And now for a post about saving money. Because the loot we save on food = more money to spend on paint & projects. I figured since I recently divulged my 2011 goal to figure out coupons and save more money this year, I should share a little coupon-related update for anyone else who’s as desperate to turn paper clippings into dolla dolla bills as I am. So here it is:
I saved $53 at the grocery store!!! Coupons really do work!!!!
Pardon all the shouting. I’m just really excited. I am definitely far from an “expert” on the subject (I just started trying to navigate the crazy coupon world a few weeks back) but here’s what I learned in the simplest of terms. Because I was a coupon dummy. Still kind of am. So I need things to be explained to me slowly. Preferably with lots of pictures and in a soothing and nurturing tone. Yup, I’m high maintenance like that.
Tip Numero Uno: You save the most money when your store (we shop at Kroger) matches coupons (ours does up to 50 cents) and when you can use a manufacturer’s coupon (like the ones you find in the paper or online) combined with store coupons or sales. For example, if Kroger has organic milk marked down by $1 and I have a manufacturers coupon for 50 cents off and Kroger matches that, a gallon of organic milk that’s normally $3 will only be $1 (because I’d score $2.00 off thanks to the store’s $1 off sale and the matched fifty cent coupon).
Not bad right? That stuff really adds up when you’re shopping for a fair amount of things (which has always been the way John & I do it, we usually do one major shopping trip every 2-3 weeks). It keeps us from spending a lot of money on impulse buys (which would occur more frequently and cost us more money if we hit the store more often for smaller trips). But I’m rambling. Back to more of my novice coupon tips.
Tip Numero Dos: If you use coupons for things you don’t eat (or just get stuff because it’s on sale) you’re still losing money, wasting time, and giving up valuable space in your house that could better be used to store other things. So even if that bag of chips is 40 cents, if you don’t normally buy chips but get all crazy at the idea of big savings you’re on a slippery coupon slope. My big rule is that I only clip (or print) coupons for things that our family already eats or would like to try. We prefer organic produce and organic dairy along with basics like pasta, bread, cereal, granola, etc. It’s not always as easy to find coupons for those things, but they do exist! And thanks to Kroger (where we have a Kroger savings card, which also offers occasional discounts on those items when you scan the card at the register) we’ve been able to save a substantial amount of money. Our last trip was our best savings ever (did I mentioned we saved $53?!!!!! oh I did. sorry, I’m just excited).
Along with picking up the Sunday paper for the bevy of coupons hiding inside (along with a Kroger weekly sale flier), here are some of the online stops that I make to find coupons that I can print or even load directly onto my Kroger card (how Minority Report is that?!).
- This is my favorite coupon site. I click the Kroger tab and the Target tab to see what’s going on (they have other stores in case you’re not a Kroger person)
- This is where I go within that site to load things onto my Kroger card
- I also check out this site for printable coupons
- And this one
- And this one
- This site is nice because it has links to a few of my favorites (some of them already listed above) in one spot
- I also drop by this site just to see what’s going on there
- And this one
- And this one
- And this one
Resist the urge to get overwhelmed though! I probably get 90% of my coupons from the top four bullets above, so there’s no need to go crazy and bookmark a million sites like I did. I just had to experiment with a bunch of them to find my favorites (aka: those top four).
Other than those two tips above, there really isn’t one big trick that helped me save tons of money. I just clipped coupons on and off for two weeks (just for things we actually need/use/eat), wrote our shopping list carefully (being sure to note how many of each item we needed for the maximum savings) and even loaded some coupons onto my Kroger card online before going into the store (thanks to this site). We spent around $160 for 2-3 weeks worth of groceries for John, Clara, and I (we walked out with over nine giant reusable bags full of stuff, and according to the receipt we purchased 77 items). And we saved $53! And that was on things like two four-packs of organic baby yogurt for Clara, two half-gallons of organic milk, organic eggs, organic produce like bananas & avocados & and peppers, and basics like whole wheat bread, wheat pasta, granola bars, cereal (and goodies like dark chocolate and ice cream). It felt so good! Here are a few more specific examples of exactly how our coupons combined with an in-store sale to save us the most money:
- We got two YoBaby Organic Yogurt 4-Packs, which were originally selling for $2.69 (which calculates to a total of $5.38). But Kroger had them marked down for 60 cents off each one (bringing each one down to $2.09) and then we had a “buy one 4-pack, get the second one free” coupon from the manufacturer, which made our total for both 4-packs just $2.09 (for a savings of $3.29).
- We got an 8 oz bag of Gorton’s grilled shrimp that was originally $5.99. But Kroger was having a special $3 off promotion so it was only $2.99. And we had a manufacturers coupon for $1 off which means that our bag of shrimp cost just $1.99 (for a savings of $4).
- We got a box of FiberOne Granola Bars that were originally $2.49. But Kroger had them on sale for $1.50 off (which made the box just 99 cents) and we had loaded a FiberOne e-coupon onto our Kroger card (thanks to this site) for 50 cents off, so we paid just 49 cents for the box of FiberOne granola bars.
Of course these are our best buys that we’re highlighting, so not everything that we purchased was that discounted. Not even close. So don’t get down on yourself if you save 20 cents here and 50 cents there. It all adds up! Just be sure you’re buying things that you actually like and eat, not just things that are on sale.
Oh and a few more couponing 101 tips that I picked up are:
- Just because something is 10/$10 doesn’t mean you have to buy ten items (it’s usually just labeled that way to get you to buy more).
- Resist the urge to buy the largest size of things that are on sale- often you save the highest percentage when you use a $1.00 off coupon on the $2.00 cereal box, not the supersized $4 one (this was the hardest principle for me to grasp at first since my instinct was that buying something huge saved me more money). Of course if the larger one is substantially less money per ounce and you have a use for a large amount of something, it could be worth the upgrade- but I was surprised how often I noticed them listed as the same price per ounce.
- Coupons are allegedly cyclical, meaning that most coupon pros claim that every six weeks the same items go on sale again. This theoretically means that if you have space to stock up on your favorite cereal when it’s on sale, you only have to buy enough to last you six weeks, and then the sale should pop up again (of course this isn’t to suggest that you should have a six week stockpile of every item, but it does reinforce the idea that you never have to buy 100 of something that’s “an amazing deal” because it’ll most likely be a great deal again in a little over a month).
Oh and here’s how I keep things organized. I have a clear plastic sleeve where I toss all of my coupons as I clip them throughout the 2-3 week span between major shopping trips, then before we go to Kroger I take out all the ones I won’t be using so it’s only full of coupons I’ll be “spending” and I slip my detailed shopping list in there with them (that way I know how many of something or what sized box I need to get to use my coupon without thumbing through all of them). When I get to the register I hand over my Kroger card for them to scan (for all uploaded discounts) and then I hand over my paper coupons as well. So far it seems to work.
So that’s my coupon update for ya. Happy snipping to one and all. And all you varsity coupon peeps better share your tips! I know I still have lots to learn!
Psst- All kids toys are not created equal. Check out what Clara got that looks so good we never want to tuck it out of sight (unlike 99% of her other toys).
Anna says
I loved HEB in Texas! they were great – and their points would pay for candy to give as gifts and for holidays. I wish something similar couponing wise happened in the UK (where i now live) but it doesn’t, at least not as far as i’ve been able to tell….here’s hoping some more US style marketing alights on the shores of the motherland.
Ps: awesome to connect with you on Twitter this morning (Australian time)!
Nicole says
Love clipping coupons! Thanks for the sites. There were a few I hadn’t yet heard of.
Ana Silva says
Thanks for this blog. I do some saving but definitely need to get serious. We spend to0 much money on food as it is. This will be a good start. Thanks!
lcg says
I liked being able to load the coupons onto my card, but probably will only use it for shampoos, kleenex and that sort of thing. I do feel a lot of frustrations with the grocery stores in general–most of what is available for sale is not really FOOD–but all that processed horribleness. Even stuff that is labeled as “organic” is just marketing done by the companies trying to get us to buy their packaged stuff. It was kind of interesting to go through the Kroger flier and see how many pure food items there were :} Sadly, not too many.
YoungHouseLove says
A lot of times I have luck finding coupons for non processed stuff through actual companies that sell those items (ex: the organic milk and eggs we like to buy offer printable coupons on their site, etc). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Heather S. says
I have just started to use coupons also. While searching for tips and advice I came across this website:
http://thecouponproject.com/downloads/savings-tracker
If you go to the download tab, you will find an excel spreadsheet that was created so you can track your coupon savings throughout the year. I was very excited when I found this – I know I am a big nerd!!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds TOTALLY FUN! Thanks for sharing. Coupon nerds unite!
xo,
s
Meredith says
First of all, I love your blog! Second of all, coincidentally, I also posted about money saving today! Some of my favorite sites are SlickDeals.net and RetailMeNot.com and I love love love the Kroger app for my iPhone!!!!! Thanks for the money saving advice… I love it!!
Jamie M says
Hi Sherry! DId you know you can click the items you are planning on buying from the Southern Savers list and create a printable shopping list (with space for notes on how many, size, etc.)? It’s great! Another super site similar to SS that is equally great is http://www.time2saveworkshops.com
Good luck!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh sounds like fun! I’ll have to check it out. Thanks!
xo,
s
Amy B. says
Two of my favorite blogs collided in blogtopia today!!!!<— I'm excited too Sherry ;).
SouthernSavers is the bomb dot com for saving lots of moola and ya’ll are swell for my diy fix. Glad you two are now acquainted!
Lindsay says
Such an inspiring post, your money saving/food posts are so exciting. Any readers in NYC with the lowdown on coupon at Duane Reade etc?
Sherry and John, I always remember your post a while back about doing most of your shopping at trader joes for $75 dollars every two weeks. Obviously you are a party of three now, so you are spending a little more. I was wondering what the catalyst was from switching from Traders to Kroger’s / a regular grocery store ? I waited all day to get home from work and ask that one!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lindsay,
Haha, you have a good memory! We love Trader Joe’s but it’s all the way across town, so somewhere along the way we just stopped making that pilgrimage and chose a much more conveniently located store (Kroger) and also began purchasing more organic produce and dairy which increased how much we were spending. We usually spent around $300 a month (before I began couponing) but it definitely varied (sometimes $250, sometimes $350, etc). It’s too early to tell how much we’ll save but I’m hoping it’ll be at least $75-100 a month if we do 2 trips and save $35-50 bucks each time. We meal plan and try to shop infrequently and use what we already have to stretch things out and save money. We also try to limit eating out and eat only a few meals a week with meat since we also love spaghetti dinners and veggie chili and other hearty non-mean meals (which also saves cash since meat can get expensive). With Clara on solid food now (three meals a day including meat, etc) it definitely factors into the grocery bill growing, which is why it’s the perfect time to at least attempt to understand the whole couponing thing. So far so good!
xo,
s
steph says
hey guys, totally off topic, but I didn’t know if you had seen that you got referenced in this awesome nursery article!
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/gavins-winning-woodsy-nurserynursery-tour-138041
Yeay YHL!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! So much fun. LOVE THAT NURSERY!
xo,
s
Julie W. says
I love Southern Savers! We went from a monthly budget of $400 to $200. My favorite deals are the ones you can get from CVS and Walgreens. Especially when you can get free or close to free diapers and toiletries. Even though my kids are potty trained it is still a terrific way to give to places like homeless shelters or crisis centers, especially when you don’t have much money.
Robyn says
Hi Sherry,
When I first came across your blog you were on about having to seriously save some money, and this post has just been another inspiration for me.
We moved from the UK to Australia just over 4 months ago, so I have to learn new prices for the items we’ve always had, and not convert. If I did we’d be starving! We are still having to watch what we spend, as the move cost us nearly all of our savings and we have to start from scratch with everything.
So for now we are still on a budget and I have to stick to
mine a little harder. I make a list, but I think better planning and not diverting from the list has to be enforced.
So thanks for the inspiration and am loving your blog!
Jamie says
I’m trying to get my couponing up to speed too – I found the website http://www.couponmom.com and it seems like it is going to be really helpful. It looks like it lets you sort by state/store and then there are lists of the top savings by store based on sale ads and coupons that are out (hello, time saver). I’ll admit, I haven’t used this site as much as I should so I’ll be curious if anyone else has had any experience with it :-)
Happy Couponing!
[email protected] says
I truly love the variety of your posts. I love the coupon thang and I try not to get too wrapped up in it by like you said making purchases I don’t need. I am absolutely kitchen obsessed. So I love when you posted about what was in your fridge (pre-move). So feel free when house stuff is slow going just snap a few pics of a well organized fridge or cabinent. I’ll be happy as a clam. I still need to look through your coupon links so I may be jumping the gun by asking this but are there any great links to find more produce or organic items. It’s so hard to find coupons for those things! Thanks and keep up all the fabulousness!
YoungHouseLove says
Some readers have shared some amazing organic sites (feel free to scroll back for those or just google “organic coupons”). We also have had luck going to sites that have our favorite organic things (like Stonyfield Farms) and printing coupons that they offer up there!
xo,
s
Vicky says
That’s awesome! My husband and I try to use coupons when the item is on sale. We got all our energy saving bulbs for free. We printed off $2 off coupons from redplum or smartsource (can’t remember) for GE bulbs. We saw the bulbs at Target for 1.99. We bought all 10 they had and got rainchecks for 20 more. Target said they would restock in a few days, so we came back for the rest the next week. In the past we’ve also got Wheaties for free and the XL box of Cheerios for $0.50.
Amanda says
I had never heard of SouthernSavers.com before – thank you so much! Some of the coupon sites I read don’t even include Kroger information because they don’t have a Kroger near them…this site is super helpful.
Bobbi says
Great job Sherry & John!!
At work, a few of us like to compare coupon savings from week to week. It keep us all motivated. Also did you know that if you contact your favorite products companies customer service, they will gladly send you coupons. I do this for the products that I ALWAYS buy.
Have fun tallying up your savings!
Bobbi
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip! Such a good reminder that it never hurts to ask!
xo,
s
deena says
Welcome to the madness. Last year we saved about $1500. I moved to the baseball card holders w/3 ring binders, one for grocery, one for health and beauty, and one for household. Works like a dream.
The freebies are too much fun.
Kathryn says
awesome!!! great job. we have been couponing southern-savers style about 1 year, with an average a 60-70% savings each week. i will never go back. glad you found this, too. the better you get, the easier it gets as well. we switched to a couponing filing system a few months ago and it makes the whole process a lot smoother. it’s a rush to get such a good deal on things you are going to buy anyway. wait till you get into CVS! i watched this youtube video when i first started couponing, and it made me hooked! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy3wM2SiTX4
Mary says
I’m all about couponing too. It is almost like a game! I have recently blogged about some of my couponing adventures too.
One thing I do is read coupon blogs that match up coupons with current store sales. Saves alot of time for me.
Anyone can find a blog that does coupon matches with stores in their area by visiting the FrugalMap http://thefrugalmap.bargainbriana.com/
Jen says
My mother had a full-sized, packed shoe box complete with dozens of index cards separating all the different coupon categories, alphabetized I’m sure. She plopped it in the babyseat of the shopping cart every time. Embarrassed the heck out of me!! I can still picture that green speckled box… over 25 years later.
Rachel says
Great job!
Kymberly says
Thanks for this. Its nice to hear you can save and still buy natural.organic. Question: Do you take Clara with you when you shop or do you go solo?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s a family affair! Burger stays at home, but John, Clara, and I all go together.
xo,
s
Meredith says
It may have already been mentioned, but in Canada I find it’s cheaper to buy the store brand on everything, and there’s only a dozen or so items that I (a) buy regularly and (b) are worth it with the coupons. Stores here don’t double-coupon, though they do mark down name-brands well sometimes.
I think the best recent deal I had was buying whole wheat pasta – the name brand that’s usually 2.49/package was on sale for a dollar, and the packages had coupons that were $1 off 2 packages — so after buying a few packages one week, I went back and got 2 packages for $1 instead of $4.98!
Tanya says
I don’t coupon nearly as much as I used to now that we’re eating only humanely-raised meat, mostly organic vegetables, and much less boxes/processed foods.
BUT, back in the day (pre- all the internet coupon sites) I was pretty darn good at it and here’s how I did it:
1. Collected all the circulars I could get my hands on from family, friends, work (hint: I work at a radio station. We get 6-7 newspapers a day. You might contact a local TV or radio station and see if you can get their leftovers before recycling)
2. Cut, clipped and filed according to product type (i.e. canned veggies, cleaning supplies, etc) … put it all in those clear plastic baseball card organizers sheets (so you can see everything easily), then in a binder.
3. Started and used a “price book”. I first heard about it from the Complete Tightwad Gazette — have you read it?!? Great stuff! Anyway, here’s the scoop on price books
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/05/02/use-a-grocery-price-book-to-slash-your-food-spending/
And here’s a link to a downloadable price book spread sheet
http://www.uncommonwaytowealth.com/excel-finance-spreadsheets/grocery-savings-spreadsheet-price-book/
It allowed me to figure out the pattern of when things went on sale at certain stores. For instance, if I saw that peanut butter would hit its low point every 6 weeks I’d be sure to buy a 6 week supply at the next low-point sale (and use my coupons to get it even cheaper).
4. Understand the basic rules of advanced couponing. For instance, if something is a BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) sale you can buy two and use two coupons. That’s how you can often get stuff for next-to-free. Imagine a $3 tube of toothpaste. IF it’s BOGO AND you have 2 coupons AND your store doubles coupons of 50-cents and under, you’d get 2 tubes for $1 …. or 50-cents a tube.
Good luck with it! It takes work, but it’s worth it … especially when you’re trying to trim your budget.
If you’re willing to share, I’d love to know how much you pay for groceries each month. I’m writing a posting about food expenses for our family food blog http://www.necessarypleasures.blogspot.com.
Take care (Love your blog, BTW!)
~Tanya
YoungHouseLove says
We usually spent around $300 a month (before I began couponing) but it definitely varied (sometimes $250, sometimes $350, etc). It’s too early to tell how much we’ll save but I’m hoping it’ll be at least $75-100 a month if we do 2 trips and save $35-50 bucks each time. We buy organic produce and diary so that’s not always the cheapest thing, but we meal plan and try to shop infrequently and use what we already have to stretch things out and save money. We also try to limit eating out and eat only a few meals a week with meat since we also love spaghetti dinners and veggie chili and other hearty non-mean meals (which also saves cash since meat can get expensive). With Clara on solid food now (three meals a day including meat, etc) it definitely factors into the grocery bill growing, which is why it’s the perfect time to at least attempt to understand the whole couponing thing. So far so good!
xo,
s
jenn says
how much did you guys spend per month on groceries before?
YoungHouseLove says
We usually spent around $300 a month (before I began couponing) but it definitely varied (sometimes $250, sometimes $350, etc). It’s too early to tell how much we’ll save but I’m hoping it’ll be at least $75-100 a month if we do 2 trips and save $35-50 bucks each time. We buy organic produce and diary so that’s not always the cheapest thing, but we meal plan and try to shop infrequently and use what we already have to stretch things out and save money. We also try to limit eating out and eat only a few meals a week with meat since we also love spaghetti dinners and veggie chili and other hearty non-mean meals (which also saves cash since meat can get expensive). With Clara on solid food now (three meals a day including meat, etc) it definitely factors into the grocery bill growing, which is why it’s the perfect time to at least attempt to understand the whole couponing thing. So far so good!
xo,
s
Amanda says
A word to the wise:
Always be aware of where the savings should be coming off! The Safeway (DC) where I shop never has their system fully updated with their sales for the week. I have been overcharged over $40 total in the last 5 or so visits. If you are couponing (and while this is time consuming it is worth it) ALWAYS check your receipt before you leave the store. Make sure every deal went through the way it should and don’t be afraid to go back for those extra $5!
Mrs Gator says
I’m super new to this coupon world and your post has given me the bravery to go to those website (which are often very overwhelming). I’ve printed my coupons, printed my list and we’ll see how I do at the grocery store tomorrow!
Jakki says
Wow! Thats amazing! We don’t really get coupons in Australia-well not South Australia atleast. I am shocked at your grocery prices too! We could never buy the eq. of a pkt of granola bars here that cheap! They are about $6 for a box of 6 here. I know someone in Canada and she cant believe how expensive Australian food is.
Good on you-thats definitely worth cutting out coupons for
Sierra- Home Sweet Frugal Home says
I just recently started up a website http://www.homesweetfrugalhome.com I give frugal living advice, deal alerts, coupon tips, sale+coupon matching alerts and tons more. Check out my site and if you Like it on facebook then you will have a chance to win a $50 Target gift card. Hopefully my money saving advice will help some of you!
Jill says
Awesome! I think I need to give this a try again.
I also get together with four friends once a month and we plan and cook entrees for the month. Last month we spent $70 each for 3 gallon bags of Bolognese sauce, 2 quiches, one chicken pot pie, two marinated pork chops, sweet and sour pork, 2 gallon bags of chili & one gallon bag of vegetable soup. That included buying our meat from local, organic resources and some of the veggies as well.
lcg says
If you like yogurt, and it sounds like you do, you might want to make your own! A thousand times better for you and cheap, cheap, cheap!!!
renee wood says
if you want to get more bang for your buck check out hip2save.com , collin is great and shares the best deals. this has really helped me in the last almost year to shave by food budget. check her out she is great!
Ps love your blog yall are so creative.
Jane says
WHOA! Our neighborhood grocery story doesn’t accept outside coupons, but they do print their own versions of the manufacturer’s coupons. It’s a huge chain in Texas but they are particular about the couponing :( Maybe I should drive a little farther to the Kroger. Thanks for the inspiration- 53 dollars goes a LONG way.
Karen @ old beginnings says
I found this link on facebook & thought you might be interested… it’s not specifically coupon related, but it is related to saving money on organics – and very interesting, too. Whole Foods 365 brand comes up cheaper than even my beloved Trader Joes! I think it may vary a bit by region (totals), but worth thinking about, even an experiment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1i3hSO_sis
Thanks for all your great & informative posts!
Mindy says
Yeah, I saw the Nate Berkus show yesterday too a la coupons, and was inspired to get snipping. Seeing this post has me uber inspired now :) Thanks!
Elise says
Congrats on the $53 savings! I started doing this a few weeks ago and I’m hooked! I shop and save with coupons like it’s a sport! One quick tip for those of you in Georgia… You can print all the Target coupons from their webiste and stack them up with manufacturers coupons, along with any in store deal at Publix and you’d be AMAZED at the savings! I know people don’t often think of Publix as “loaded with deals”, but they do take competitors coupons and it has saved me OOOOdles of money recently! :-) I too, get the emails from Krazy Coupon Lady! Love them!
Kim A. says
Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but most stores that frequently hold “buy one get one free” sales do NOT require you to buy two of the same item, so ideally, you could just buy one and get it for 50% off… and if you add a coupon on top, even better!
Lauren in Detroit says
I am LOVING this post but one quick question (forgive me if you already covered it): are you going to bring back the “View All” feature in the comment section? I am really enjoying reading what everyone has to say in this post — and since you YHLers take the time to respond to comments I always want to read what you guys have to say! — but I loved being able to view every comment on one page.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
That button was actually crashing our site (too many people trying to load all those comments at once kept slowing things down and overloading our server) so we’re working on trying to bring it back if we can get it to stop taking us down! Haha.
xo,
s
Belinda says
try .. iheartcvs.com and iheartwags.com also couponsense.com
couponsense is an online club.. but it makes it so easy because you can just look things up in the database.
banclothing says
I have to admit I am the traditional costco shopper. I buy everything in bulk and freeze things in normal size portions. I find I save a lot especially on things like meat, toilet paper, paper towel, laundry detergent, dog food etc. The only down size is storage. I do a big grocery shop including meat once a month and the rest of the time I just pick up milk and a little produce. I save SO much money rather than going to the grocery store every week. Costco also doesn’t have the biggest selection so I find I stick to the basics I need rather than finding a bunch of new things I would like to try but don’t need.
Lauren in Detroit says
I was going to mention Costco as well — Sherry, I’m wondering do you guys belong to a Costco? I’m a little delirious after reading all the comments today (snowstorm in MI!) but am so appreciative for all the great information. I would love it if avid couponers here would weigh in on their opinion of savings at Costco vs. grocery/drug stores. I have been a member for a few years and have convinced myself that using their coupons and buying their Kirkland brand (sometimes at the same time!) is saving me more than Kroger *with coupons* but now I’m not so sure. I do feel Costco markets itself to those who like high-quality items at the lowest possible price and that is what has sucked me in, especially after I had a store manager tell me that Kirkland vodka is made by Grey Goose when I was in the checkout line with the latter; I’m now convinced their Kirkland shampoo is Biolage Matrix and their Grain-Free Salmon or Turkey & sweet potato dog food is virtually identical to the pricey Innova Evo food I was buying for double the price. And, although I’m loyal to Dr. Bronners soap (thanks to YHL!), I got tempted last week by a new product at Costco called Sebamed that is a pH 5.5 face & body wash for sensitive skin, soap-free, and about the same price as Dr. B — so far it’s awesome. It’s true Costco requires more discipline because it is like a department store but I should do the math to see if the gas prices alone make the membership fee worth it (especially if split with someone). Anyway, thanks a million for this post and for all your responses Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
We used to have a Costo membership (we got a reduced membership fee thanks to John working at a specific advertising agency at the time) but we found that even with the reduced membership fee we weren’t convinced we were saving that much. Probably because we resist the urge to buy a lot of things in bulk since we like to feel a bit lighter and not have every cabinet stuffed with storage/food/toilet paper, etc. We really liked the savings we got on cereal and babybell cheese (I know, so random) but it felt like a long ways out of the way to go to that store for those things and do the rest of our shopping at the grocery store so we let our membership lapse. It seems like an awesome resource if you buy a lot of items there though!
xo,
s
Emily says
Thanks so much for posting this. We seem to have similar grocery lists (organic and baby stuff) and I never thought there were coupons for the kinds of things we buy. I’m glad to know that there are coupons out there for us to utilize!
Elizabeth says
Wow, the coupon craze is in full force recently! The Nate Show had coupon ladies on the other day (something to aim for–apparetnly they only pay for like 2% of their food) A friend told me about Southern Savers a few months ago, she went to the lady’s seminar…I am trying to get into it, but I hate putting my email and other info into all these websites!
Kate says
I love coupons! While I’m not always dilligent about using them, when I am – it’s awesome. Not too long ago I went shopping with my husband, who teased me the whole time that I was like a little old lady with my coupons. He shut up when he saw the total price at the checkout go down, down, down as she was scanning all of my coupons!! Happy “clipping”!
Cassidy says
I love Kroger too! I like using the online coupons that you can load to your card. I average 19-25% savings each time! I love that little blurb on the bottom of the receipt . . . it’s like a game :-)
I try not to buy non-food items at Kroger, though. Cleaning supplies and hygiene items are more expensive there (unless you have a coupon). I make a trip to Walmart or the dollar store for those items . . .
fittingbackin says
This is awesome. I’m a huge meal planner (I pre-cook on Sundays) but rarely rely on coupons. I’ve already signed up for shortcuts, cellfire and kroger – this is just so smart. Thanks for the great round up of tips – can’t wait to share with my friends & family!!
Sarah R. says
Yay! So glad you are getting the hang of it–couponing can be so frustrating!
For what it’s worth, I never had the energy to clip and organize coupons when I was a newbie (still don’t). Instead I just hole punch the insert (Smart Source, Procter and Gamble, etc.), and throw it in a binder with the date on the front.
Since all the grocery blog/coupon blogs list WHICH insert the coupons are in I simply make my grocery shopping list online (southern savers has a grocery list feature, maybe some other sites do as well), print it, then pull my mondo huge coupon binder (I think I have the past 6 months of inserts in there), and start pulling.
If I don’t actually have the coupon (I live in a small city with few coupons in the paper–so this happens frequently), I don’t sweat it anymore. In the long run it’s totally worth the hour a week I spend couponing.
Good luck to all the newbies out there! It’s totally worth it, but seek help in the beginning or if you feel like quitting!
Krista says
I know that I can’t afford to eat all my produce organic but here are a couple of links that show the “dirty dozen” food items to purchase organic. Why spend the extra money when it doesn’t make any difference to what you are eating!?
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Save-on-Sustainable-Gallery-44032808
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods
Lauren says
I just started couponing too (this is my first week) and I’ve found that compiling all the blogs in Google Reader makes it a lot easier to keep track of everything instead of bookmarks.
Julie @ Another Chance Ranch says
Thank you so much for the tips, coupon sites, and little push to start using coupons. I have to organize mine for shopping. I took several coupons with me to the store just the other day, and forgot to dig them out of my purse when I was checking out. Dang it! :(
I hope you don’t mind, I am linking to you today. Good luck with the Bloggies!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Julie! We just found out about that. So crazy!
xo,
s