Secrets to supermarket savings - Part 2
Now that you have a basic idea of how I plan my shopping trips, I thought I'd share what a typical shopping trip is like for me. I'll use Monday's shopping trip as an example since I still have all the receipts!
On Monday, I went to three stores instead of my usual two because I'm working on adding in Walgreens and CVS to my shopping routine since I can save a lot there and get many more items for free or almost free that way. As Kathrynne has gotten better at grocery shopping, I'm able to branch out more and do this. I am still learning what works at those stores and am thinking I'll probably rotate going to one or the other most weeks since their deals are usually good for a month.
I always start with going to the nicest grocery store first. It is a little out of the way (about 10 minutes away), but worth going a few extra miles. I then backtrack from there and hit the rest of the stores on the way home. I usually have a few extra errands to run and every place I would need to go to usually is on the way home from this store. So, I try to plan my shopping trips for the best time and fuel efficiency. If you shop at more than one store (which I recommend everyone do if at all possible), you must keep the time and extra gas costs in mind. It does no good to drive across town to save a few dollars. You will have wasted the extra savings in time and fuel costs. I try to get to the store by
First stop: Nicer grocery store (This is a Kroger in a nice area of town):
Caeser Salad Kit - usually $3 - reduced to $1.50
Flour - $0.99
Whole Wheat Flour - $1.65
2 Ivory 3-bar soap package - on sale for $1 - used $0.50 coupons - $0.50
3 bars of cheese - on sale for $1 each - $3.00
Gillette razor refills (this blew my savings, but I didn't have a coupon and hadn't found any on sale and Jesse needed them so I had no choice but to pay the full $7.93 for them!)
2 Healthy Choice frozen dinners - on sale for $1/each - used $1/1 coupon - Free
2 Land-O-Lakes Spreadable Butter - on sale for $1 - $1/1 coupons - free
Tylenol Go-Tabs - on sale for $1 - used $1 off coupon - free
2 Listerine Pocket paks - on sale for $1 - used $1/1 coupons - free
Huggies Baby Wipes travel pack - on sale for $1 - used $1 off coupon - free
Colgate toothbrush on sale for $1 - used $1 coupon - free
Total before sales and coupons: $48.09
Total after sales and coupons: $18.66
Total saved: $29.43
Second stop: Discount grocer (Aldi)
Bananas - $0.99
Canteloupe - $0.99
Peanut butter - $1.29
Grapefruit - $0.99
Bread - $0.89
Bag of apples - $1.99
Peaches - $1.17
Strawberries - $1.69
Trail mix - $1.99
Total: $12.87
Approx. savings from normal store prices: $15.00
Third Stop: Walgreens
2 Dawn Dish detergent - on sale for $1 - coupon for $0.50 off two - $0.75/each
2 Gillette deoderant - reg $2.79 - special for buy one get one free - used a $0.75 coupon and $1.00 coupon - $0.52/each
3 Kotex pads - $3.79 each - special rebate : buy $10 in Kotex products, get $10 Walgreens gift card - used $1/1 coupons on each - free and made $1.63
Nice and Easy color hair glaze - $8.99 - free with rebate plus 10% back (by having the rebate put onto my Walgreens gift card)
Zone bar - $1.50 - free with rebate plus 10% back
Total after sales, coupons, and rebates: $2.90
Grand total of all three stores before savings: $109.51
Total after sales, coupons, and rebates: $34.45*
Total savings: $75.06
Shopping time: less than two hours
*Notice I came in right under budget (our budget is $35/week for groceries). :) Plus, I was able to get quite a few items which we'll add to our supply of extra things to have on hand. By stocking up on the sales, you will save a lot in the long run because you rarely ever will pay full price for anything.
For those interested: You can read about another grocery shopping savings experience from a few months ago here. I spent $18 and saved $50 that time. It's usually pretty typical for me to save at least 50-75% off my bill. If I do better than that, I consider it to be a really good outing. Worse than that and I need to try harder and plan better the next week!Questions anyone? Ask away. I'll answer any questions you have and talk about some nuts and bolts of getting started couponing in my next few posts.
posted by Crystal Paine at 3:31 PM
21 Comments:
My biggest question is where do you find your coupons? I find that there's nearly nothing in the Sunday papers that applies to items I use. We hardly ever buy processed foods, and it seems like that's what most coupons are for.
:-0 you dye your hair?
I second that Mrs.Zoid. I've tried the Online databases,however it seems pointless to add in all of your personal information in order to save a few dollars. I've seen Ebay sells coupons, however again you'd have to pay shipping etc. why spend money to save money, but that's me. hope that makes sense :-)
I'm going to do a separate post on where to find coupons - I have lots of creative ideas. Anyone else is welcome to share as well.
Anonymous: I don't dye my hair, but if I can get paid to buy something that I can give away or sell on ebay, I'll usually consider it. :) I'm working on building up my credit on my Walgreens card, so that's one reason I got that item. Plus, I can easily resell it. We're hoping to have a yard sale in the not-too-distant future (as soon as we move) and then I'll include items like that, probably.
I have my hair highlighted but get that professionally done. I wouldn't trust myself with my own hair and dye. That could be disastrous! It'd probably turn out green or purple or something bizarre!! :)
I third (?) the comment by Mrs. Zoid. I look forward to reading more about finding coupons/deals for non-processed food...we are a family of 6 soon to be 7 and spend about $125-$150 a week for food. My husband asks that there be fresh fruit & veggies (several varieties each) available all the time. He also requests that I serve meat at dinner everyday...it makes our budget tough to meet. I make our bread, cookies, etc. We eat beans for lunch several days a week, we drink water, not juice, and no processed foods. I buy from our local supermarket (not Aldi's-they aren't in my area), Costco & a co-op. I want to trim my budget while honoring my husband's wishes. Help!
Yeps, that is what I mean...it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to do that in Australia...I just read that with gaping mouth. :o)
If we were even lucky enough to find such coupons...you would never be able to use them if the item was already on sale...it would be on only full-priced items--and coupons just plain don't exist, anyways.
Ok, so I thought I did pretty well until now. LOL I have a family of 6 to feed and usually spend around $400 a month. We would like for this to go down.
My questions are - what are you going to be eating this week? Do you ever buy milk? What about meat? I only saw hotdogs. I am guessing that you shop like me, to get the best deal and over the course of a couple of months you get everything you need.
My cart often looks very odd if people were to think that I was only buying what we needed for that week. Thanks for posting this! I like to see how other people do things.
Jennifer
razor blades get me everytime! but they are so needed...
Crystal, the biggest question I have (aside from how to get my hands on all these coupons -- my Kroger doesn't accept internet coupons and we don't get the paper :P) is how you know which sale is a 'good' sale. My mom has been doing about 90% of the family shopping up until this past year, and even then I'm only buying little extras that she tells me to get. How do you know what's a good price? Am I going to have to go out and write down prices from all the stores?
Btw, this whole series is WONDERFUL, and extremely timely. We're going to be on a very tight budget after the wedding, and I'm going to need these tips desperately!
Yeah, what aussietigger said! I grew up in the US and my mom was quite a good coupon shopper but that learning experience does me no good down under! Boohoo!
I'm a coupon user from way back (married 26 years next month!:) But have fallen off the wagon recently. I need to find time to cut out and organize my coupons. I'd love to see a regular column on your coupon deals and maybe a menu of what you are eating that week along with what you had purchased. Thanks Crystal, as usual, I'm once again inspired by you. Blessings, Kelly
Wow! I am very impressed! I'd be especially interested if anyone has ideas for where to find coupons for organic/non-processed foods. I aim to spend $40-50 a week, but that includes organic produce, meat, and dairy so it's a challenge.
Harmony, it is not too hard to make up a price book of things you use all the time. I have a list of things I buy frequently (if you keep track of what you buy for a month or so you'll get a feel for what your frequent purchases are) and I just started writing down what the normal price was for those items at each store I shop (Costco, Aldi, Meijer, Walmart for our area). It was actually pretty surprising to find what was cheapest where (ie, not everything at Aldi is cheapest, also not everything in bulk is cheapest). I keep the list in the back of my household budget notebook where we track all of our expenses. That way, when sale fliers come out, I can quickly tell if something is a good enough deal to justify adding it to my weekly grocery run. It worked for me anyway!
A few personal suggestions.
The Family Dollar Store and Dollar General sell their own brands of razor refills that fit Gillette and others. As you can imagine, they cost a lot less.
Buy the BEST sugar. Buy USDA certified organic pure cane sugar. It may not make sense to spend $5 for 24 oz of sugar but this may save you money in the long run. Sugar will become something you use rarely if it is that high. You are less likely to make sugary drinks like kool-aid if you pay that much. Same with maple syrup. DO NOT buy the type made from corn syrup!!!! Buy the real stuff and use a lot less. The health benefits of cutting down on simple sugars will be good too.
I use Glad Rags and the Keeper Cup (www.gladrags.com). This way you invest in menstruation products and never spend money on tampons, pads, or liners again. It is the same concept as cloth diapers.
Sits right down next to Rebecka R and smiles! I'm in the same boat.
My husband will not touch canned veggies other than, corn, tomatoes and beans. He also likes lots of fruits and veggies in the home as do I frankly. He does not like the texture of frozen veggies either.
He wants meat at every meal and prefers hot meals to sandwiches. We don't eat processed foods either!
I shop farmer's markets, cook from scratch,shop sales and I have shopped Aldi in the past. The one near us in NOT clean, so I don't go there. Plus, the time it takes to get there doesn't ultimately save me. I do have a cluster of three grocery stores that I could shop more efficiently. I love this series and look forward to reading more
I'm also looking to honor my husband without doing in the budget
Caroline
I, too, am in the same boat as others in that the budget could stand to experience some(revise that to "much") tweaking but find myself with little hope of finding coupons for meats without antibiotics/hormones, fresh fruits and veggies, or foods with grains that haven't been stripped of nutrient properties and enriched with synthetic vitamins/minerals(ever wonder about that wording on flour or bread or cereal labels?). We have begun to see the health and monetary benefits(in the long term of things) of switching from bargain shampoos and the such with unhealthy chemical additives to products typically found in the health food store. Iodized table salt used in many processed foods isn't healthy and sea salt is the way to go but try finding bargain prices for foods including it as an ingredient. Sugar was once read to disable the immune system for 4 hours for 1 teaspoon so we are gradually learning to incorporate raw honey and sweeteners such as grade B raw maple syrup. With hindsight nearing 29 years of marriage, we couldn't have afforded the changes in the earlier years(can't now even) nor did we understand what God has revealed over time(and we've paid for the that with health and pocketbook, too). How does a keeper at home balance promoting family health and thriftiness?
For those of you who do not get a paper- see if there is a recycling bin for newspapers in your area. There is a big one in the parking lot of a major supermarket where I live- I poke around in those, which is why I have so many coupons. Most people throw them out. Ask your neighbors that get a newspaper if they use their coupons. If not, they will often let you have them. Have your husband spread the word at work, or if you work, so so at your work. You'll soon be drowning in coupons.
Thanks for this series Crystal, I have usually found that I can still get the Aldi's item cheaper than the name brand item with a coupon. Obviously, I need to work on matching sales to coupons- and like others have said where do you get them?
I'm excited to see the savings!
Laurie F
Anonymous: I'm hoping to add in Dollar General to my shopping routine once a month. Up until now, it hasn't been feasible since it was too hard for Kathrynne for me to go to more than two or three stores. I've heard they accept coupons and that you can often get things for almost free that way. I'm hoping ot check them out soon. However, my husband is pretty particular about his razors (he has very sensitive skin) so it's best to stick with Gillette. My razors, on the other hand, I usually get free or almost free and I'll take whatever I can get! :)
One thing that I've noticed really helps keep our budget down is....open and honest communication. My husband is a somewhat picky eater (doesn't want salad more than 2x a week, won't eat certain types of apples, doesn't want to eat chicken and pork chops, wants to eat a beef roast or steak a few times a week...etc). He griped about how much we spent on food, even with coupons, store cards, and shopping sales. I finally had to sit him down and say "You're going shopping with me, whether you want to or not." And he did...He realized how expensive some items are, especially meat! Now, beef is a once a week thing, we've found a few cuts of pork/ham he likes, and chicken, well, we eat that once or twice a week. We've also found substitutes for certain things...ground turkey or chicken in place of beef for a meatloaf, turkey burgers instead of hamburgers, and chicken thighs/drums instead of chicken breasts all the time. And whenever he complains about the food, I invite him in the kitchen to cook with me. That usually gets him to be quiet fast. :)
I am really appreciating not just Crystal's post but the comments and suggestions that get posted as well.
It's nice to know that my husband isn't the only one who will not consider a meal without meat and is not fond of cans.
I've been married 1 1/2 years and haven't been on a budget because we both have good jobs and money was no issue. I am leaving my job perminently at the end of the year (baby due in Jan) and to afford to stay home we need to tighten the purse strings.
I've started a 5-subject notebook with a section for keeping record of the items I usually buy and their price at each of the stores that I usually shop, a section for writing the sales of the week, a section for my menu, and a section for my actual grocery list. I have also taped an envelope in the front to put coupons that I am going to use this week in (though there are a pretty limited number available). Since starting this (4 weeks ago) I've started to get a good idea of what is "a good price" for everything and haven't went anywhere without my notebook!
PS. Looking at the costs of things on your list...I can't help but wonder how big the bag of flour you are buying is? Here it is about $7 for a big bag and cheese is $3.99-5.00 a small brick and $6.99 - 9.99 a large brick.
Anyway - Crystal thanks so much for your ideas and your willingness to share your knowledge!
Jenn
Wow, that is so amazing! Like a couple other people on here said, coupons don't work like that in every country! In Canada it seems that coupons are only for the expensive brands that are not worth thinking about anyway! :)
It's still inspiring though to read how you can save so much money that way!
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