Grocery Tips

Since couponing is such a craze I decided to give it a try.  I'm not an 'extreme couponder' yet, but have been able to get a few things for free with sales and coupons and am slowly growing a stockpile.  We live in the Midwest and do not have a large selection of grocery stores to choose from so it makes it difficult to coupon successfully.

Here are just a few Shopping tips, not necessarily couponing tips.  Just a few things I have figured out to help shop on a budget.

~Buy only when on sale and you have a coupon:  This is when you get the best bang for your buck and sometimes even walk away with free stuff.  I had a coupon for BBQ sauce for .50 cents off of one.  The grocery store that I went to doubled the coupon and the sauce was on sale for .98 cents. So, I got it for free.  This was the first free thing I ever got from couponing.  No, I did not get 99 bottles of BBQ sauce b/c I only had one coupon.  But it was a success for a girl living in the country! ONE FREE BBQ SAUCE!

~Use a grocery store card.  I have figured out that if you have the store's card then you get a ton more discounts. (I've also gotten great deals by using a drug store card as well for small personal hygiene items like shampoo and soaps).  Yes, it is an incentive gimmick to shop just at their store, but if you shop wisely and do some store comparison then it will pay off.

Here is a receipt from using my drugstore card and buying things with coupons together with what was on sale.  I saved more than I spent, so for me it was a personal success.

~Buy up seasonal sales even if not needed at the time:  This was one of the harder things for me to do.  Living on a tight budget it was hard for me to buy things I didn't need during that month or week.  But, I knew I would need the item eventually.  And, knowing how harsh our winters are here I love the idea of having a stockpile so I don't need to shovel out my car just to go and get some ketchup (which goes on sale after 4th of July and Memorial day typically).

~Buying what's on sale and making menu, not making menu and then grocery list:  This was one of the hardest habits to break and get used to.  I would always make a weekly menu, look in the pantry and then make a grocery list.  Now I go and get what's on sale, look in the pantry after buying the sale items, and make a menu for the week.  I'm shocked at how much money I saved doing this one simple step.

~10 for $10: you do not have to buy all 10 to get the deal-Each item is $1.  Progresso soup went on sale at our area grocery store.  It was 10 for $10.  I had 2 coupons for .50 of off 3 cans.  I put 10 cans in my cart and then realized I only wanted 6 cans. I only wanted to buy the cans that I was using the coupons for.  I asked the manager and he said the cans were only $1 whether I bought all 10 or not.  This particular store also doubles coupons up to $1 every day.  I put 4 cans of soup back.  So, I bought 6 cans of soup and only paid for 4.  That means I walked out with 2 FREE cans of soup!