The idea here is to save you time and money on your next trip(s) to the grocery store. It made me reflect on our habits of grocery shopping and ways we save. I decided to share some of the things I have routinely implemented to keep our foodstuffs stocked. This isn't scientific, other than our method testing - via excel spreadsheet, but some ideas and things we have done.
- Subscribe to a local newspaper on Sundays - this allows us to (more seldom than I would like to admit) catch up on the news via the good ol' newspaper, but usually I separate out the "paper" from the "gloss," or the coupon and ad sections. Pending a church visit on Sunday morning, you can find me on a patch of carpet or couch, with the ads and coupons fanned out around me. Insert a "helpful" Vizsla and hubby watching football, and you've pretty much got the full visual on that scenario.
- Clip those coupons! - After I have made a location for myself, grabbed a cup of coffee, scissors, coupon binder and recycling receptacle, I go to work - reviewing ads and clipping coupons. I really try to stick to the things that we have either purchased before or would be willing to try that isn't too far off the beaten path. I have found out - from the few months I have been "couponing," that if I get things that are way too "off our food grid," they get clipped, but seldom used.
- Sort and file the coupons! - After the clipping occurs, I then file the coupons into categories in a binder. I started out with my own Frankenstein binder of coupon glory - a regular 3-ring binder with numbered tabs. Those numbers correlate to an index of categories in a supermarket that I frequent.
- Write that down. - I keep a magnetic notepad on the side of the refrigerator so that when we use up the last of something, we jot it down on the notepad so I can factor that into the items I shop for and stock up on when I am at the store.
- Then usually I take the list from the fridge, paired with other random items that I know we need - you know, the staples like milk and eggs, etc. and I add those things to the fridge list. I check to see if I have coupons for any of those items, and then look at the ad for the grocery store that I shop at frequently. Sometimes I am able to double-up on the store promotions or coupons and pair them with the coupons from the paper or the internet. I have been going less and less to the internet for coupons because I find I can use those less and less, and you are spending money on paper and ink to print them out. Not a lot, but still, it all counts.
- Envelope, List, Keys, and go! - I put all of the coupons in order of how I travel the store. I grab my list and try to list or group the items the same way so I can just make one sweep of the store and not have to back-track too much for stray items.
- Enroll in store reward programs. - We belong to the reward card that our grocery store offers. It is actually a sweet program, because your groceries stack up to discounts on gas at a local gas station. An added bonus - my mom has a card to the same account that she logs her groceries to as well - so does Derick and myself, so we get bonus savings. The reason she doesn't have and use her own card and account is because she doesn't have those gas stations immediately near her, and usually fills up at Costco anyway!
- Weigh the options of couponing vs cheaper stores vs warehouse stores. We did a test for about 2 years where we only shopped at a discount food store (Aldi) and bought remaining items at a neighboring grocer (Cub Foods). Then, we tried couponing (Cub Foods) partnered with a warehouse store (Sam's Club). We really found that we were spending about the same no matter what method we were using to get our food at cheaper prices, so in the end, do what works for you - factor in convenience and everything else that your family values.
- When in doubt, send the "other one" shopping. - I am the main one in our house who completes the processes listed out above. If I am being honest, sometimes I am swayed by things that "sound good" or wants rather than needs. But when Derick goes, armed with the list, that is what he comes home with - usually the cheapest option for the things on said list.
-LD
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