Working Harder with Coupons
Posted by Katie Adauto on Saturday, January 16, 2010
Under: Grocery Shopping
So, to help out with my new year goals, I have committed to save $120 a month on groceries. My goal is now to spend $120.00 a week. Now, depending on where you live and the size of your family that may seem like a lot of money or a little. With a 17 year old boy in my home, that amount sounded like something I could actually meet.
On Thursday I went to my grocery store deal page (right now I only have So. Cal stores listed) and compared the lists and decided which store had the best deals for the week. Once I had determined that Stater Bros. was the best store this week, I started making my general list. Then I read carefully all the deals that were listed and started cutting out coupons for these items and working my dinners for the week around what was a good deal. I will admit this took me about 30 minutes. I hope that as I do this more often the time will decrease.
Yesterday, I confidently drove to the store, anxious to see how this trip would compare to the old ones. There was only one deal that I came in prepared to buy that the store did not carry. So all but one of my coupons was used. My cart was piled so high I was putting items underneath! I was getting nervous as I approached the check-out. I saw the amount after she rang everything up and thought, oops, I have made a big mistake. But then she started deducting the coupons. It was slow going. Because I had a lot of coupons that I had printed off the internet, the cashier examined each one. She even had to call someone about 2 of them. But in the end all the coupons were good and I walked out spending $118.69 of my $120 budget! I saved $65.01 by using coupons and taking advantage of the deals the store was running. The big difference was that I came home with a lot more food than I normally do. I stocked up on Top Sirloin, ( I never buy meat like that and now I have extra!) and have enough laundry detergent to last at least 1 1/2 months.
At this point I feel like my 30 minutes were well spent in preparing my list and getting my coupons together. I will try it again next week and let you know how it goes!
On Thursday I went to my grocery store deal page (right now I only have So. Cal stores listed) and compared the lists and decided which store had the best deals for the week. Once I had determined that Stater Bros. was the best store this week, I started making my general list. Then I read carefully all the deals that were listed and started cutting out coupons for these items and working my dinners for the week around what was a good deal. I will admit this took me about 30 minutes. I hope that as I do this more often the time will decrease.
Yesterday, I confidently drove to the store, anxious to see how this trip would compare to the old ones. There was only one deal that I came in prepared to buy that the store did not carry. So all but one of my coupons was used. My cart was piled so high I was putting items underneath! I was getting nervous as I approached the check-out. I saw the amount after she rang everything up and thought, oops, I have made a big mistake. But then she started deducting the coupons. It was slow going. Because I had a lot of coupons that I had printed off the internet, the cashier examined each one. She even had to call someone about 2 of them. But in the end all the coupons were good and I walked out spending $118.69 of my $120 budget! I saved $65.01 by using coupons and taking advantage of the deals the store was running. The big difference was that I came home with a lot more food than I normally do. I stocked up on Top Sirloin, ( I never buy meat like that and now I have extra!) and have enough laundry detergent to last at least 1 1/2 months.
At this point I feel like my 30 minutes were well spent in preparing my list and getting my coupons together. I will try it again next week and let you know how it goes!
In : Grocery Shopping
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I am a 40 yo stay-at-home mom of 2 wonderful teenagers. I have been able to stay home 9 years now and am still amazed by how much God has blessed my family. I have frugal in my blood, but don't worry you can get it too!
