I always go to the grocery store with a list, and I meal plan. Our list doesn't vary too much. I eat oatmeal every weekday morning for breakfast, so that's a no-brainer for me. (Mr. Ryan needs to do better on his breakfast)! He usually takes leftovers for lunch, and I also eat leftovers or find something else at home. Lunch is my hardest meal to come up with if there are no dinner leftovers. Before I shop, we determine what we want for dinners that week, and I stick to the list. Several of our dinners are meatless, which saves money. I think Ryan would like meat with every dinner. I am fine without and grew up with some meatless dinners. I usually don't look at the mail flyer before making my list. Any savings I have are from things that happen to be on sale in the store. On some items I am flexible with the brand and fine with generic, and with some things I won't compromise, such as organic milk and eggs.
Here are some things I'm gathering:
- I talked to my favorite cashier this week and she said they don't match coupons. We shop at a Kroger affiliate
- Not all sales are listed in the weekly mailer. I shopped Tuesday and forgot something for dinner. I went back on Wednesday and several of the things I bought at full price Tuesday were on sale. None of them were in the ad.
Here's a typical shopping list. We don't need all of these items each week.
Naturally Preferred (NP) Organic milk
NP cage-free eggs
Stonyfield Yo Baby yogurt for Raegan
Private Selection (PS) organic oatmeal
PS organic peanut butter
PS organic beans, black or pinto
PS chicken broth
unsalted butter
Rotel
cream of mushroom soup
dry pasta
tomato sauce
half & half
bananas
apples
avocados
Oroweat bread
honey
Amy's organic frozen burritos for lunch
grilled chicken strips
variety of shredded cheeses
Athenos hummus
Morning Star Farms crumbles for tacos
chili or taco seasoning
beef tips
fresh salmon
fresh garlic
an onion
red cooking wine
a Stouffer's bake, usually the cheddar broccoli and chicken or Grandma's vegetable bake
other fresh vegetables for a specific soup
(Looks like we need to eat more veggies!)
** I would love to hear your methods, suggestions, thoughts, etc.
3 comments:
I am a coupon clipper. I began this summer since I actually had time being at home and all. I have NEVER saved millions like I see some people, but I think I am like you in that I won't compromise on some things. Looking over your list, I did notice several things that I see coupons for often:
Baby yogurt, rotel, cr. of mushroom, pasta, tomato sauce, half and half, cheese, hummus, and morning star
Don't know if you would be interested or not, but I have heard of coupon swaps. I have actually thought about you a lot when considering this. Basically you cut all the coupons in your Sunday paper, keep the ones you need, and mail the rest of a friend. I would be glad to swap with you if you are interested.
Good luck clipping!
~Cristy
Well, I've got several tips and suggestions if you're up for it.
1. Find a coupon website that matches weekly circulars with coupon deals. I use www.southernsavers.com, but she typically covers just the southeast. There are several websites like this out there though. www.thriftyandthriving.com is one, as well as www.hip2save.com, but I'm not sure where either of those are based out of.
2. If there's a brand you use a lot, check to see if they have a facebook page. Several companies are doing this, and having online coupons on fb.
3. See if you can sign up for a home mailer from your Kroger affiliate. Kroger monitors what I buy from the store through my Plus card, and about every 2-3 months I get coupons (free items mostly) of things I buy most frequently.
4. If there's a good sale, stock up. But don't stock up for 2 years. Most sale cycles go about 6-8 weeks. So just buy enough to get a month, maybe 2 out of an item, then it should be on sale again when you need it.
5. Don't go crazy. There's no need to invest hours on end to save money. I spend at most an hour on my list and coupons a week, and then I hit up 2 stores unless there is just an amazing deal going. One easy way to do this if you're not ready to go fullout coupon binder yet is just pull out the coupon inserts from your Sunday paper and date them. Southernsavers will tell you on their coupon matchups which insert they were in. So just wait until you see what you want, then go clip. If you feel like you are saving enough to delve deeper, you may try a different approach.
I hope this helps some. I know everyone has their own style, but I consistently save 30-50% off of my groceries each week, and that makes up for me buying my organics, produce, and meat which rarely have coupons. And sorry it's so long, I just really like to try and help when it comes to saving money! I'm definitely not the end all be all of couponers, but I feel like I do alright.
Dana,
A little secret I've come across is that you can use coupons on the same brand of item even if it's not the exact item. For example, say you have a coupon for $1 off Kraft Mexican shredded cheese, but you buy Kraft American shredded cheese or even Kraft Singles. Usually, more than not, your $1 off Kraft Mexican cheese coupon will work for any of these products b/c it's for Kraft. Just a little tidbit info I thought might help you save a little. Good luck saving!
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