Back in the Game! [Couponing]

[WARNING: Don't read further if you have no interest in coupons or saving money at the grocery store. This post will bore you.]

I'd consider myself a pretty avid couponer. However, over the past few weeks it's been increasingly difficult to find great deals, especially since we started trying to eat more healthily and find natural, fresh foods. It's frustrating to spend lots of time clipping coupons, printing coupons, and double checking shopping lists, just get to the store and spend more than planned.

This week was a different story. I found some incredible deals, especially with Harris Teeter Super Double Coupons. I feel like I finally got back in the game!

First stop: Harris Teeter.
I bought $76.91 worth of groceries:
*Half Gallon Almond Milk (1)
*Crystal Light (3 packs)
*Dish soap (2)
*Johnson Baby Products for shower gift "extras" (3)
*Turkey Bacon (2)
*Salad Dressing (3)
*Herbal Essence (2)
*Deodorant (2)
*Simply Potatoes (1)
*Kleenex (1)
*Protein Bars (2)
I spent $14.28 for a
total savings of... $62.63 (81%)

I still can't believe I got all if this for $14! I'm not a fan of spending money on "groceries" when there's not much pictured here that's actually edible. However, a lot of this stuff was free or close to free.

 

The great news is that's not all!  Next stop: Publix. 

I bought $105.38 worth of groceries. Here's what all I got:
*Green Giant Frozen Veggies (6)
*Yoplait 8-pack (1)
*Ricola Drops (4)
*Green Giant Canned Green Beans (4)
*Hunts Tomatoes, 28 oz. (3)
*Chicken Broth, 32 oz. (1)
*Dentyne 60-piece gum (3)
*Progressive Soup (3)
*Betty Crocker Brownie Mix
*Napkins
*Dixie Coffee Cups
*Fresh Express Salad (2)
*Sargento Shredded Cheese (2)
*Eggs
*Bananas
*Dishwashing gel, 32 pack
*Protein Bars (4)
*Vitamins
*Olive Oil, 16 oz.
*Organic canned tomatoes (2)
I spent a grand total of $27.23 
for a total savings of...$78.15 (74%)

Are you kidding me? I expected to save a lot on this trip, but not quite that much! I'm excited because there's a lot more that fits into my weekly diet in this picture.

 

Daily total spent: $41.51

Total saved between the two stores: $140.78

Percent Saved: 77%

Thanks for sharing in my coupon excitement.  It's fun to save lots of money when you've been working hard for weeks with not much return. Be sure to check out some great coupon resources!

A Simpler Life... Couponing Part II

Yseterday, I went to Harris Teeter for Super Double Coupons.  I got everything pictured here for $10. 23 and saved over $57. I couldn't have done it without some great couponing resources.

Here are the top places I get coupons:
*The Sunday Paper. I try to buy two per week on good coupon weeks... and these are $1 at Kroger starting Monday.
*eCoupons. These will load straight to your Kroger Card... but sadly, Kroger's the only place I can use them right now.
*Printable coupons.  The best places to get these are coupons.com and smartsource.com.
*All You Magazine.  I subscribed to this, only after discovering some incredible deals each month.  You can also buy this on the magazine rack, but it's only available at Wal-Mart. 

Here are my favorite sites for couponing:
*southersavers.com.  This blogger lives in South Carolina, so not all the deals match up... but she offers the most helps, ideas, and possible coupon deals.
*faithfulprovisions.com.  This blog is local, so I love reading all the Nashville deals, and can be fairly certain that what's listed on the blog will be what I find when I show up at the store.
*thethriftymama.com.  She focuses more on organic and natural food deals. 
All of these blogs tell you not only what coupons are in the Sunday paper, but what's on sale at your local grocery store, and how much you'll end up saving with sale prices, store coupons, and manufacturers coupons.  They highlight tons of great drug store deals as well.

Couponing has helped our budget tremendously, and it's been a fun hobby for me over the past year. My blog isn't a coupon blog, so I won't bore you with pictures of my weekly purchases... and we'll leave it at these two posts for now.  Here's to saving LOTS of money, and here's to a simpler life!

A Simpler Life... Couponing for beginners

Couponing isn't even a word, according to my spell check.  It has quickly become a hobby, though.  In fact, I'm quite addicted to saving money.  Word is starting to spread.  My mom saves her coupons for me each Sunday, and I even had some coupons show up on my desk at work last week thanks to a fellow coworker!

Here's my version of of the basics on stores and stockpiling:

More value than you think: A few grocery stores double manufacturers coupons up to $0.50 (for me, they are Publix and Kroger).  Some double up to $0.99 on a regular basis (Harris Teeter).  These stores are where your big savings take place.  No more Wal-Mart trips for me! Match a sale with a coupon, and you end up paying literally pennies, for items.

Stockpile. The idea behind couponing is stockpiling... no, it's not hoarding.  Okay, it has the potential to become hoarding but Nic keeps me in check.  Just find some accountability.  Generally, items go on sale every 6-8 weeks.  Stock up what you need (not so much that you can feed a family of 8 for two years), but only what you think you'll need until it goes on sale again in 6-8 weeks... If you buy it at the cheapest price (40-50% off or more) then you start saving lots of money.  Weekly trips no longer include the same items each week.  They now include a few weekly items (milk, bread, etc.) and many more sale items.

Nic and I now spend about $50 a week on groceries for our family of two. When we got married we'd budgeted $80 a week... so we're saving about $120 a month and we have way more food in our kitchen.

More to come on where to get the best coupons and the best resources for couponers.

At Publix...

Spent $23
Saved $49