Getting Ready to Shop!

GETTING READY TO SHOP!!

Welcome back! Now that you are building your coupon stash & have your store loyalty cards, you are ready to shop with coupons! Using coupons to help plan your meals can be an overwhelming task, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful one! Keeping organized & using your information resources wisely will save you from a lot of aggravation, not to mention last minute runs to the store for a forgotten item!

Before you set out to do your grocery shopping for the week, it’s beneficial to do a few things to keep yourself organized & maximize your savings. First, get a copy of the store circular you plan to shop at. Many regions receive the grocery store circulars for the following week in the mail via the Redplum home mailer. Usually this arrives on Wednesday or Thursday & includes some coupons & advertisements for other local businesses, as well. If you don’t receive the weekly mailer, you can still find copies online through blogs & shopping forums. Simply search the name of your store, along with the dates of the following weeks circular, in your favorite search engine. You should be able to find several resources highlighting the next weeks sales. Second, look through the store ad & match up the best sales to the coupons you have available. Many of the blogs or forums previously mentioned may even do this for you, which will help streamline your planning. In the couponing community this is often referred to as a “coupon matchup”. Remember to keep a look out for sales that you can combine with a coupon that will also apply toward a gas points reward program. Third, pull the coupons you will be using out of your coupon holder & keep them in a separate envelope or compartment. This will save you from digging through your coupons in the store, which can be become frustrating & time consuming.

When you grocery shop, especially for a family, it’s pretty safe to say that the biggest expenses are meat & produce. It’s no secret that meat & produce coupons don’t come along very often & the denominations are typically minimal in comparison to the price. In the future I will write more in depth about saving money in these categories, but here is a little “crash course” to get you started! Produce costs can be easily offset by shopping at local farmers markets or road side stands. Local produce when bought in season directly from the farmer is much cheaper than the grocery store. Also, keep an eye out for sales groups that will afford you an instant savings or a “Dollars off your next order” coupon when several items are purchased together in a group. These savings or store coupons can help cover the costs of the items that can’t typically be bought using coupons. If the thought of that extra step of planning is too much, big box stores (such as Costco or Sams Club) also offer a reasonable discount when your buy meat in bulk. ANY savings is better than none! Stores will also mark down meat that is within a few days of it’s “Sell by date” typically once a week. Simply freeze the meat & remove it to thaw when ready to use.

Plan your meals for the week, around what is on sale, what you have coupons for & what is already in your pantry. My two favorite websites for planning meals and staying within a budget are www.5dollardinners.com and www.hillbillyhousewife.com. Base your meals around the meat (or protein items) & produce you can find on sale, then fill in your other groceries from there. If you can, find items that the leftovers can be used for another meal. For example, if chicken roasters are on sale for .99c/lb, serve the roaster for a meal along carrots you got for $1 a bunch at the farmers market. Use the tortilla coupons I mentioned last week (Chi-Chi’s .55c/1 pkg) to get some shells & use the leftover meat from your roaster to make quesadillas the next night. This is just a basic example, but using this idea you can come up with endless possibilities to feed yourself & a family.

Good Luck shopping this week! Feel free to post in the comments what great ways you have found to stretch your grocery budget this week. I look forward to hearing some success stories!