The post below got me thinking about how to cut costs from grocery bills. It's something I put A LOT of thought into. I know lots of women who say they don't have the time or they forget the coupons... it's so much easier than you'd think, I swear! I make breakfast, lunch & dinner for the 3 of us 99% of the time. We RARELY go out and if we order food, it's usually for a snack if we have company at night. My budget is $50 a week. That does not include paper products or diapers which I stock up on when they're on sale. Paper products/cleaning stuff is the easiest to get coupons for- they're always in the paper. (I haven't paid more than pennies for toothpaste or Magic Erasers in like a year.) I have like 250 diapers & 9 packages of (good brand)wipes in the closet- total cost... MAYBE $20, at maximum.
Here are 5 helpful tips
1.) Websites. It can be frustrating to check the paper and not see any "good" coupons. You have to dig a little. If there's a product you like, check their website, lots of them have coupons or will email them to you
2. email. If the website doesn't have coupons, go to the "contact us". Send them a short email saying how much you love the product and that your family could really use a few coupons. Write the email once- copy and paste it for several websites. This would take seriously 5 minutes. You will be amazed when you get literally dozens of coupons in the mail!
3. Coupons double!. I shop pretty much at Tops and Wegmans only. I'm always shocked to see how many people don't know that both store DOUBLE coupons under $1 automatically. AKA a .$75 coupon is really $1.50 off! Last week I got a few boxes of ronzoni pasta FREE because they were 2 for $3 and I have a few .75off coupons.
4. Clearance I LOVE clearance racks. Many times food manufacturers switch packaging or labeling and the item will go clearance. ALWAYS CHECK DATES but if it's something like a dry good- scoop it up. The absolute best is when you can find clearance items you have a coupon for!
5. Know a good price & buy, buy buy. Chicken Breasts were $4.29/lb at Wegmans for the "regular packs", club packs were $1.99/lb. I always buy the club packs and freeze them 2 breasts each in little freezer bags. When Tops put the Boneless/Skinless breast for $1.49 each summer I buy literally 10lbs at a time. On the flip side I'll see them on "sale" for $2.49 but know to just wait it out.
Ok, after I went back and read this it seems pretty dorky but if it helps just 1 person, ti's worth it :)
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3 comments:
Love the idea of sending an email to the company! I will have to do that.
I just found the blog- http://hip2save.com/, and it is amazing! Check it out, if you don't already! She does all the dirty work for you... lists which stores have what sales, and links online coupons that are available. Plus she has tons of links for free samples... I swear I get something in the mail almost everyday! (and most come w/ a coupon too!)
I'm totally jealous of your $50/week grocery bill... I try and keep mine under $80, but go over way more often than I'd like :(
I think I need you to give me a "coupon" lesson.. I do try.. but I suck at it apparently.. I can't ever seem to save more than like $5-$7 total off a grocery or paper product shopping trip.
Last summer I bought 40lbs....yes,40 lbs of chicken breast at $1.49lb! It took me 2hrs to clean it up and bag it for the freezer, but it lasted a long time!
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