I am passionate about saving money in the grocery store. I believe that almost everyone can save some money on their monthly grocery bill with proper planning and revised shopping strategies. Many people have asked me over the years if I used coupons to save money. I did use coupons but not very often because places like Costco or the Grocery Outlet don't accept coupons. Oh sure, I used a cereal coupon now and then but I definitely didn't establish my grocery savings upon clipping coupons. That was then.A few months ago a friend sent me a link to a website entitled The Krazy Coupon Lady and since then I have slowly ventured into what I call "Extreme Couponing". Compared to folks who write and/or post on this site I am a complete novice, but by my own standards I have taken couponing to a new level. Look at the image I have posted here, it contains 10 grocery items that I purchased on Monday at Albertsons. The regular, non-sale price of these items is a combined $29.80. They were on sale for $18.00 and yet, Anneke paid ZERO to bring them all home. That's right, nothing, nada, zip, zero, free, free, free. The key to this example is that Albertson's regularly offers double coupons. These are coupons, found in the Albertsons weekly or Sunday newspaper flyer/ad, which will double any existing manufacturer coupon up to $1 in value. The paper contained 3 coupons and the store had a huge stack of extras. I made three trips through the check-out line each time using 3 of my own $1/off coupon in combination with the Albertsons based doubler. (3) $1/off coupons + (3) Albertsons doublers = $6/off each set of items x 3 = $18 in free groceries. This is just one example of my recent savings. In other cases during the past month the store has actually PAID me to walk out with certain items because of additional incentives, such as money back when you buy items. Completely crazy and yet it is totally legit.
This type of couponing and the resulting shopping is definitely not for everyone. It requires paying attention to the Sunday coupons, keeping track of them, and of course reading the weekly grocery ads. However, with the help of web sites like the Krazy Coupon Lady or Discount Queens the research has been done for you. These sites point out where the best deals are and which coupons to use. Often there are links to online coupon sources and even unadvertised deals seem to show up here. By spending a little time browsing you never know what you might find!
I would start out slow if I were you as it can easily be overwhelming. Take a peek at the sites and see if there might be ways to include a few money saving tips and tricks into your grocery shopping. Be sure to let me know how it goes. And if you need further info, don't hesitate to email me.
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