Shopping & Planning Meals - Part 5

Shopping Smart!


Hello everyone!  My previous posts were all about meal planning.  I really hope it inspired you to make a meal rotation and a menu!  I want to write the final "Shopping & Planning Meals" post on how I shop, um, try to shop smart : )  There are weeks when I go shopping and I haven't done any preparation for my shopping trip.  As you probably guessed, these are the times I usually go over my allotted amount.  However, most weeks I am prepared and can shop smart!  Whether you work or you stay at home, your family income was earned by either both you and your husband or by your husband.  I believe I honor my husband when I can save as much of his hard-earned money as I can!    "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31.  When we as wives honor our family and our husbands, we glorify God.

About two years ago I aspired to be an extreme couponer...then I woke up.  It's just that I had seen other women do it and wanted to save money just like they did.  I worked at it for a while and realized that it was an awful lot of work.  I also noticed that it was extremely hard to extreme coupon in our little town.  In our town, we have Wal-Mart, a local grocery store, and two Pharmacy chains.  Not only do we not have many stores, but the ones that we do have do not double or triple coupons.  So, I got very discouraged very quickly.  However, I was still determined to save our family money.  I faced the fact that I would not be bringing home $1,000 worth of groceries for free and but would still save money somehow.  My hopes are that I can explain how I shop and maybe give you some pointers on how to trim a few dollars off of your grocery bill.

When I shop, my goal is to save money.  There are several ways I do this. 

1. I only buy what is on my list (Part 3).  When I have prepared my shopping trip, I know exactly what is needed for the week.  I have disciplined myself to stick to my list.
2. I ad match.  Some stores will ad match.  So, I study and learn my weekly ads so that I can get my products even cheaper.
3. I use coupons when necessary.  I say when necessary because sometimes, unless you are an extreme couponer, it's just smarter to buy off-brand.  When reading most extreme couponing blogs and websites, they tell you that if you are couponing correctly, you will get the name-brand item cheaper than the off-brand item once you have used coupons.  Sometimes I can do it, but without a store that doubles coupons, it is a challenge.  So, I buy what I can get for cheaper.
4. I carry my Shopping Binder with me when I shop.  Yes, it's heavy.  Yes, it can be hard to fit in the buggy.  Yes, it draws attention.  But...it has everything I need to shop!

My shopping binder keeps me organized and helps me to shop smarter.  In my binder, I keep everything that pertais to the 4 steps above.

There are several ways to put together a Shopping/Coupon binder.  I got a lot of ideas from The Krazy Coupon Lady .  There is also a great video tutorial (along with tons of other wonderful couponing video tutorials) at Coupon Divas.



When you open my binder, you will find my folder containing my Weekly Ads.  I collect these ads from the Sunday newspaper.  A few of them come in the mail once a week.  I keep these in this spot of my shopping binder.  I refer to these throughout the week when planning my trip. 

Now, some stores will ad match competitor's ads.  If it is advertised for a cheaper price I always ad match.  Even if I am only saving 5 cents, I will ad match the price.  Don't think of it as, "I am only saving 25 cents," think of it as, "This product was $2.25 , and I just got it for $2.00!!!"  It helps if you say it with a lot of excitement, too!!   If I ad match a product AND have a coupon, I save even more!!  This week Cinnamon Toast Crunch was regular $3.68.  I ad matched it for $2.50, then had a coupon saving me $1.00 off of 3.  I saved $1.51 on each box.  By studying and becoming familiar with your weekly ads, you will sav little by little!

I also keep a copy of my monthly menu for reference, along with my print-off grocery list, then a chart where I keep track of any sales I have found in my weekly ads.

Behind these, I keep several baseball card sleeves.  I have labeled these sleeves with the various stores that I shop.  This is where I place coupons that I will use for the week.  This helps when locating a coupon from the back of the binder.  So, when shopping I can turn to the sleeve labeled "Wal-Mart" and the coupons needed for that shopping trip are together for easy access. 

Next, I keep my menu rotation.  I have these in page protectors as well.  This is just in case I have a question about the ingredients for a specific recipe.  I can refer back to it to know what to purchase.

I decided to start keeping up with the prices of items that I buy regularly.  It seemed easier when studying my ads to know if it was worth ad matching or to notice a change in prices (which seem to be increasing!!).  If I see that shredded cheese is on sale at one store for $2.32, but it's $2.18 at Wal-Mart, I know I won't ad match that item and I don't write it down.  So, I made a chart on MS Word (I love my charts!) to list prices of regulary bought items.

Next, I have a tab labeled "Coupon Policies".  When learning about couponing from one of the websites from above, they stated to always keep a copy of the store's coupon policy in your binder for reference.  It is important to do this in case there is a question about what types of coupons the store excepts or if you are learning what coupons certain stores accept and do not accept.  I printed all of these from each of the store's websites.  I then placed them in my binder for safe keeping!  If I ever need them in the store I can refer to them.

The last section in my binder is my coupon section.  Here I inserted many, many baseball card sleeves and labeled them.  Some of the headings are: Refrigerated, Snacks, Body Care, Baby Care, etc.  Once I clip my coupons, I insert them in the specific sleeve according to the type of coupon.  Once a month I go through and weed out expired coupons to help keep them from accumulating.

I have had several people ask where I get coupons.  I mainly get them from the Sunday paper.  I also get them from the internet.  Websites like Coupons.com, The Krazy Coupon Lady, and many more have coupons to print.  Some stores do have a limit on how many internet coupons you can use per transaction, so make sure to read the coupon policy to find out.  Magazines like All You also have coupons to clip. 

I do not clip evey coupon.  It has to be a coupon for an item that we will use.  We are not brand specific, so in our cabinet we have a variety of shampoos, body washes, and detergants.  But, I don't clip coupons for things, like, dog food, when we do not have a dog.  Nor will I try to get free dog food just because it's free.  We don't have a dog or the space to store it, therefore, we don't buy things we do not need.

I hope these posts on shopping and planning meals have helped you.  You really will be amazed at the money you can save by just shopping smart.  You don't have to be an extreme couponer, even though I still think it's really cool!  Just use your famliy's money wisely. 

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31.