Saving Money with Coupons

The idea of using coupons used to seem like such a waste of time to me. I couldn’t imagine spending hours cutting coupons only to save a few dollars. Using coupons can be overwhelming at first but once you work out a system and learn how to take advantage of sales by combining coupons with the lowest sale price and store coupons, you will be truly shocked by how much money you can save.

Coupon Basics

Coupons can be found in the inserts in your Sunday paper, online through services such as coupons.com, and through special coupon offers provided by individual companies or your local stores. Using coupons on their own, while still a great way to save money, does not allow you to get the most value for your coupon. Combining manufactures coupons with store coupons and/or sale prices make it possible to get many items for a fraction of the cost that they would normally be, and in some cases, you can get many products for free. You can purchase a Sunday only subscription to your local paper for only a few dollars a month and you will easily make back the cost of your paper many times over by using the coupons included in the insert each week.

Storing Coupons

Cutting coupons doesn’t do you much good if you don’t have a system in place that allows you to find them when you need them. Storing coupons in a way that makes them easily accessible makes it more likely that you will use them. Many coupon-users enjoy using a simple three-ring binder with full size business card inserts. This method allows you to easily see which coupons you have but it can be large to carry around and not all coupons fit nicely in the slots. I prefer using a small accordion style holder that fits easily in my diaper bag. I use two, one for food items and one for all non-food items to make it easy to separate coupons into categories so I can quickly find what I need in the store. As I plan my menu for the week and make my shopping list, I pull out coupons that I know I’m going to use and put them in the front of the accordion file. This not only makes it easy to find the coupons I need while I’m shopping (which is vital when you are shopping with kids), it also reminds me which items I wanted to buy with my coupons just in case I miss them while looking through my shopping list.

Buy Items Before You Need Them

Planning your menus around stores sales is a great way to get the most value for your grocery budget but that is only the beginning. Buying items before you need them allows you to stock up on items that you know you are going to use when they are at their lowest price. Basic food and household staples, especially when they are non-perishable, rarely get wasted. Purchasing items that your family will need in the future when they are offered at the lowest price will allow you to save thousands of dollars over the course of a year and provide a wonderful sense of security for your family knowing that you have the things you need if you can’t make it to the store right away.

Coupon Shortcuts

The money you can save with coupons can be astounding but knowing when and how to use your coupons to stretch your grocery budget the farthest can be overwhelming. If you want the benefits of using coupons and stocking up on sale items but are confused by the process there are shortcuts that can simplify it while still allowing you to cut hundreds of dollars off your grocery bill every month. The Grocery Game is a service that matches the coupons from your Sunday paper (and other online and store coupons) with sale prices to let you know when you are getting the best deal on items your family uses on a regular basis. You can sign up for individual lists for stores in your area including, Walgreens, Smiths, Albertsons, and Rite Aid. Each list is color coded so you can quickly see which items are free after using your coupons or are at their lowest price and are best for stockpiling. Each list is only $10 for two months (or $5 for 2 months of each additional list) and easily saves you that much money and more on your first shopping trip. As an added perk, The Grocery Game allows you to receive account credit for each person you refer to the service (feel free to earn some good karma by using my email address when you sign up rachel(at)busymommy(dot)us). The Grocery Game offers a 4 week trial of all of the lists available in your area for only $1 and I high recommend taking advantage of it, even if you don’t think cutting coupons is for you.

Can You Really Save Money with Coupons?

I’ve heard quite a few people say that they really don’t think coupons save you any money. Many people think cutting coupons and figuring out when grocery items are at their lowest price is too much work with too little return. Frugal grocery shopping does take some practice but it really will save you hundreds of dollars off your grocery bill each month. I consistently use coupons as I shop for household items but it is always a work in progress and I’m still learning more all the time. We’ve gotten our family household budget (including groceries, diapers, household items, cleaning products, etc.) for a family of 5 down to $300 a month. This number is a lot more impressive when you realize that I have two kids in diapers and I have three boys and a husband who can each out-eat me on a regular basis. I love seeing my total drop as I go through the register at the grocery store as they add my coupons into their system. On my last shopping trip, my original total was $140, which honestly wasn’t that bad considering I had nearly 2 weeks of groceries. After adding in all of my coupons, my final total was $80 and included a huge bag of frozen chicken, a large pork loin, 2 packages of hot dogs, several gourmet frozen pizzas, a huge assortment of produce, shampoo, baking supplies, and much more.

Using coupons has allowed me to feed my family higher quality food for a fraction of the cost that I used to spend on a typical grocery shopping trip. My kids are learning the importance of spending our money wisely, regardless of whether or not we have extra money to spend. My pantry is stocked and I love the security that comes with knowing that I can feed my family even if I can’t make it to the store or our income is suddenly cut by unemployment or unexpected expenses. Once I developed a routine, using coupons has become second nature and it has almost become a game to see how much we can buy for the least amount of money. I enjoy challenging myself to see how much money I can save on each shopping trip and over the course of a year I am able to save thousands of dollars.