Today we have a guest blogger by the name of Jami Whitehead. She runs a popular coupon blog called “Poor Mom” listed in the blog roll. She also runs a site called http://learntocoupon.com
Couponing for people who hate to clip coupons: Learn to save the easy way
You’ve seen the “Super Couponers” on T.V. getting $1200 worth of groceries for under $5. What you didn’t see were the hours of time consumed obtaining the coupons, matching the deals, learning the grocery store cycles, and finally checking out with their free groceries. If you have the time and patience super couponing may be for you. If you don’t, but still want to save a significant amount of money with coupons here are some tips to make the most out of coupons without dedicating your life to grocery shopping.
Make a grocery list, like the one offered here on GroceryWiz. Place all your weekly staples on the list and save it. Your staples may vary depending on your family size, age of your children ( if you have any ) ,and your dietary preferences. When it’s time to plan your trip use the printable coupons available to save.
Don’t become attached to one grocery store. A competitor may be offering your staples cheaper than your regular store. Follow the sales to save the most money. This takes only a few minutes to compare prices on your grocer’s weekly fliers, but could save you an additional 10-20% on your bill. Whichever grocer has the lower prices for the week wins your business.
Stock up. Yes this sounds fairly “super-couponer” but if you have enough of the freebies to last you a year then that is money saved you would have otherwise spent when you ran out. Making a little stockpile is easy when you think about the things your family uses that really don’t expire for a long time, if ever. If you can get it for free or a few pennies always stock up on:
Toilet Paper
Dental Supplies
Soaps and Shampoos
Light bulbs
Socks and Underwear (not a grocery item , but you can get them for free as well)
Household Cleaners
Tape and Wrapping Paper
Plan ahead. Grocery Stores often offer promotions on gift cards. I have gotten 10% extra loaded onto a grocery store gift card just for buying it, $10.00 register coupon for buying an I-tunes gift card, $2.00 register coupon for buying 3 greeting cards and the list goes on forever. You’ll have to buy all those presents and corresponding cards eventually, why not get them while the getting is good. Store them in a safe spot in your house and when the special occasion or holiday comes along you’ll be prepared and will have saved a lot of money. Websites like Giftcards.com offer, unwanted, Visa Certified store gift cards, at up to a 30% savings. There are grocery store and big box stores ( like Walmart, Meijer and Target) on the site and by buying a discounted gift card you can shave 20-30% off the top of your shopping trip, no coupons required.
Lastly, stop clipping coupons from the Sunday Paper. Visit a sight like slickdeals.com and simply print a list of your coupon circular’s contents. Staple it to the front of your circular as a reference. If and when you need that coupon clip it and cross it off your list. File all your circulars by date for easy reference and leave them at home when you make your shopping trip, bringing with you only the coupons you’ll be using.
Shaving 50% off your grocery bill can, as you’ve seen, be pretty simple and may add an additional 10 minutes to your weekly grocery planning routine. You don’t have to dedicate hours to tiny scraps of paper or have mountains of cake mixes and walls of boxed pasta to save money on your grocery bills. The average $100 a week grocery bill cut in half, would after a year, add up to $2600 of reclaimed money. That’s the equivalent of earning $5 a minute for those extra 10 minutes of grocery planning a week, and that is a great payoff !
By Jamie WhiteHead
