Save Money Using Grocery Store Coupons

Buying groceries takes a big bite out of your budget; it’s time consuming. If you are ready to cut back on what you spend learn how to use grocery coupons effectively. Shop only once a week and don’t “crises cook”. If you can even cut your shopping to twice a month, you will probably plan meals more ahead of time, which will reduce your grocery budge.

Plan your menu a week or two at a time, and try to do some of your cooking on the weekend, such as casseroles, and then freeze them. That way dinner is ready to heat up when you get home. Don’t waste money on prepared food or fast food.

Grocery story tips:

• Grocery store coupons can be found weekly in the newspapers and start cutting out the coupons, even duplicate coupons if it is an item you use or want to try.
• Coupons can be found in the newspapers, in magazines and you can find them on the Internet. Find some type of accordion container for your coupons to keep the different types of items separated for ease of use when you are ready to shop.
• Keep the coupons until you see the item on sale and then you can get the item for pennies on the dollar. It is particularly good if you can use a store coupon along with your product coupon.
• Look online at the grocery store website; look for coupon sites and you can also find coupons under the brand names quite often.
• Many groceries have coupon swap boxes, so take a look at the box.
• Seek out grocery stores that have double coupon days and take advantage.
• Most stores have weekly specials where you buy an item and get one free.
• When shopping, once you have found the item on the coupon, put the coupon in a place for easy retrieval when you are checking out. The more visible place the better. I have had coupons and then forgot to give them to the cashier which is annoying to say the least.

Grocery Store Tricks:

• Don’t let cereal prices fool you, as they are keeping them the same and putting the cereal in smaller boxes.
• The highest marked up items in the stores are a chest level, so reach up or bend down to get the lower priced items.
• The stores main aisles that lead to items like milk or bread also house the high-priced items, so try to avoid these areas.
• Try to shop alone, children and sometimes husbands have a way of adding to the grocery cart.
• Try to shop earlier in the day. It is less crowded and you can get through shopping more quickly and will spend less.
• Do not go to the store hungry.
• Don’t shop when you are tired as you will be more prone to buy sweets and more high-carbohydrates.
• Buy things that are marked down and you can save as much as 20%.
• Always get a rain check if something is sold out.

A few more grocery shopping tips:

• Meat will often be marked down on the last date, buy it and use it that day or freeze it immediately.
• Avoid buying non-grocery items, as they are typically more expensive.
• Shop with a calculator. That way you can figure out if a case lot is cheaper than buying an item one at a time.
• Request price matching. Many stores will honor other store’s coupons.
• Watch the register carefully and check your receipt as mistakes happen and sometimes the computer price is not the same as the price by the product.
• Buying produce at the farmers market will usually save money and give you a fresher product.
• Buying in season items is always cheaper.
• Always send in for rebates, even for 50 cents. As my grandmother used to say, pennies make dollars.
• The video below has some excellent tips and explains exactly how to shop with coupons,

Saving money at the store should allow you to increase your home savings or you can plan to use it for something special like a night out on the town or save toward a vacation.

It isn’t that difficult to change your old habits once you see the great savings. You are putting more energy into your grocery shopping one time a week, but you are only shopping once a week. Plus, you have a menu already figured out for the week. The benefits of being organized, using grocery coupons and saving money are well worth while.

The copyright to this article is owned by Pamela Oglesby. Permission to republish this article in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.