Stretching dollars
For the past year or so, I've been somewhat dedicated in shopping sales, using coupons, and making our grocery dollars stretch a little further. Our grocery budget is $100 a week, and while I sometimes go over, I feel that I'm pretty on point with our average weekly grocery bill. Still, it's somewhat ...discouraging?? motivating? to know that some of the women who run the money-saving blogs I read are only spending $40-50 on their grocery bill each week, and they have a bigger family than I do!
So this week I am starting an experiment. Usually, I sit down each week and clip the coupons that I'm most likely to use, then I try to wait until that product goes on sale, and then use the coupon. I rarely go to Wal-Mart anymore...not only are their sales not spectacular, but they don't double coupons...let me tell you, when a product is on sale at Kroger or Publix AND you have a coupon that can be doubled...it's awesome. I still find that some things are cheapest at Wal-Mart (or it's the only place I can find said product), and I try to limit my trips there to a couple of times a month.
Anyway. On a recent girls weekend my old roomate filled me in that couponmom.com not only has a list of printable coupons, it also has a list by state & store that will tell you what is on sale, where to find the coupon (the date & insert it came from) and what percentage you wind up saving. Super score!! Best of all, couponmom.com is free...another website, thegrocerygame.com, does the same kind of thing, but it's not free.
I started using her site and noticed immediate results. However, I noticed that sometimes the sale would be too good to pass up but I had not clipped the coupon because we don't usually use that product. For example, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. They are on sale this week and with the coupon they are about $0.50. I think it's ok to splurge if you can do it on the cheap!!
So my new experiment is to simply file away the coupon inserts each week, and only clip the coupons as needed each week. Also, I aim to not put anything on my shopping list unless it's 50% off or more. Of course, some things I pay full price for, like milk, eggs, etc, but my goal is to not pay more than half-off for anything that is non-perishable or freezable.
We'll see how it goes. Last week was a total budget-buster because there were sooo many good sales, including some bakeware items that I needed, so I spent more than usual. I'm hoping my new experiment will save me $$!
So this week I am starting an experiment. Usually, I sit down each week and clip the coupons that I'm most likely to use, then I try to wait until that product goes on sale, and then use the coupon. I rarely go to Wal-Mart anymore...not only are their sales not spectacular, but they don't double coupons...let me tell you, when a product is on sale at Kroger or Publix AND you have a coupon that can be doubled...it's awesome. I still find that some things are cheapest at Wal-Mart (or it's the only place I can find said product), and I try to limit my trips there to a couple of times a month.
Anyway. On a recent girls weekend my old roomate filled me in that couponmom.com not only has a list of printable coupons, it also has a list by state & store that will tell you what is on sale, where to find the coupon (the date & insert it came from) and what percentage you wind up saving. Super score!! Best of all, couponmom.com is free...another website, thegrocerygame.com, does the same kind of thing, but it's not free.
I started using her site and noticed immediate results. However, I noticed that sometimes the sale would be too good to pass up but I had not clipped the coupon because we don't usually use that product. For example, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. They are on sale this week and with the coupon they are about $0.50. I think it's ok to splurge if you can do it on the cheap!!
So my new experiment is to simply file away the coupon inserts each week, and only clip the coupons as needed each week. Also, I aim to not put anything on my shopping list unless it's 50% off or more. Of course, some things I pay full price for, like milk, eggs, etc, but my goal is to not pay more than half-off for anything that is non-perishable or freezable.
We'll see how it goes. Last week was a total budget-buster because there were sooo many good sales, including some bakeware items that I needed, so I spent more than usual. I'm hoping my new experiment will save me $$!