The Great Grocery Savings Games

There are people out there who find ways to save over 50% on their grocery bills.  I was always amazed by this idea.  I clip coupons.  I look for extra savings (where it’s already on sale AND I have a coupon).  I even write the manufacturers for coupons.  But I have yet to reach the Mecca that these ladies have found.

Part of the reason is that I live in a small community.  We don’t have a multitude of grocery stores to choose from.  The two stores that we do have are small and don’t offer as much variety as some of the mega grocery stores (that I would LOVE to have around here).

My second problem, and it is probably the larger one, is that I do all of my shopping at the same time.  I do my stocking up and weekly essentials at once.  Going to the store just to buy items that are on sale is just not an option.

Most weeks find me saving about 15% on my total grocery bill.  Some weeks it has been as much as 30%.  I don’t spend hours hunting coupons or spend money on services to find the sales for me.  Here are the easy, time saving things that I do to save at the store.

1.      Use someone else’s coupons.  My husband’s aunt and dad both share their coupons with us.  I simply cut out the ones that I might use with our family.

2.      Keep it organized.  I have an expandable folder that I found at the dollar store for just fifty cents.  I made each pocket a category (breakfast, breads, dairy, etc) and then I store the coupons in the folder.

3.      Check out the sales.  When I am at the grocery store, I try to look at the sales and compare them with my coupons.  Often there are items I don’t have on my list but that I can get for a great deal.  (The other day I got two pounds of baby carrots for $1 – I’ll freeze most of them for cooking with later).

4.      Don’t get it just because the coupon will expire.  Unless it is something I HAVE to have anyway then I just let the coupon expire.  It seems that some companies are always putting out coupons, so I just wait until the next batch.

5.      Never, never, never buy cereal without a coupon.

As the grocery prices continue to climb, every little bit help.  You might try looking at some of the online services to see if they could benefit you.  Which ever route you take, planning and organization will get you a long ways to saving at the grocery store.