Save Money on Groceries With Coupons

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How To Save Money Grocery Shopping

There are many ways that you can save money grocery shopping. With inflation, today’s prices on just the staples can break any budget. I’m going to show you how you can too save money grocery shopping with coupons.

Saving Money

Does saving money grocery shopping take time? Yes, it does. How much time depends on how much you want to save. Setting up your couponing system and learning the do’s and don’ts will take more time at the beginning. Once you get past that learning curve, saving money on your groceries becomes second nature. Would you pay $5.86 for over $90 of shampoo? I think you’d say YES!

How To Save Money Grocery Shopping

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are looking to save money grocery shopping. Each family or individual has different needs, uses different products so you can not compare yourself to others who are saving or stockpiling more than you. You will hear many people talk about “stockpiles”, stockpiles are just that. When an item is “free” or just pennies, it’s time to stock up on that particular item. Again, how much you stockpile is up to you.

You can even save money on your produce, meats and dairy products. Saving money grocery shopping encompasses all areas not just cleaning supplies or health and beauty products.

ANY money you save is money in your pocket, any money saved is saving money grocery shopping.

Make A List

It’s important that when you shop, you stick to your budget or list. Don’t just buy because you have a coupon, coupon come and go and there are many places off an online that you can get coupons from. I like to have coupons for new items so that I can try them when they first come out, usually on sale, at a discount.

With that being said, off to couponing basics….

Couponing Rules

The first thing you should do is sign up for your store’s loyalty or reward program. Most stores have them. Sales for their customers who sign up. Most stores now have “digital coupons” that are loaded onto your card. Go to the stores webpage to sign up and choose which coupons you want. Digital coupons are basically the coupons from the paper and most stores will not accept a digital coupon and a paper manufacturer coupon. However, some stores have digital coupons that you can combine with manufacturer’s coupon.

It’s important to know your store’s coupon policy and it is viewable at their website. Some stores will not double coupons. I live in the south, so for ease sake I will use the stores that I am familiar with. For instance, Food Lion and Kroger will not double coupons, Lowe’s Foods and Harris Teeeter will double coupons up to $.99, so if you have a coupon for $.75, you are taking $1.50 off the price of the item. Publix double coupons up to.50 in Florida but not double in other states. If you are lucky enough to have Harris Teeter in your area, they have Super Double promotions that usually run over a week and they will double coupons up to $2.00 so if you have a $2.00 it will double your savings to $4.00 and if that item is on sale, now that’s a jackpot because the item is usually pennies or free.

The stores coupon policy can also limit the amount of coupons that double or the amount of the same coupon. you can use. Most store’s policy is 3 or 4 like coupons or 4 internet coupons or will only double 20 coupons. You can use more than the 20 but only 20 will double.

Did I mention rain checks? If your store has an item on sale and they are sold out, you can get a rain check for when it’s back in stock. Well, hold on to those rain checks until they are stocked or in the case of Harris Teeter, when Super Doubles come around to get more bang for your buck.

Seems like a lot? It’s a learning curve but once you learn these simply couponing rules, you are armed and ready to start saving money grocery shopping.

What do I need

It’s important that you are organized with your coupons. Nothing worse than standing in the store flipping through an envelope looking for “that” coupon. It’s annoying to you and to other shoppers and some shoppers do not appreciate us “couponers” taking more time in the aisle.

I use a zip up binder, dividers and baseball card inserts for all my coupons. I like my binder to have a pocket on the outside and one inside as well. I am able to put my list, a pen and any coupons that I want to use in. Make sure the dividers are durable, so they do not rip with use. I have 33 sections in my binder and use the big tabs so it’s easy to see at a glance. The dividers are labeled by row or by products such as frozen, dairy, canned goods, pasta, etc. This makes it easy so that when you are in an aisle, you can easily flip to the section you are in with quick access to those coupons. The baseball card inserts are the perfect size to hold a coupon.

Again, a little more time and few dollars to set yourself up for success and ease in your couponing. But once it’s done, it’s done and you will be ready to start saving money on your groceries.

13-Pocket Zip File Five Star 2 inch zipper Binder Case-it 2-Inch Zipper Binder Case-it 2-Inch Ring Zipper Binder Mead Zipper Binder

Avery Write-On Plastic Dividers Avery Write-On Plastic Dividers Avery Big Tab Write-On Dividers Pocket Page Protectors Pocket Page Protectors

Pulling It All Together

To get the optimal savings the best way is to combine store sales with coupons and, of course, if any store in your area doubles the value of your coupons. This way of shopping becomes second nature as you become more aware of the sales and your coupons. You also become aware of the prices and what is a good price and what isn’t. It’s also a great way to create a good stockpile. I plan my meals based upon what is on sale.

Coupons, Coupons and more Coupons!

So where do you get coupons? The obvious is the Sunday paper, if you have your paper delivered you can get the second copy at a discount, double the coupons.

Company website’s also give you access to print their products coupons.

You can also print internet coupons, most stores only accept 2 of the same printed internet coupons. You can not make copies of these coupons as the bar code is different for each print. The most common site is coupons.com and is updated frequently with new coupons and you can get coupons from different zip codes. Coupons are different for different areas of the country.

You can also buy coupons, either individually for a product or a full insert. I buy coupons only if I know that there is a special couponing event coming up. You can find some hard to find coupons on these sites. thecouponclippers.com in the one I mostly use.

Check on Facebook and see if there is a couponing group for your store. These sites give you a lot of information and will actually match up the weekly sales with available coupons.

Apps That Save You Money

There are also many apps that you can use for additional savings. SavingStar.com is an online site where you put in your loyalty store card numbers, choose your coupon and the store’s automatically download information for you. MobiSave, Ibotta and Checkout 51 are phone apps where you take a picture of your receipt and submit it for reimbursement.

Take It Slow

While all this information can be overwhelming, take one step at a time and progress at your own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others and their savings.