My Coupon Game

I've started to save more money through playing the coupon game. There are websites that will charge you for this - but you can get all the information you need from the bloggers of the world for free :)

Today at Publix I saved $89. I still spent about $137, but I got a TON of groceries and stocked up on staples such as spaghetti sauce, cereal, juice, baby food, soda (we have a party coming up!) and side entrees for meals. Savings included in store specials, store coupons, competitor coupons, and manufacturer coupons. It really doesn't take a lot of prep work...I did it for about 20-30 minutes this morning before church while the kids were eating. I even walked away with a few items that were completely free.

Anyway, it made me happy to save a ton on food!

How to do it?
1. Look at the weekly flier for your store (the publix ad had free coupons and you can get their mystery item for free by going to the publix website).
2. Save the coupons you get from your weekly newspaper. We get a free newspaper on Thursdays full of coupons. I used to trash it, but now I keep them in a pile in the garage. You don't need to clip any coupons until Step 3.
3. Check out great blogs like Southern Savers or Coupon Cravings. I have more great sites if you want them. These blogs list all of the great deals at your favorite grocery store and match it with coupons you can download online for free or match it with the date that the coupon was in the newspaper (see #2). I print the grocery list for my store, circle the items we need, and print and clip the coupons to match. These websites do most of the hard work for YOU.
4. Some stores double coupons or take competitor coupons.
5. Make sure you only buy what you would ordinarily buy (resist temptation!) to prevent what my husband always says when I find a good sale - "Going Broke Saving Money!". However, you may get some really really good deals on food you wouldn't normally eat - this is a good opportunity to donate these items to your local food bank.
6. Use google reader to manage all of your blogs - it makes finding good deals easy!

Some of the people who write these blogs are AMAZING at the deals and the money they save at the store. They get a lot of great items for nearly free. I have a long way to go, but good deals make me happy. My next step is to master the Walgreens and CVS games - you can get great items for free by using register rewards.

If you know of any great 'savings blogs' to add to my list - let me know.