Want to cut your Grocery bill in half?
It can be done!
Basics:
1. Check your grocery stores coupon policy! Most stores double coupons up to $0.99. Also some stores take competitor coupons as well.
2. Make sure you are signed up for their loyalty card! This is key to get all the sales, gas and coupon savings! Make sure you have up to date address information because most stores will mail you coupons.
3. Sign up for your stores coupons online as well. Most stores will email you printable coupons.
4. Buy the Sunday paper, check your area and see which ones are the best for coupons.
5. Print out coupons, sites like http://www.smartsource.com/ and coupons.com have lots of coupons you can print from your computer.
Other things to check out.
Some grocery stores now give you a 5cent credit if you bring your own bags. So 10 bags X 5 cents = 50 cent savings (doesn't seem like much but it adds up and you are also saving the enviornment :-)).
Some stores give you credit toward gas purchases.
Some stores now have a catalina program where when you buy a certain amount of certain items you will get a coupon toward your next purchase. I will explain more later but this can really be where you save the most money!
OK......here's an example of a transaction I did recently at my grocery store:
I bought $40 worth of Groceries for $21 plus a $10 coupon toward my next purchase
2 Pantene Pro V Shampoos & 2 Conditioners and 2 Stylers = $21 sale
Case of water on sale for = $3.99 sale
Some Steaks = $10
Tomatoes =$2.50
Fiberone Pancake Mix =$2.99
Total= $40.48 plus some tax for my taxable items
So here goes the savings:
I used a $5 off $40 coupon I got in the mail from a competitor, 2 $3 off 2 pantene products so $6 all together and two coupons for a free styler when you buy a shampoo and conditioner and I bought 4 (so thats two free stylers worth $3.50 each). I also had a coupon for $1 on the pancake mix. My grocery store was also running a $1 doubler coupon special where they will double up to four coupons for $1 value. So thats $4 saved. Alltogether my coupons added up to $19! So $40.48 - $19 = $21 plus tax ! Plus it gets better the store was running a promotion for $10 back on your next purchase when you buy $20 worth of P&G items ( pantene) so I got $10 back toward my next purchase! So in reality I only spent $9!
Some online resources to check for coupons:
Shortcuts.com
This is a great site, some stores will have electronic coupons loaded right to your loyalty card so no clipping! The savings will come off at the bottom of your receipt as long as you scanned your card. So check it out at http://www.shortcuts.com/
Cellfire.com
Coupons can be loaded right to your cellphone!! Check them out at http://www.cellfire.com/
Upromise.com
Upromise is a great program that saves money for your childs college, it also now uses electronic coupons loaded to your card and the saving go right into your upromise account! Check them out at http://www.upromise.com/
Coupon Ettiquette:
Just in case you never used coupons before I want to make sure you know the "rules".
1. Never make photocopies of a coupon!
2. Make sure you only use coupons on items they were meant for!
