Coupon Tips!

Ok, so since I got married I realized how much it sucks to shop for groceries. (I really hate buying toilet paper and paper towels-so expensive but I like the soft TP and can’t bring myself to buy the cheap stuff). So anyways I decided that after watching “Extreme Couponing” that I was going to try it (a little-I don’t have 80 extra hours a week to dedicate to getting 502 free tubes of toothpaste). But I did start looking through the paper at the coupons and figuring out pretty quickly how to save quite a bit of money. I’ve started tracking my progress in a spreadsheet (what I would have spent and what I did spend) and on average I save about $400-$500 a month, which is defiantly nothing to complain about. I’ve been very excited about sharing my tips with other married woman but decided I should write a blog about it so here it goes.

First thing I figured out to help me save money on my grocery bills is to make a list and only go to the store once a week. I use to go every other day and was just picking up stupid things I don’t need. I sit down every Saturday morning with my recipe book and my coupons. I look in my fridge and figure out what I’ve got that is going to go bad soon (meat, cheese, etc.) then I pick my meals based on that. I’m also realistic and know I’m not going to cook every night. I average 2-3 nights a week and we eat the leftovers since it’s just Jace and I. Then I go through the recipe and write down every item it requires, if I already have it in my pantry I cross it off then leave only the things I don’t have left to buy. Then I go through and pull out my coupons that match the items I need. I also look at coupons that are about to expire and see if I need those items (for instance a $1 off Tide is a coupon you never pass up!)

I find a lot of my coupons online. My favorite type of coupons are “ecoupons” or electronic coupons. They are the best because you just go online and upload coupons to a rewards card number. For instance I shop at Smiths for the majority of my groceries. Smiths has a rewards card (similar to Kroger and other stores), you can go to smiths website and sign up your rewards card online. There you can track your points, how much $ your saving and the best part-add coupons to your card. So for instance I upload 20 or so coupons a week and then I usually forget I have them. When I go to check out though at Smiths, when I swipe my rewards card it will automatically pull them off for me and lower my bill! Here are some other helpful links I use to:

Coupons.com(these are just easy printable coupons-hint only select things/products that you actually buy, otherwise you have a million coupons that you never end up using).

Shortcuts.com (this is a website with ecoupons and printable coupons).

Shopathome.com (lots of different types)

Couponnetwork.com

I also suggest getting a coupon file/holder (I got a small cheap one I carry in my purse at Office Max) and separating your coupons by categories (frozen food, juices/beverages, toiletries, cleaning supplies/household products, perishable items, etc). It will make it much easier to find things when your looking. I also suggest before you go to the store pulling out the coupons you know you will end up using and even some you think you might use. You don’t want to be the idiot holding up the line looking for your coupons. There may be trips that you do really good (one trip I saved 55% of my bill! And other trips you only save $1. But it all ends up helping. I usually only spend a ½ hour to an hour a week. I go through the Sunday paper and pull out the things I think I might use and always throw away any coupons that have expired.

Another thing I must mention because I love Smiths so much and their rewards program is the fact that you can earn points that go towards gas discounts. For those not familiar with Smiths it works like this. For every 100 points you earn (typically you earn a point a $1 you spend) you get 10 cents off of gas. You can use it then or accumulate up to 1000 points or $1 off of gas. Jace and I don’t go through $1,000 of groceries that often but what’s great about Smiths is they have gift cards that you can use towards points. So this summer when Jace and I were spending a lot of money at Home Depot and Lowes, we would first figure out how much money we were going to be spending there and then go to Smiths and buy a gift card. So if were spending $400 at Lowes, we get the 400 points towards gas (40 cents off a gallon!) Even better yet, is sometimes they do 2X or ever 4X the rewards points which really adds up fast! It makes it great to see how much gas we save. This year we’ve saved close to $300 in gas which is great in my opinion.

Its also helpful to Google search for specific restaurant coupons sometimes. There have been a lot of times we decide were going to Olive Garden or Chili’s or somewhere for dinner and before we leave I will look online for printable coupons they may have. I also sign up for the email to many places since they email coupons frequently. One of my favorites is Cinemark’s weekly coupon. They email you things such as “Buy a small popcorn get a free small drink” or other great things for the movies.

So anyways these are my small few coupon tips. They help me a little here and there and really aren’t too bad to do every week. I love hearing new ideas or websites so if you have any let me know!