I resisted the coupon craze for years thinking that I would end up buying things I don't need, didn't want, or wouldn't otherwise buy. I used all the stock excuses: "I don't have time to clip coupons", "We don't get the paper anyway", "My grocery budget isn't that bad", blah, blah, blah.
After moving to the new house and realizing that we'd have more bills, would most likely need to buy a car in less than 18 months, and that we weren't saving enough, I decided to give couponing a try.
Well, I'm convinced! It really works! Now, I will say that I'm kind of cheating... I've been using this online service called The Grocery Game. It takes all the hassle out of clipping coupons for only $5 a month. Each week a list is published that tells me what is on sale at my grocery store and matches it up with a coupon from the last 12 weeks. All I have to do is file away the coupon inserts each week, then pull out only the ones I need when the list calls for it. The list is organized by the items that are free, *great* deals, and so-so deals. I've started planning my meals around what's on the list and believe me when I tell you that we have not changed the way we eat! Anyone who knows me knows that I love to cook and try new recipes and I'm not big on pre-packaged, processed foods. While it's true that I do pass up a lot of great deals on things that I would never serve my family, we've still managed to cut our grocery bill in HALF (Including the additional $5/ month for the Grocery Game and the extra money we're spending on the paper)!
I started on June 14th and it took me a few weeks to really start raking in the dough (mostly because I didn't have very many coupons on file), but the first time Harris Teeter (our grocery store) ran triple coupons, I saved over $60 on that order alone! While we have had one week of "clean out the pantry" eating, we've also had meals like pork tenderloin, lobster chowder, grilled shrimp, beef tenderloin, filet mignon, several nights of salmon, and other yummy vegetarian dishes like risotto, minestrone, etc.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share my success in case any of you were reluctant, as I was, to try the couponing thing. And props to all of you who can do it on your own!
I took this pic of my receipt because I was so excited! I saved more than I spent on this order! ($113.32 vs. $112.36)
This order was fun too, it was a triple coupon weekend and I got everything in the picture for less than $30!! Including a pack of diapers!!
3 comments:
LOL- have you talked to Gina (at church) about this? She's been doing it for about a year now and is sooo proud of all the money she's saving :) Good job!
So proud of you! And so glad you finally gave in to at least trying it! And now you are suprised, eh!? Good job!!
I'm SO glad you posted this post! I recently reassessed our budget and realized how astronomical our grocery bills are! So I've started trying to clip coupons and buy more sale items, etc., and although it's helped, I could use the help! I've heard that the Grocery Game was good, but I never knew how it worked. I'm going to go check it out right now! Thanks!
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