Saving On Groceries…

Well it’s been a while since I have focused on my grocery shopping.  I have grown up clipping coupons!  I SO want to join a coupon circle, but haven’t had luck finding a good one in the past.  Anyways I have started clipping coupons again & watching the sales.  Not because we don’t have a choice (sadly many families are starting to face this 🙁 ), but why spend money that we don’t have too?

I haven’t gotten everything super organized, but I have gotten a few great sales the last few weeks.  What I was most excited about was Safeway had lean pockets on sale for $1.49 which is a great deal as it is!  But the last few times I have bought them I have gotten coupons for .40 off 1 in the packages, so I had 12 coupons!  I got 2 boxes of one of our favorite on the go snacks when dieting, for only $1.09 a box which has 2 pockets in it!    The range from $2.46-$3.99 depending on what flavor & your location when not on sale.  Ours are $2.99 I think, so I got them 64% off.

I know I have a lot of readers that don’t eat a lot, if any prepacked convinence food, but I promise you can save money with coupons too!  I am finding more & more coupons for organic items as well as lots of coupons for basic things like sauces, noodles & more!

Even if I don’t clip coupons I still have checkers look at me like I am crazy because I generally save a min of 40% unless its the small local store or places like Costco. I drive 45 minutes ‘to town’ a few times a month where the chain stores Safeway & Albertsons are. Sometimes I will go as often as once a week, but that is also where walmart & home depot are so its not wasting/costing gas money. I have been known to save up to 93% on trips!

I always watch the sales flyer & stock my pantry.  I have learned not to buy 100 of something I don’t use often JUST because it is on sale.  But if its something we eat often I may depending on the price.

Another example was from last spring when Quaker came out with their Simple Harvest chewy granola bars.   Alberstons had them on sale 10 for $20, but when you bought 10 of certain Quaker products you instantly got $5 off… making them $1.50 a box when bought in 10’s… then I found a bunch of stacks of coupons for $1 off ONE box… I took 30 of them (they had TONS) & got 30 boxes of Quaker Simple Harvest Chewy Multigrain Granola Bars – Dark Chocolate Chunk for .50 a box! These retail for $4.79 a box & have 6 bars in each box. Best part… they had another $1 off coupon inside all 30 boxes I bought good for another 10 months… so 6 months later they had the same sale & I got 30 more for .50 a box again! We easily went through them in just a few months.

I have learned whether you clip or not, you got to look at your ads & generally, even if you buy all generic (which isn’t always cheaper, especially when there are sales) its not normally cheaper to do all your shopping at one store.

I guess no matter what angle you tackle it at it takes planning & some effort to save money when grocery shopping. One tip, carry a calculator!!!! Often times if you calculate the oz/size you may find something isn’t as good of a deal as it seems.

O’ yeah, my savings on the granola bars… 80%… I paid .16 per bar vs .79 they retail for.