Hello Moms,
The economy is on everyones minds I know. I am trying to become more frugal so that my family can keep living the lifestyle that we always have, but times are getting harder(for everyone). I have never coupon shopped before and thought that cutting my grocery bill would have a big impact on my families finances. Have any of you used coupons, a coupon company or shopping website that helps you cut the costs? Are these sites free or is there a membership? Do they bombard you with unwanted solicitations?
Do you have any inside tips on how to make your dollar stretch? I would love any and all advise on ways to cut corners in this hard economic time.
Thanks for everything!!
J.
Don't shop Jewel or Dominics. I shop at Butera Market, Aldi, and Caputos only. When I get their weekly fliers, I find out what's on sale and buy the sale items only (for the most part...) I spent 400/month for my family of 4, that includes diapers, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items.... I buy the Parents Choice diapers and Equate stuff at Walmart for the most part...
Is a free website (all you have to do is sign up) and you'll get coupons and free information/tips about how to save on your grocery shopping.
My husband does the coupon clipping and grocery shopping, but I make the list. We shop at Jewel and I use their weekly flier to menu plan around the sales. When they have a good sale, we stock up and if we have a coupon, that's even better.
ok, i just started about a month ago, clipping coupons and i have already saved $100 with coupons alone!!it has become so much fun, i can't believe how i am saving! i get a couple of sunday papers (for the coupons). i am lucky because my parents give me theirs and so do the neighbors- i know how pathetic!! then when the flyers come out, i match my coupons to what is the best deal. i have to warn you- you do do have to stock pile. i just bought 18 boxes of cereal for $23! but who can resist such a deal!! it is really easy if you want anymore tips let me know!good luck!
go to www.angelfoodministries.com
it is a church that buys in bulk so they can sell a lot of food at an affordable price. Their main food package is $30. There are no income restrictions.
My husband would love for me to do coupons but it just never seems to make sense to me. I'll bring a few coupons in and i only save a few dollars. it's silly. but my sister was watching oprah or something and gave me some awesome insight to coupons. only cut the ones that are $1 or more. don't purchase those items the week you find the coupon in the paper. use it the week right before they expire because a lot of the time the store will also have a deal and you can get a double deal on that item. buy stuff you don't need right now but know you will need in the future. apparently this woman who my sister saw on tv would plan her meals around the coupons she had. I think she said it took her a few months to really get the hang of it and enough coupons to plan meals around. that is a lot of work and a lot of organization in regards to coupons. not to mention you might be going to a few different stores to get your shopping done. but if you can get away with buying groceries for a whole week for $50 it may be worth it.
our library is having a special program today about coupons! I hope to get some good tips! if i do, i will share.
Did you ever try Aldi's? Not sure where you live but they are all around. We probably save half of what we might spend at some of the other stores on things like toilet paper, paper towels, and frozen veggies for example. We have shopped there for years. We also have a Sam's club membership, about twentyfive dollars and buy things in large quantities there, although pop is very expensive for some reason. Neither place is that beautiful looking inside like Dominick's or Jewel, but the food is great, and I can't imagine how different anyone can make pastas for instance. They have cheaper soups, laundry soaps, etc. So if you are feeling adventurous, try it, and keep clipping those coupons - it's fun to see what those do. S.
www.grocerygame.com is the one you have to pay for. I tried the trial and forgot to cancel it before i got charged! Its an ok site, I think once you get the hang of it, you can do it on your own. It seems like you basically just keep track of sales and comparison shop and save the coupons for when prices hit rock bottom, then you stock up. The website is healpful in some ways, it tells you EVERYTHING on sale so you don't have to look through a flyer and it color codes things for you. Also, I have it set up to use Meijers, so it will tell me when I buy a certain amount of a product, what kinds of coupons will print off immediately.
Overall, it might be useful to do the 4 week trial for $1 and its not terribly expensive after that, but you might just break even or maybe you will save more! I'm not putting a whole lot of effort into every week, but it has helped us know when sales are and if we just wait one more day something we need will be cheaper!
Hope this helps!
J.,
I just went to a terrific program at the Carol Stream library. I learned so much and am excited to try what Jill does- she's one of those people that you hear about who can buy 30 packs of diapers for $7. You do have to stockpile but what she said totally makes sense. The program had a waiting list so they added another day in November.
http://www.cslibrary.org/evanced/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=1...=
She has dates at other libraries too.
http://www.supercouponing.com/
There was an article in the paper about a woman that got tons of food by using coupons from a website. I checked it out and I would have had to pay and the site had limited stores it matched you to--it matched sales and coupons. I tried the savings website, drawing a blank on the name right now but it has a pig as a mascot--and got totally bombarded with spam like you would not believe. Oo, Cool Savings-amazing how a name pops into your head. :) I went in and took my name out to not send me anything. I still get tons of spam, never got it before. I am sure there is something else out there but I have not found it yet.
