Bought $123.56 in groceries but only spent $35.23
By avonrep1
@avonrep1 (1862)
United States
February 7, 2009 11:07pm CST
I love being thrifty. It saves my family and I a lot of money each year. We have a family of five, so as you can imagine food can start to get expensive. So I found a solution to it. Coupons, yes I said it coupons. Every week I look through the Sunday paper and clip coupons. If there are many coupons on products we use, I will go back and buy more editions of the paper. I also have my father in-law save his Sunday coupons for me. Then, I have to check the ads. With the recent downturn in the economy, I found that by checking ads and only buying products that are on sale, saves me lots of money. Just last week ground beef was on sale for 88 cents a pound. So all of our meals this week have ground beef in them. My family loves Chilli, so I made a huge pot, that feed us two of our three meals a day for five days. The total cost for these meals $10.00 The store also had chilli beans on sale and tomato juice. Which I happen to have a .35 cent coupon for each of those items and have more than one of each, the store doubled the coupons so my cost for each of the cans was .11 cents for the beans and .23 cents for the juice.
A friend of mind recently ask me, how we have been making it, since my husbands hours got cut, and I just do what ever type of work I can from my home and this is what I told her. So my motto is now to everyone I talk to about coupons, is never pay full price. Take the time to clip coupons. Buy two or three of the Sunday paper for coupons, the savings is unbelievable. Only buy the items on sale. Stock up when the items you like are on sale, then freeze it. Most things can be froze. Invest in a vacuum food sealer and so you can freeze your food for longer periods.
If you are needing to save money, this is the best way to do it. Get online and print coupons too. I also call manufacturers and ask them to send me coupons. Them are the best ones to get. Recently I received a coupon in the mail from Brooks. I had contacted them about their catchup and wanted to know if they had any coupons. I have a food allergy and there are a lot of foods I can not eat that is manufactured, including most catchups, I am allergic to onions. They are the only brand around my area with out it in it, but its cost more. They told me didn't have any but when they did, they would send me out some, but then a week later in the mail is a Free coupon for ANY Brooks product. I spend about an hour a week doing this. Just last week alone I saved us $88.33. I figure, that is more than what most people make in just an hour so its worth it.
So I thought I would share how I save my family money. Do you save your family money? Do you use Coupons? Share your money saving secrets here. 
9 people like this
21 responses
@cheryltippett (231)
• United States
8 Feb 09
That is a good idea to call companys directly about coupons . Thank you for hat suggestion. I an going to do that tomorrow on all our favorite brands. If you have anymore penny savig tips , please pass them my way.
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
Yes its does save lots of money. We estimate that we have saved at least $4,000 dollars at least in the last year. And its about to be more, because we just found a farm that sells meat. They also have a coupon in our local Great Deals Magazine that comes through the mail. For $100 off a purchase of 300lbs of meat. Plus they give another $30 to out of town customers. (the place is about 15 minutes out of town) the meat runs $378. for their 300lb package, after all the discounts it will cost us $248 and to boot, they give each new customer 40 oz of free shrimp, 20 Rib eyes and 20 sirloins for free. That is enough meat to feed our family for just about a year. I love finding new ways to cut my bills.
@Bevsue (251)
• United States
8 Feb 09
Great Shop. I have never really done one that good, but I am tickled when I can save over $15-20 on an order.
I have gotten in the habit of not bothering with the small ones--25-35 cents but since so many stores are now doing the 10 items for $10 sales it even makes sense to use them also.
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
Find a local store that will double the coupons. Also as I said before, match up coupons with local in store savings and sales. That is when you can get items for free or nearly free. Every week I try to save more money than the week before. It works most weeks.
@sassygirlanne007 (4517)
• United States
8 Feb 09
With today's economy it is very good to save money even if it is just a small amount. I have been using coupons now for awail now. It might not save me allot but over time it can add up.
2 people like this
@fwidman (11514)
• United States
8 Feb 09
I rarely ever use coupons, although my mother always did. In fact she belonged to a coupon club where all the senior ladies traded them back and forth getting ones they wanted for ones they couldn't use. I think that with times getting even tougher, you're going to start seeing more coupons and special offers from manufacturers and stores.
Yep, with a family of five it does not take long for the money to go quickly at the grocery store. Keep clipping 
2 people like this
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
What I have found, is not only does clipping the coupons help, its also the in store savings and the doubling of the coupons up to 50. cents. Every once in a while Kmart does a doubling coupons up to $2.00. I save my toothpaste coupons for $1 off and when they have this, I got and stock up. Getting it for free, as Crest is only $2.00 at Kmart. When they do this, I also see if anything else is on sale that I can use with my coupons. Speaking of which, today is Sunday, I got to run and get me a paper.
@zhuhuifen46 (3483)
• China
8 Feb 09
Supermarkets are promoting these days to reduce their storage and enhance turnover. For a big family like yours, it certainly makes sense to try the luck, and I might visit one of thse days to see if i can pick up something really to my use. Thanks for sharing.
2 people like this
@sahmof2 (274)
• United States
8 Feb 09
I use coupons when I see coupons for items that I use, who wouldn't get a bargain when they needed it that's smart shopping. Why would manufacturers put out coupons if everyone would think that they are above them, not using coupons is like passing on free money your not about to pass up any money that's how I look at it. That's is excellent shoping on your behalf that you saved that much money on groceries, the prices for food is outrageous good, healthy food is a neccesity not a luxury.
2 people like this
@creativedreamweaver (7297)
• United States
8 Feb 09
That's wonderful. I'd love to be able to save with coupons. I shop with my hubby though and he is not into coupons at all. He thinks they are a big hassle and doesn't want to mess with them, even though he knows we could save money. He does buy items on sale though and we save money that way. Occassionally I can sneak a few coupons in on the cashier though, lol. You are doing a terrific job, keep up the good work.
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
Bring him on over to see how much money we save in just a year. We estimated that in the last year we have saved at least $4,000-$5,000 clipping coupons and shopping where they double them. Also we stopped buying things that were not on sale and free them for later use. My motto is Never Pay Full Price.
@AJ1952Chats (2332)
• Anderson, Indiana
18 Feb 09
You're making me hungry!!!
Reading this brings back memories of my dad sitting in a comfortable chair in the family room clipping coupons! He'd be proud of you now--but, of course, he always was!
I hope that Allan gets some hours back, and good luck with your bakery business!
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
11 Feb 09
I just want to say I think you're awesome for being able to buy that much in groceries and spend less than $40. I watched a TV show once where a woman was able to get $80 of groceries for only $10 and I can't figure out still how you guys do it.
I do clip coupons. That is how I save money when I do my shopping. I make sure to clip coupons for the items that I use and whenever I need to do my shopping to buy those items, I take them to the store and use them. However I'm still amazed you guys can spend so much on groceries when I just can't save that much, haha.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
8 Feb 09
we are very careful when we buy groceries as well. we shop at a discount grocery store, only buy items on sale, buy our meat from a butcher and make a lot of home made soup and bread over the winter. i dont use coupons simply because more often than not, the store brand is much cheaper than the item for which the coupon is offered.
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
I'm allergic to onions myself, and you would be amazed at all the products that have onions in it. I can't so that myself, but have found I can get named brand food products cheaper than I can get off brands, if I only buy it when its on sale with coupons. Like getting chili beans for .11 cents. The off brand chili beans are more than that. I also love hitting the stores that have double coupons.
@mimico (3617)
• Philippines
9 Feb 09
WOW. You really saved that much money with coupons? That's amazing!!! I know that it's possible to save a few cents whenever you use coupons or wait for a sale at a particular store. But I never really thought it would matter so much in a big way. If you can save close to a hundred dollars alone, then that's really amazing. It's really worth your while huh? Thanks for sharing this. Now I'll try to not buy anything that's regularly-priced. :)
@puddytat101 (657)
• United States
8 Feb 09
Hi avonrep1,
A penny saved is a penny earned. For the first time ever, I deposited rolled coins into a savings account. Now, I save my receipts and have learned to cut my grocery bill nearly in half. If only I could cut my plastic in half!
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
8 Feb 09
I don't spend my change. I save it, and I keep it at home for the just in case raining day fund. I use to save it to take my kids on a small vacation each year, then the economy start to take a dive, and a few years ago, I stopped, using it to take the kids on a trip. Now I save it just in case, we need to live off of it. I also don't want to have all my money in the bank. With all the banks closing down, I would rather just have enough in my accounts to pay the bills and keep everything else close at hand. That way if the place we bank at closes, then we will have something to fall back on, till the FDIC opens it back up.
@msmargo (361)
• United States
16 Feb 09
I make all my purchases with my atm card so there is no change for me. The FDIC isn't closed. In fact there is additional coverage until the end of this year. You just have to be smart about how much $ you have in your fdic account.
@tabbys (78)
• United States
9 Feb 09
Thrifty is the way to be especially in these times. I use coupons also, and as many of them as I can find! My sister in law will go through her coupons and take the ones that she wants and give me the rest. Along with the ones that she gives me and the ones I get from the paper and online I can save anywhere from 40-80 bucks everytime I go shopping.
@kareng (54306)
• United States
8 Feb 09
I used to do coupons big time, especially when I had all three girls at home. I even did the double whammy and did the rebates also. I would save about half off my groceries with the coupons each week and then come home and do the rebates. I was averaging between $100 and @200 a month with rebates. So if you combine the two, you can really save. You have to keep on your toes with coupons, do swaps and get others to save for you so you can maximize the savings.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
8 Feb 09
We have instore coupons. I used a lot when we used to shop at Safeway, but at Superstore, they do not have them anymore. So we go for the no name products, and we also buy the Club selection that are designed for large families even though there are two of us. We then check the foreign aisle because sometimes they have things a little cheaper there and when we have spices, we get the packages to fill them up. We do need certain things like lettuce and onions, so we cannot forgot those. But we only use coupons for stuff that we need and we also check the unit prices.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
8 Feb 09
What great savings. I've started printing off coupons from coupon.com i think the link is and since I don't get the paper on Sundays, i might just wonder over to the newsstand at the metro across the road and start buying the sunday paper. Oh I can always ask my neighbor since she gets the newspaper- now that's a thought.
thanks for sharing your savings tips :)
@ky1119 (698)
• United States
8 Feb 09
That rocks! I SOOOO need to start clipping coupons! I have a friend at work who sits at her desk clipping coupons while she takes phone calls, she swears by it. I'm going to start doing it too, I swear! I need to work on a budget, too. Lots of things on my to do list.. :)
@terri0824 (4991)
• United States
8 Feb 09
That's awesome to save as much as you did using coupons at the store as you do. I usually buy generic items. But I do need to back into the habit of using coupons the way you do to stretch the money further.
One thing I do is do rebates at Rite Aid and Walgreens. Lots of times they have free items with rebate, and both places you can submit your receipts on line, which makes it much easier. And using coupons on these products, I usually get paid for buying the product. That's the way I save money on items.
@tinytankster (25)
• Canada
8 Feb 09
Holy, nicely done. Congratulations on the huge savings. I think I saw this coupon method on television on a talk show but I can not recall which one. Anyway, I rarely use coupons and typically dont save money but make it online instead. Like on mylot I get my earnings and then enter them straight into the bank. I may try this coupon strategy but I think it would take me longer than one hour a week to save as much as you did, have any other tips??
