If you're like me, living on a budget with debt piled higher than 29,029 feet above sea level, you probably are looking for ways to
maximize every cent. You know, a penny saved is a penny earned and all
that.
Well, as the main purchaser of groceries in our
household (seriously, I let B buy milk and that's it), I have unilateral
control of our grocery budget. Recently, I've instated a new goal to
whittle my grocery spending from $300/month down to $250 [read:
extra $600/year toward debt]. Did I mention this budget also has to include paper
products, cat food/litter, hygiene products, medicines, office supplies, stamps, etc?
...yeah.
I'm
not an extreme couponer (though I do have a coupon binder for grocery
shopping, and a dining/shopping coupon envelope that lives in my purse), but I do shop sales weekly and coupon at Publix
to regularly save between $30 and $60 per trip. For those of us keeping
score, that's up to $240 per month, which is approximately my grocery budget. AKA I get up to twice as much food for the amount I spend.
How my process works:
STRATEGY:
With
$250 per month to spend on groceries, some shoppers would
think "I have $62.50 each week," or "I have $250 once a
month." I can't operate on either of these. I go shopping every week
because Publix has new BOGO sales every week. We go through a LOT of
things that regularly go on BOGO like juice, oatmeal, cereal, cat food,
cookies, rice, soup, etc. Sometimes the ad has a lot of stuff we go
through regularly so I stock up, and other weeks, I only buy things
we've run out of. By weeks, my monthly budget usually looks close to
this:
Week 1: $35 - $40 at the farmer's market (see Tips and Tricks below), $40-50 at Publix
Week 2: $70-80 at Publix
Week 2: $70-80 at Publix
Week 3: $30-40 at Publix
Week 4: $50-60 at Publix
If I spent the upper end of the range in weeks 1 and 3, I usually spend the lower end of the range in weeks 2 and 4. Which is, lo! and behold - $250.
STEP 1: ESTABLISH A LIST
- I begin with a list of things we NEED that we are out of or almost out of.
- Secondly, I go to publix.com
to make a list using their weekly ad. Personally, I start by looking at
sales that align with my list of needed items and that we go
through regularly (to stock up while it's on sale).
Publix has between 30 and 60 BOGO sales every week, and when you can
couple a sale with coupons, you save big. So even if we don't NEED a
BOGO item now, I still stock up on it. [I also
like using the Publix site to make my list because it tells you on which
aisles to find the items on your list = time saver!]
- I then go back and individually add things from
my list I NEED that did not coincide with what happens to be on sale
this week.
STEP 2: COUPONS.
Publix Coupon
Policy = Publix will double all coupons $0.50 and under. Publix will also accept up to 2 coupons PER ITEM - one
manufacturer and either a Publix store coupon OR a competitor coupon
(each store varies on who they consider competitors - mostly all say
Kroger). Check out their coupon policy here.
- I check the manufacturer coupons I've collected from newspaper/mail/etc. [Whip out
coupon binder here.]
- Then, I pull out whatever I have in Publix store/competitor
coupons - Kroger mails coupons out pretty regularly, and Publix ALWAYS
has coupon fliers (which you can find in-store) with special promotions
and store coupons in them.
- Next, I check Southernsavers.com's Coupon Database - literally search for the brand on sale for each item on the
list, and if there's a coupon for it, Jenny's found it. I print out
whatever coupons I can find for things I'm buying.
Other sites to check out coupons on:
- kelloggfamilyrewards.com (more info below in Tips and Tricks)
- Company-specific websites (ie, Campell's usually has soup/V8 coupons on their company site)
The ultimate goal is to find a store coupon
and a manufacturer coupon for the same item that happens to be on sale.
Most of the time, the stars don't align. But every now and then they do.
[Example: Yesterday, All Laundry Detergent was on sale for Buy
One Get One Free. I had a manufacturer coupon for $2 off the purchase of
2 All products, and had two $.75 off the purchase of 1 All product that
were PUBLIX store coupons. So I purchased 2 bottles of All (33 loads
each) for about $2 total. Cha-ching!]
STEP 3: GO TO THE STORE.
Pretty self-explanatory, right? NO.
These are the rules I have to follow to stick to the budget:
1. The List is Law. If I don't need anything on aisles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10, then I skip straight from 3 to 11.
2. If it's not something I need and it's not more than 50% off,
don't buy it. Seriously. What really gets me in this area is snacks. So,
I avoid that by planning on purchasing 1 to 2 snack items while I'm
making my list and looking for coupons. That way, since I know I'm going
to buy them anyway, I limit WHAT I buy by pre-planning and I also save
money on them with coupons and shopping for what's already on sale.
3. If the Publix brand is less than the name brand on sale that I have coupons for, buy the Publix brand. [Example:
I was looking at Duracell Batteries - which were on sale, I had a $1.50
off manufacturer coupon, and a $2 off Publix coupon. The Publix brand
batteries were still $1.50 less.]
4. Smile as the cashier rings up my coupons and tells me how much I saved.
OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS:
-
The Publix ad changes in the middle of the week, either on Wednesday or
Thursday depending on your region. BUT for most places, Publix will do a
penny item the day the ad changes. I take advantage of this when I can
if it's an item we use. The gist is that if you spend $10, you can get
the chosen item of the week for a penny! My region doesn't actually put a
paper coupon in their ad and just take the price off for you. Some
regions do require that you have the coupon. The items itself ranges
from a Velveeta dinner kit to a 4-pack of toilet paper. Either way, it
helps!
- Make sure to utilize the shelving price
tags. They have a cents-per-unit section where you can quickly scan to
see which brand of honey (or whatever) costs the least per oz (I'll give
you a hint - it's NOT necessarily the Publix brand, in this case!).
- FARMER'S MARKET. I only purchase meat and
produce from our local farmer's market. I make one trip at the beginning
of the month and give myself a $40 limit to buy all of the beef and
chicken (and/or ground turkey/steak/lamp chops/whatever) we'll go
through in the month, plus our first week or two's supply of fresh fruit
and veggies (like bananas, onions, potatoes, spinach, etc.)
- We also eat a LOT of Kellogg's products so I'm
also a member of Kellogg's Family Rewards - you enter codes found on
marked Kellogg's boxes, which give you points. You can redeem these
points for higher value coupons. They also have a "coupons" tab for
access to coupons you don't have to redeem points to use, but you still
have to have an account with them to print!
- One more thing to remember in the weekly
shopping trip strategy - if you don't need anything, you don't have to
go to the store! Also, just because it's on the list doesn't mean you
have to buy it once you're there.
I'd love to hear about your couponing experiences! I'd also be delighted to help you get started!
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