping and buying items when they are at their lowest price, you will start to accumulate lots of items in your pantry.  This is referred to as stockpiling.  You only want to stockpile items that at their lowest price, or even better, FREE.  If you have a small home or apartment, you have to get creative on where to store items.  Under beds and in closets make great storage spaces.