Last year, I decided to start clipping coupons to save money on any and everything I could. After cutting out a ton of coupons, sorting them and organizing them neatly in my coupon holder, I would forget to use them. Scratch that, I would forget to even pick up the coupon organizer on the way out the door or leave them in the truck of the car on my way into the store. Great system huh? It was turning into a time consuming pain in the butt and I all but gave up. If I remembered the coupons, I would use them on things I needed, if not, whatever.
So, now I’m on round two of the coupon plan and I’m giving it another go. Why? Because I understand how to work the system now. This time, I have a new strategy I learned from watching Oprah one day. The show was all about saving money and cutting back in these difficult times.
There was the Heinz family, a family of six, who managed to thrive after having their combined salary cut in half. They were on the show to teach the Sandberg family, a family of four, everything they learned in the past year of living thrifty. She had tons of tips for cutting back monthly expenses and even how to cook a meal for under $5, with left-overs.
What I learned from them:
- Don’t create your weekly menu according to what you may want to eat. Create it according to what’s on sale that week.
- If you want to take the family out to eat, find restaurants where kids eat free on certain nights of the week. "Google your town’s name plus ‘free stuff’ or ‘kids’ free meals,’ and things pop up," she says.
- Utilize one of the best kept secrets for DVDs rentals. Check them out of your local library for free!
The show also had Stephanie Nelson, founder of CouponMom.com (love this website!). She was able to turn $127 worth of groceries into a $37.16 bill. That’s a savings of 70%. We like that!
What I learned from her:
- Don’t shop according to what you want, shop according to what’s on sale. (I feel a theme, do you?)
- Buy more than one newspaper so you will have more than 1 coupon for an item. It increases your savings.
- Check store shelves for unadvertised sales and discounts.
- Try to use a coupon for every item you buy! Food, toiletries, household items, etc.
- How to save money on groceries every time.
Now, I’m on board. I was going about it completely the wrong way. I wouldn’t look at the store circulars until I was in the store. The final thing that got me on board was watching a news report on how a woman was able to get over $211.70 worth of groceries for $.42. Yes! $.42! I am so on board!
The past month I have been making a real effort to put the system into practice. I’ve clipped coupons, shared what I don’t need with others and sat down with the store circulars, pen, paper and coupon organizer. It does take a bit of time to get into a habit of doing it, but I can do it while watch TV.
Here are a few tips I want to pass on from my experience so far:
- Check out the circulars from more than one store. They may have the same things on sale, but one may have a better deal.
- Find out which of your stores does double coupons and which days.
- Sign up for the store reward programs. It’s free and it can save you extra money on store only deals.
- Make a separate list for each grocery store where you plan to do your shopping. Paper clip the coupons to that list so everything will be together.
- Don’t worry about what you may want because eventually it will be on sale.
- Take all of your coupons into the store when you shop just in case you see items that are not advertised.
- Even though you may have your favorites, be open to all brands of products. What you love may not be on sale so try something new.
- Use Couponmom.com to print more than one coupon for products. It increases your savings.
- Don’t forget about the pharmacy and discount stores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, Target and Wal-Mart.
- Don’t be afraid to walk out the store empty handed if they do not have the items you thought were on sale. (Still can’t believe I couldn’t get those 5 boxes of cereal for $1.80!)
What money saving techniques do you use? Share them in the comments below!
