Couponing

Hey there everyone!

I'm trying to get back in to couponing. I struggle with weather it is truly worth it for me. I know financially it is. when you think PURELY financial, heck yea its worth it. The numbers don't lie. However, it takes me a LOT of time to accomplish coupon shopping. I have 3 children whom I homeschool, plus a 3 yr old I keep during the week, not to mention all the other things to keep up with that everyone has to deal with. I'm not special. I know there are TONS of people out there who TONS more than I do, and still successfully coupon. What I do is mediocre at best. lol But, I am trying again. and I keep telling myself that the money saved will be much better than being able to go to Sams twice a month.

Anyway, first I have to say a few things about my couponing. I only go grocery shopping at most twice a week, and usually not even that much. I pretty well pick one store that has the best deals that match my menu needs. And I have a rule. I only buy something that we don't eat on a regular basis IF and ONLY IF, it is DIRT CHEAP. I mean, like 50cents or less. Usually free. My kids aren't picky. They will eat pretty much anything I put in front of them. Because of this, and the ability to stay home and cook from semi-scratch, (there is no way I could cook every day if I had to go out of the house to work everyday-to those that do, Hats off to you!).. As I was saying, I don't serve convenience foods very often.  To be honest, the kids get gripy if I slack off on fruits and veggies and home cooked stuff. Tonight we got home late and I ended up doing a simple boxed pasta salad with added meat and cheese and they were upset because I didn't "cook" lol.

I digress..

• First rule: limit the trips!!! I live 20 minutes from the nearest store, so I gotta make it worth it.
• Second rule: don't buy things you don't normally eat unless it is REALLY worth it. Buying food you don't normally eat just because its a deal only wastes your budget unless it is TRULY a deal. I have no problem buying treats and special foods just because they are cheap. But when it cuts into my budget for feeding my children healthy meals, then I draw the line.
• Third rule: don't save/print coupons for things you will never eat/use. I don't use chemical cleaners. My husband has a special cleaning solution that he has used for years and I found it works just as well, so that is what we use. If you want the recipe, let me know, I'll get it for you. When I first started couponing, I found myself with TONS of cleaner coupons. I was spending SOO much time trying to figure out how to sort them and keep them where I could find them, then always ended up throwing tons away at the end of the month because they werent cheap enough for me to warrant buying things with those coupons.
• Make sure the difference between the generic and the brand name is enough for any extra that you have to pay. Many times it is cheaper to buy the brand name when you can stack coupons, but many generic/store brands are being discounted heavily enough that you can get them cheaper, so be careful.

Furthermore, don't buy more than you can store. Someone once told me, it's a 6 week cycle. buy enough for 6 weeks and you are good. Unless you really come on a deal that is once in a lifetime(or once in a year at least) don't overdo it. You will end up stressing over where to store the items and not remember half the stuff you have in your store.

So, this week wasn't that great for me. I didn't need a whole lot and the few things I needed weren't really on sale. I'll save you the specific details, and I didn't get pictures, but I'll share my totals.

Bi-Lo.
This is my stand-by. I usually find the best overall deals here on the foods we eat most often. I did find something out this week though. They don't double other store coupons. I had some really great coupons from foodlion and target this week, and they took them, so I saved a trip to foodlion, but missed out on those doubling. This week I had a LOT of produce (normal for us) probably $25-30 worth.

Sub-total before savings:     285.20

My savings:                           72.04

Sub-total after savings         210.37

So, I saved 72.04, with 26 coupons, and of course the bonus card deals. OH, and I got a $5 catalina coupon off my next purchase that I used today at Publix. So make that savings $77.04.

Publix.

I live 40 minutes from the nearest publix, so this is only a once in a while trip. Today I went there simply because I was in the neighborhood and they are the only local store I can find that carries the ziplock vacuum bags that I use for storing meats in my freezer. Thanks to the really good coupons in last weekends paper, I was able to stock up on these. They are the only bags that I buy brand name. Target brand works well enough for anything other than the freezer.

OK, since this was a small trip, I am going to break it down so you can sort of see how it is done:

I only bought 4 items.

I had 3 coupons:

$1/1 ziplock vacuum pump or refil

$1/2 any ziplock bag

$0.40/1 any ziplock bag *this doubled at publix*

Each of the 4 items I bought (all ziploc vacuum freezer bags) was 2.89.

2.89*4=11.56.

Now deduct the coupons.

1+1+.40+.40 (don't forget the double) = 2.80 for a current total of 8.76.

Now, remember earlier I got a $5 off your next order from Bi-lo yesterday. It said Manufacturers coupon on it so I was able to use it at Publix(be careful with these, sometimes they won't take them, I had to discuss it with the manager before they would take it, because they thought it was a "store" coupon and the dollar amount was too high). Anyway, deduct that and we are down to 3.76. Add our horrible tax and our totals come to:

Total payment 4.80

Total savings: 7.80

Not too shabby, but not worth a special trip. If I had needed other things like for a regular shopping trip, it wouldn't look nearly as good. But like I said I was in the neighborhood and I really needed these bags.

OK, last but not least:

Target. This is my favorite store. Many people argue that Walmart is better, but I cannot stand walmart. I used to be the walmart queen, no joke. we were there at least twice a week. then I realized that the store was literally making me sick. but that's another post.

I got many free items on this trip. The totals arent that impressive, because of another rule of mine. I don't specifically "coupon shop". Those people you see with these outrageous numbers ONLY buy what they have massive coupons for in that trip. those totals don't take into account anything other than what they have coupon deals for. If you pay attention to what they are getting, it does not usually take into account normal day-to-day groceries, staples, and necessities. yes, they are great deals and it is really and truly awesome how well they can do, I'm just saying my numbers aren't quite so impressive. I bought household items that were necessary, but high dollar. Anyway, here goes.

Total spent $68.68

Total savings $35.74

So for the week...

35.74

7.80

72.04

Total Savings = $115.58

That's 2 weeks worth of gas money for me :D

Happy Couponing everyone :D

ps.. having looked back at this long-winded post, I must apologize for the length :) Thanks for taking the time to read it if you have made it this far.