I have to admit that towards of the end of last year I was not giving my grocery shopping as much effort as I should have been. As a result I was spending a lot more money. I made a point to get more organized and put more time into my grocery shopping this year.
I am very pleased so far with my results. I do my large shopping every other week but still make a trip in between to pick up the deals for that week. Even though I am shopping more it has really helped me to save and also stock up on things when they are on sale.
In January I only did two shopping trips. I spent a total of $221.90 and saved a total of $134.58. I started to do weekly shopping trips in February. I spent a total of $259.59 and saved a total of $240.95. I spent a little bit more over all but saved almost double. That makes those extra trips worth it to me.
The biggest impact when it comes to saving at the grocery store is to stock up on items when they are at their rock bottom price. This way you will never have to pay full price. Not only is it important to use coupons but knowing when to use coupons. Most people who don’t see using coupons worth while are only clipping the coupons they receive for the week and use them at that shopping trip and throwing out the rest. By only seeing a few dollars of savings they quickly give up. However if you save all your coupons and only use them when prices are at their lowest you can see a significant savings.
Another obstacle to saving at the grocery store is staying organized. I just started using the Couponizer to keep my coupons organized. This is a really great system. I do pull all the coupons I plan on using before I go to the store, but it is nice to have all the other ones with me just in case I decide to pick up something that was not on my list.
Before I go shopping I go through the sale ads and make a list. I also visit Jill Cataldo’s blog to get her deals. She is a local blogger and is amazing when it comes to finding grocery deals. After I have my list I make sure to pull all the coupons I will need.
Where do I get all my coupons? The best place to find coupons is the Sunday paper. You can get a very inexpensive subscription to the Sunday paper through Discounted Newpaper. Larger city papers will get more coupons then your local paper. Multiple subscriptions are also a great idea. I am currently getting two papers, however may increase that as my family grows.
Magazines are also a great place to find coupons. All You magazine has the most coupons. Right now you can get a 1-Year subscription for only $15. This a great price considering all the coupons you will get.
You can also find tons of printable coupons. Coupons.com, RedPlum.com and SmartSource.com are the largest sites. Also check manufactures sites and your store website to find additional coupons.
E-coupons are also a great way to save at the grocery store. All you have to do is load the coupons onto your store card and the savings will automatically be deducted when you scan your card. A great thing with e-coupons is that you can still use your clipped coupons for extra savings. CellFire, ShortCuts, P&GeSaver and Avenue are the sites I use. I just go on them once a month or weekly and load all the coupons onto my savings card. I also go to UPromise and load their coupons onto my card. The only difference with UPromise is that you will not see the savings on your receipt, instead it will go into a college savings fund.
Once you get a system in place it will soon become pretty easy to get the most savings when at the grocery store. Right now I am spending about $65 a week for a family of three. I am hoping that I can continue to increase my savings that by August when the new baby is here I will not see an increase in spending.
