Coupons, Cutouts, and Creativity (How I save)

I have had several people ask me how I save so much money when I go grocery shopping. It is a multi-step system that I use, and it does take some planning, but I like know that I am saving $!

First, we are attempting to grow our own garden this year, so that works out well for fresh produce. It is expensive to eat healthy food, so we decided to attempt some home grown goodness.

I hate grocery shopping, so I try to do one big trip a month and be done with it. I started by getting organized. Since we do a majority of our shopping at Wal-Mart I created a chart based on the Auburn store lay out. I then created half an envelope for each category on my chart. I labeled each envelope with the same heading from my chart (see pictures below). I hang an empty chart on the fridge after each trip and if we run out of something, I add it to the chart/list.

I then go coupon crazy. I clip every coupon I see. You just never know. It may be something I don't use, but I'm more than happy to pass the savings along to a friend who does use that product. I also use the following sites to gather coupons.

http://www.couponloop.com/ is one of my favorites.

http://www.couponmom.com/ is another good one.

http://www.couponbug.com/ works well.

http://www.coolsavings.com/ not really my favorite, but I find some good coupons every once in awhile.

http://www.kraft.com/ I use this a lot too.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/

If I am looking for a coupon for a specific item, I will search that makers website. If you are looking for a dog food coupon, go to the company site that makes the food your dog eats, etc.

I then organize my coupons by putting them in the corresponding envelopes. Coupons for cheese, milk, etc, go in the "dairy" envelope. Coupons for cereal and granola bars goes in the "cereal, Syrup, Pop Tarts, Granola Bars" envelope. Easy enough to understand right?

I then gather the local "in store" ads. Since I work in Angola, I make a point to run out to Meijer and grab an ad. The Kroger ad comes in the mail. I will look for items that we like that are on sale as well as items that we want to try that I already have a coupon for. If I want to try something new, and it's on sale at Kroger, I'll get on line and search for a coupon as well. I cut out the ad and take the clippings with me. Trust me, I know cashiers hate this. I used to be a cashier and I am now the type of customer I hated. It is there job to take care of you at check out, so just pretend to be happy and apologize for the cut outs. When I unload my cart I attempt to put all of the items I have a cut out for at the start of the line. It makes it easier for the cashier. They can get all of the price changes out of the way at first and then fly through the rest. If I have a "buy one, get one" coupon I also hand that to the cashier first so they can remember to write down the amount.

The next step is to plan your meals. I print out a monthly calendar and plan meals based on what is on sale and what I plan to buy. The key to this is flexibility. Who knows what you are going to be craving in two weeks! I allow us to swap nights. Often Ayron will call and say, "I looked at the menu this morning and pasta doesn't sound good. Can we trade tonight for Thursday's meal?" This works really well for us. As I am getting breakfast around, I can glance at the calendar and I immediately know what I need to get around for dinner. If I need chicken, I know to pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw while I am at work. Saves a ton of time! I also build in "fun" meals. Saturday night we always "eat out with the gang" after church. Sunday is always "leftovers or pizza" night. If there aren't any left overs, then we make our own pizza. We'll do breakfast type foods for dinner, or a picnic dinner the park, etc.

After I make my calendar, I double check my chart/list to make sure I have all the ingredients and food needed to make all the meals on the calendar. I will sometimes wait to buy the fresh produce till closer to the night we are eating it. I then pull all the coupons I plan on using and paper clip them to my chart. I always take along all my coupons, but pulling out the ones you already plan on using in advance saves time.

That is how I do it. It takes some time and planning, but I think it take a lot of headache out of the "What am I going to cook for dinner?" situation that would happen every night if I didn't do it.

Here are some other tips that I have.

* Buy generic. It won't kill you to buy the store brand. Now I break this rule when it comes to certain types of foods. I can't eat cheap mac and cheese, I just can't. It's Kraft or nothing! Some of the store brand foods I like better than the name brand. Taylor loves the generic version of "Nutragrain" bars, but will not eat the actual brand kind!

* Ladies, if you can help it, DO NOT TAKE THE KIDS OR YOUR HUSBAND to the store with you!! It's just easier and you're not constantly saying, "Put that back."

* Eat a meal right before you go, that way if you have to take the kids and hubby, they aren't as hungry and they don't start suddenly craving everything they see!

* Take your own bags. I LOVE MY REUSABLE BAGS FROM ALDI'S! If you are buy an Aldi's stop in and get their cloth bags (have a cardboard insert in the bottom). I think I paid $2 for each of them, but they are HUGE and they hold so much more than the reusable Wal-Mart bags!

* Buy in bulk when possible. We have a Sam's Club membership and we buy some things in bulk. I also take this approach when buying meat and cheese. We get a lot of our meat from Albrights. The "Fill the Freezer" pack lasts us forever! We also bought a pork loin (that was already cut into about 20 chops) last night for $10. Tonight I will repackage those into serving sizes and freeze them! We also bought a sirloin roast that was on sale. Ayron will cut it into sirloin steaks, and ta da...We'll get about 8-10 steaks out of it for a total of $10. We eat a lot of cheese, so we buy the GIANT bags at Sam's Club, and then I repackage them into 2 cup sizes (baggies are our friends!) and put them in the freezer.

*Create connections to farmers! We are lucky enough that Ayron's brother does some "mini" farming. They have taken an interest in chicken farming. We recently got 5 chickens for $4 a piece. Can't beat that! In about another two weeks we will get another 10 chickens. They raise them, and then Ayron goes out and helps with the processing. We plan on giving some away as gifts. I have a friend who we are going to quarter at least 1, if not 2 up, and give them to her (pss..Evil Poptart, I'm talking about you!). We also have an Uncle who raises cows and once a year, we all pitch in and buy cow and process it our self. We split the meat up, and that fills our freezer (It helps that we have a HUGE deep freeze) too. We also know a hog farmer who will sell us hogs for cheap. When the fire department is getting ready for a hog roast, we might purchase another one (he sells them to us for cheap since Ayron's brother is a firefighter) and butcher it ourselves. We make roasts, ham, chops, bacon, sausage links, sausage patties, etc. All of this takes some time and effort and the ability to get your hands dirty, but if you have the connections, use them!

So there you have it, that is how I save! Hope it helps all of you out there. If you want my chart for the Auburn Wal-Mart let me know and I will be happy to email it to you!

A pic (taken w/ my phone so the quality is crap) of my chart.

My coupon envelopes. They are just a sealed envelope cut in half.