Our coupons save us money!

One area of finances that I’m getting good at reducing is my grocery budget. I’ve been diligent about making sure I have a coupon for most of the items I purchase, use my club rewards card, and purchase items on sale. Utilizing all three strategies to reduce my bill, I’ve cut my grocery bill by 1/3. I’m not one for clipping coupons, so I’ve been using eBay to purchase really large dollar off coupons and my club card coupons I receive every 3 months. Here are a few coupons I’ve purchased online that were worth the small price I paid:

• $10 off Iams coupons: I purchase a bag of cat food every three weeks for my 3 lovable furr-balls. With a $10.00 off coupon and with the cat food on sale, I purchased 5 bags of cat food for $18.00. I don’t know where these eBay sellers find these coupons, but they are great!
• $3.00 off World’s Best Cat Litter: I’m sure you see a trend here, saving money on pet items! This litter is the best, it is corn-based and completely biodegradable. On sale for $6.99 plus my $3.00 off coupon, I bought 4 bags for $16.00!
• $1.00 off any two Gatorades: My husband’s favorite drink, on sale for .89 cents plus his $1.00 off coupon, he purchased 10 Gatorades for $3.90.

The remaining coupons I use are based on my quarterly grocery purchases from my local grocery store, Ralphs. Ralphs has a great rewards program, earn $1.00 reward for every 100 points (or $100.00 spent). I also earn 5 points for every reusable bag I bring, which usually equates to 25 points. In a three month period, I usually spend between $750 – $1,000 on groceries. So, when I receive my rewards coupon there is usually a $10.00 off coupon towards any purchase. It’s a great incentive to keep me shopping at Ralphs!

It’s a good feeling to walk out of the grocery store spending less than $14.00 for 25 items, and seeing a savings of $21.88 at the bottom of a receipt. Now if only I could apply this kind of savings to my utility bills, I’d be golden!

Looking to save money on groceries, I’ve been clipping coupons and purchasing items on sale. Last night, I ran to the grocery store to catch up on my weekly shopping. My local grocery store is currently under construction, so many of their items are deeply discounted to encourage shoppers to remain loyal during their rearranging of aisles. I purchased a total of 60 grocery items for an average of $1.15 per item, and it wasn’t just packets of Kool-Aid!

I started out with coupons totaling $17.00 in savings;  I  had a pile of Gatorade coupons, a dollar off Jennie-O ground turkey coupon, and a dollar off any cereal coupon. I also had a $10 off grocery store coupon if I spent more than $25.00 (more incentives to keep shopping during their construction phase). Because I made a point to only purchase items that were on sale, many of the items I purchased were reduced in price by 30% or more. My grocery list is always pretty consistent:

• cereal
• oranges
• Gatorade
• bread
• Jennie-O ground turkey
• Easy Mac
• applesauce
• Pepperidge Farms Goldfish crackers
• beer
• canned spaghetti-o’s and ravioli
• chili
• pudding cups
• diet soda

Okay, so I’m not a model for healthy eating, but these items aren’t too bad if you don’t count the carbs! During checkout, I noticed my bill shrinking dollar by dollar. Reviewing my receipt showed I saved a total of $62.00, that’s almost the amount I ended up spending. My grocery items cover a week of breakfast, lunches, and a few dinners using the ground turkey.

My coupon organizer has also been helpful during shopping. As I check off my grocery list, I quickly look through my categories to see if  I have a coupon for a similar item. If I do, I move it to the front of the pouch so I don’t forget to give it to the cashier during the checkout process. This has helped me use those soon to expire coupons. I find I’m not throwing away expired coupons as often. If I can continue saving money on groceries, I will find more money for savings! Now if only I could save money on my utilities I’d be golden.

We used the coupon organizer today at the grocery store. It worked really well. Every time I found an item and had a coupon for that item, the coupons moved from it’s category slot to the empty slot in the front. Then, when I got to the register, I had all of the coupons I was using right there in the first pocket. The organizer wasn’t too big, which is one thing I was worried about. My husband held onto it, so I didn’t need to worry about dropping it and having coupons drift all over the floor. We saved a total of $36 with our coupons and rewards card. I still can’t figure out the grocery receipt to see how much of that savings was specifically coupons, but I think it accounted for at least half of the savings. I’ll definitely continue clipping coupons, it’s really quite easy!

I recently posted that my husband and I have gotten into clipping coupons. Some of the coupons we’ve found are from websites like My Savings, they are printable, so no scissors necessary (this is a good thing considering my husband has been clumsy lately! *Think pencil in eyeball, not a good mix). But we finally decided to really take the coupon plunge and buy a Sunday newspaper this past weekend. These coupons are more oriented towards our local grocery stores, and often they correspond with sales. I’m repeating myself from an earlier post, but that’s they key, using coupons on sale items.

We found many coupons for items we normally buy in our local paper, each from a different department. After cutting them all out, we realized that we needed more than just one envelope to organize them. We decided it was necessary to invest in a small, plastic, multi-slot organizer from Staples. For less than $7.00, we organized our coupons into general categories:

• Produce
• Dairy
• Canned goods
• Boxed goods
• Pet items
• Frozen
• Meat
• HBA (personal hygiene items)
• Drinks
• Vons
• Ralphs (The two grocery stores we shop at)

These categories should keep our coupons well organized. I also found a great website that lists manufacturers that are currently mailing coupons and some great coupon tips, Saving Cents with Sense. She also posts links to printable coupons and posts on ways to save money with coupons. I also like her green color theme and adorable head banner.

Some of the best coupons I’ve received are from particular grocery stores, like Ralphs. Using my rewards card, I earn points with each dollar I spend. Of course the thought behind this is the more you spend, the more points you earn. Since I try and stick to my grocery budget, I only every earn about $12 for each 3 month-period. But, every time I receive those reward coupons in the mail, I’m excited and more willing to go shopping at that store (another point to these incentives.)

Now if only I could find time to get to the darn grocery store!

How many of you use coupons? Do you save a lot with them? Are they too time consuming to bother with?