Great Way for Moms to SAVE Money: Coupon Clipping

Since the economy has hit bottom, I’ve been trying to find ways to save money.  I’m sure you all could use a few extra dollars in your pocket each week since we all know…taking care of the kiddies can get pretty expensive!  Thank God the gas prices are better at least!  Well I think I’ve found a pretty significant way to save money and I wanted to share it with you all. 

Ok so here’s the deal.  One word…couponing.  Yes it is actually a word.  At least it is to a lot of moms.  It’s actually a verb.  Some of you may already clip and use coupons.  I have been doing it since I got married but I just discovered there is a true “art” to clipping coupons.  What I’ve been doing for the past 8 years is getting the Sunday paper, clipping the coupons and using them each time I shop on items I was buying that week.  Well I just discovered that is the wrong way to “coupon”. 

Here’s the “right” way ladies.  Every Sunday, you get the paper and start clipping all the coupons for items you use or think you might want to TRY if you could get it cheap enough.  Then you file them away.  Here’s the difference:  instead of using your coupons on stuff you buy weekly (like I was doing), you SAVE them and use them ONLY when those items are ON SALE.  You also STOCKPILE stuff.  What does this mean?  It means each time you go to the grocery store, you won’t necessarily be buying stuff you NEED right now.  You buy the stuff that is one SALE with a COUPON and you put it in the pantry for later.  Obviously you can only do this with stuff that lasts for awhile.  Works great for pastas, cereals, soups, cleaning supplies, and toiletries.  Another thing I just learned is that when a store advertises “buy one get one free” you DON’T have to buy two.  So if you only buy one and use a coupon for it, you get that item for half price and get it even cheaper when you use a coupon!  A bonus here where I live is that the stores double coupons up to .99 cents every day and sometimes they advertise that they will TRIPLE coupons during a specific time period.  Unfortunately, some stores do not double coupons at all, but still…they usually run good sales so you can still get some great deals with your coupons.

Here is my story and why I’m soooo excited about this. 

Last month I joined a “trial” website for all of the stores in my area.  They list everything that is advertised in the sale flyer, what it costs regularly, how much it is on sale, what week the coupon came out and the percentage you will save if you buy it with a coupon.  This site will italicize all of the items that are a good idea to buy NOW with a coupon because they are considered to be at “rock bottom” prices so you should buy and stockpile them.  Well it takes a good three weeks to accumulate enough coupons before you really start saving money.  The trial is for 4 weeks.  At first I was like “ok…I’m not sure this is worth it.”  But then one of my stores did the triple coupon special for 3 days and I went there with my stack of coupons and the list of everything that was on sale, and I bought everything that was listed at a “rock bottom” price.  Most of it was stuff I would normally buy, but some items I had never tried before.  Well because those items were on sale, and I happened to have a coupon for them, I figured why not try it?  And since I love me a good deal, in my cart they went.

Here’s the best part….I SPENT a total of $110.00 and SAVED $97.00 in coupons!!!!  Isn’t that freakin’ unbelievable????  I was stoked!  I got $200 worth of groceries for half price.  I bought a box of Lipton tea bags for .19 cents!  I bought cereal for $1.00!  I bought soup for .25 and .50 cents!  These are things that are $3.00 and up!  Believe it or not, there are even some things you can actually get for FREE!  No lie…FREE! (The list will tell you what you can get for “free” with what coupons)  CRAZY!!!  So now I’m hooked!  Now granted, it WAS a TRIPLE coupon day but still….you can do pretty great even with one or doubles.  I discovered that day in the grocery store that “couponing” is somewhat of an addiction and it’s actually a borderline “cult” where I live.  I met a lady in the store and talked to her for 20 minutes on how she does it.  She trades them with her friends and neighbors too!  Some people are even nice enough to leave their unused coupons right there on the shelf next to the item for another person to take advantage of aka: “coupon fairies”.

Yes, there ARE websites out there that you can get similar lists for FREE.  However, I have looked at several of them and I still think that the one I am using is much more thorough and takes the guess work out of everything.  With this site, all you have to do is spend 20 minutes clipping your coupons each week.  The site gives you an itemized list of the store or stores you choose and there is NO guesswork or MATH involved!  Because God knows…math is not my forte!  I found this site to be very easy and straightforward.  There is a ton of info on it too.  There are message boards where people post all of their tips…even pictures of their stockpiles…its insane.  Some people have so much stuff it looks like a mini store in their pantry!

So….now that I’ve explained the beauty of “couponing” to you I want to share the website.  It’s The Grocery Game.  If you think you’re interested in doing this, sign up for a $1.00 trial for 4 weeks.  All you do is enter your zip code and all of the stores in your area will come up.  All of the deals from Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS are on there too.  Those are good for makeup and medicines.  We all know how expensive those can be!   When you do the trial, you will be able to get the lists of ALL of the stores in your area.  I had 8 for my trial.  Then, if you think you want to join, you just select the store or stores you think you’ll shop at the most and they will bill you every 2 months on your credit card.  It’s $10.00 for 2 months for ONE store and then $5.00 for any additional store.  I’m doing 2 stores so I pay $15.00 every two months.  I think it’s WELL worth it because I am obviously saving at least $15 in coupons every time I go shopping so it pretty much pays for itself.  Again, yes there are FREE sites out there but I’ve looked at a bunch and I think this one is the most thorough and easiest by far.  When you pull up the site, there is a video on the home page.  Watch it.  It will explain the concept for you a little more.  And in case you are wondering…NO…I don’t work for the grocery game!  LOL! 

I hope you all will look into The Grocery Game and check out their website.  It is aptly named too because I really do make it a “game” for myself every time I grocery shop - I challenge myself to see how much money I can save.  It’s such a great feeling to save the family so much money…especially when I’m not working…well I AM working…just not bringing MONEY in!  .

So take my advice and GET CLIPPING!