There are several areas in which to save money in your family’s finances.  Everyone is always looking for a simple way to save without compromising quality.  A great place to start looking for ways to save is your grocery store spending.

Cutting Costs at the Grocery Store

A first step for any family is to set a weekly budget for grocery shopping. In addition, shopping sales and clipping coupons are the two biggest ways to cut your grocery bill.  My husband and I love to see our ‘spent versus saved’ at the bottom of our receipt.  We attempt to get the two numbers as close as possible.  I remember one grocery trip during which I actually saved $20 more than I spent!

Using Grocery Store Ads to Save Money

Grocery ads are easy to find and free.  I get several in my mailbox every week.  However, if you’re looking to eliminate clutter on your countertops and streamline the process, recycle those ads and get online!  A great online resource for grocery ads is MyGroceryDeals.com.  This site offers a comprehensive look at all of the grocery ads for stores in your area, allowing you to choose a ‘main’ store (as well as several others), shop the ads, add items to your shopping list on the site, and then print the list.  The shopping list keeps all of your selected stores separate, and even includes a total at the bottom for the amount your items cost as well as the money you’re saving with the sale prices.  The part I dislike most about grocery shopping is digging through multiple ads and writing out lists, so this site is really a time and sanity saver.

Where to Find Coupons

Accessing coupons has become easier than ever with the legion of places in which they are available.  There’s the Sunday newspaper, which can be delivered relatively inexpensively.   Our local paper costs $8 a month for Sunday-only delivery, and we clip and ‘spend’ about $150-200 worth of grocery and restaurant coupons out of it every month.

Where to Find Coupons Online

Coupons are also available in multiple places online.  There are several sites on which grocery coupons can be selected for printing at home.  Sites such as Coupons.com, CouponMom.com, and Wow-Coupons.com carry coupons that you select, print, and use at a local grocery store.  Upromise.com even offers eCoupons, which are loaded onto the frequent shopper cards most grocery stores provide, so you have nothing to clip and carry.  This is convenient for unplanned trips to the store, as well as busy moms who don’t want to be digging through their purses for coupons in the checkout lane.

Take advantage of the free and low cost resources that are out there, and you can save a large amount in the grocery shopping portion of your household spending!

by Carly Fortin