Coupons

I don't spend a lot of time clipping coupons. I like to cut them out of the Sunday paper and occasionally search and print from the internet if I really want a specific item.

Some tips to actually make coupons useful for your weekly shopping experience:

1. Cut coupons for items you KNOW you'll use. (Shampoo, razors, cleaning products.) I've noted that many of the food item coupons are for expensive, unhealthy convenience foods our family doesn't normally use. I sometimes will cut them out "just in case" but often they just end up taking up my time and space. Plus, the more coupons I have, the harder it is to sift through them at the grocery store.

2. Shop at a store that doubles or triples coupons.

3. Use the grocery store circulars (the sale ads that come in the mail) to determine when certain brands of items are on sale and use your coupons then. A good rule of thumb: cut out the coupons and save them for 3-4 weeks, don't use them right away. The item will likely go on sale somewhere!

There are some people who get cartfuls of groceries for next to nothing...I am not one of them...but I do like to save a few dollars every week.

Some grocery stores get too complicated with sales. For example, one grocery store near me often says 'buy x amount of x brand and get a free baseball ticket or gallon of milk'. That is too complicated in my opinion. I want to save money so my life can be less complicated, not more.