Grocery Coupons Are Well Worth The Effort When Used Correctly
I'm In Debt
- Posted:
2/6/2008
I used to think coupons were a complete waste of time, and would even be a little frustrated by the person in front of me in the check out line as she would rummage through her envelope of coupons to try and save what I thought was a few cents off her grocery bill. I was wrong though.
I've since discovered that coupons are well worth the time and effort to use them, if you learn how to use them to get the most value out of them. Here are some tips I've learned and that regularly save me $50 to $80 off my weekly grocery bill:
1) Planning may take some time- but the results are well worth the effort. Before I started using coupons regularly, I rarely even bothered making a grocery list. I knew the items we needed every week, and then would just shop for the things that I wanted to use to make dinners and such that week- the things that looked appetizing during that trip to the store. Planning your trip before hand is the key to success with coupons.
Use the store circulars (most are available online if you don't get them in the mail) and go through your fridge and cabinet to see what you need.
2) Start with sale items. Most stores have weekly sales that you can view online or via the circulars. Use them! Try to fill your needs for groceries with items currently on sale first. Go through your coupons and make a list of things that are on sale that you also have coupons for. For instance, if the sale is "buy one, get one free" for frozen vegetables that cost $2.20 a bag, and you have a coupon for $1 off that brand of frozen vegetables, you end up getting two packages for $1.20- and you've saved $3.20. These kind of sales with coupons are worth buying the items even if you don't need it that week so you have it on hand (as long as it won't expire before you do use it).
3) Visit websites of the companies you buy items for frequently for printable coupons. You can often print (from your regular computer and printer) coupons for items like paper towels, canned goods, and diapers simply by visiting the company website and searching for coupons.
4) If your grocery store accepts them, you can also print coupons from several coupon-websites, including couponmom.com. They are manufacturer's coupons- but due to people abusing them (making copies, etc) there are many retail grocery store markets that can no longer accept these. Doesn't hurt to ask, though!
Preparing for a shopping trip with coupons might seem like too much work. But if it takes you two hours to check the store flyer, look online for additional coupons and make your shopping list and you save $60 or so; isn't that the equivalent of earning $30 an hour? Definitely worth the little extra effort in my opinion. If you do this weekly, you could easily save a couple hundred dollars on your monthly grocery bill. I know because I do this every month!
Another thing I have found to be extremely helpful is to be flexible. If I made my list to get the Bounty papertowels that are on sale with my $1 coupon and discover that I can get the store brand for a little less money- I'll just grab the store brand and save my coupon for a different shopping trip. Sometimes you save more with store brand products, and sometimes you don't. After you get to the store, you just want to take a few extra seconds to compare your sale prices with coupons with the store brand to be sure you're getting the best deal.
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