Grocery Shopping Like a BOSS: Non-extreme Couponing

Summer is winding down and the kids are back in school. We are all falling back into routines, including me in my couponing habits. As I've said before, my husband is a police officer and I work part-time so we don't have much money. I am in charge of all our expenses and I stay on top of our bills to make sure they are as low as I can get them. This includes our grocery bill. Feeding myself and four boys (husband included) and our pets ain't cheap! But over the years I have gotten pretty good at slicing our grocery bill down to the minimum and I now average about $60 a week for our groceries. Not too shabby I think.

An old couponing success. This all cost less than $15.00

These are some of my rules and methods I use to help me feed my family.

General Rules:

First rule, try to shop without your kids! And your husband too! They will bat those sweet eyes at you and get you to buy them anything, and will sabotage your budget. Love them, and leave them at home. You need to enter the store focused and alert for unadvertised deals (like my baby food score below), and also you need to concentrate on your coupons and sales to make sure you are reading them right and are getting the savings you intend to get.

Second rule, do your homework at home. Collect coupons through Sunday papers or by printing them from online sources like coupons.com. But collect them and save them in a binder like mine or a three-ring binder with trading card sleeves. I've tried both methods and the small binder works better for me. I have it organized according to the aisles in my most frequented grocery store (produce, dairy, frozen, baby, etc.) Once a week, check out the weekly ads for the grocery stores you shop. I only do Publix (for BOGOs) and Kroger but there are deals to be found elsewhere too. I also shop at Aldi and Sams Club for bulk essential items but they don't do coupons anyway. Check out iheartpublix and iheartkroger, or southernsavers. These sites list weekly sales and corresponding coupons as well. They do the hard part for you so all you have to do is look at what you want to buy and find your coupons for it.

My binder.

Third rule, shop with a list. After you've done your homework, go to the store with your list and coupons ready. And stick to your list! When I do take my kids shopping with me, they know if "it's not on the list" we are not getting it today. Be strong, you spent a lot of time preparing to save so don't blow it! You'll feel awesome when you get your receipt and see "you saved $24" and not "you shouldn't have bought that box of Cap'n Crunch at regular price because it will undoubtedly go on sale soon." Or something like that.

Last Rule, be smart. Just because you can get something super cheap with a coupon does not mean you need to buy it. Will you use it? Then by all means get it. But don't get something you will never use just because you can get it on sale. Also, if it's something you use all the time, get it when it's on sale and stock up on it if you have coupons to get it really cheap. Do I already have four bottles of ketchup? Yes, but I can get another bottle for $0.19 and we use ketchup ALL.THE.TIME so I'm gonna go ahead and get another bottle. Be a brand snob, or not. More importantly, know prices. If Kraft barbeque sauce is $2.39 and Kroger's brand is $1.00 and you don't care, get the Kroger brand! But if you have a coupon for $0.50 off Kraft (which doubles to $1.00 off at Kroger) AND it's on sale 10 for $10, that means FREE so TAKE IT ALL. I'm a brand snob for certain things...soap, detergent, shampoo...in those cases I wait for sales and stock up. It's really hard to buy Tide for $9.99 when I know it'll go on sale and, with a coupon (like I did last week), I can get it for three bucks. Just sayin'

Example:

I try to visit Publix once a week for their "BOGOs," or "Buy One Get Ones." This means certain items are on sale for buy one, get one free. So essentially each item is half price. If you can combine the sale with your coupons, you can legally rob the store. At least it feels that way. Last week I bought just three things from Publix because I get my essentials from either Aldi (always cheaper) or Kroger (really great sales). I bought a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a bottle of Wishbone dressing, and an 8oz bag of Sargento shredded cheese. Random, I know, but we use those things and they were cheaper on sale and with coupons at Publix than at Aldi and Kroger that week. I paid $2.36 total. I've already thrown away my list but I remember the cereal so it is below, and I write my list out for Publix and Kroger just like I typed out below, and I carry my coupons in with me:

(1x) Cinnamon Toast Crunch BOGO $3.58 (c) 0.50 off 1 = $0.79
This means I planned to buy one box of cereal which was buy one get one free. The regular price was $3.58 so buying just one will ring up as half that, or $1.79. I had a coupon for $0.50 off one box. Publix doubles coupons up to 0.50 which means I would actually receive $1.00 off, making my cereal $0.79 at the register.

Score.

The reason I like a small coupon binder is so I can leave it in my purse and always have it with me. Today, for example, I went to the store to get milk and walked down the baby aisle. Their baby food was on sale and I remembered I had coupons so I checked it out. I matched the sale with my coupons and scored what's pictured below for $5.89. This is an instance where I did not go in with a list, nor had I done my homework, but I was smart and quickly added up the savings in my head to get my littlest one some of his favorite snacks. He loves those pouch things and I love the ones with veggies hidden in them.

I had a coupon for $1.00 four Gerber Graduates items and the peas and carrots were clearanced to $0.78. Four boxes was $3.12, minus my $1.00 made them $2.12 or $0.53 each. The Beechnut pouches were 10 for $10 and I had a coupon for $1.00 of two which means I got one for free. The Plum pouches and Ella Baby pouches were on sale as well and I had coupons for them too.

If you've read through this whole thing, thank you and I'm sorry! But I hope it's inspired you to give coupons a shot. Once you see your savings, it is very rewarding. And, for the record, I've never bought four cartloads of toothbrushes and soda for $1.23 like they do on TV. Though I think it's pretty cool they can do that. I think I'm just too lazy and shy for all that work and stares.

ps Couponing isn't just for groceries. Before you buy anything online, Google "promo codes" or "online coupons" for the item you're purchasing. I've saved $20 and shipping on shoes and I've scored free pizzas. Just take a minute to search for a coupon code first!