DFW Mama

To Coupon or Not to Coupon?

Photo by krossbow

You often hear of women walking out with a basket full of groceries for just dollars thanks to coupons. But a lot of people say they don’t have time or it’s not worth it. I beg to differ. After I had my twins, I decided to stay at home with them. Going from two incomes to one and doubling our household was a little scary so I tried to get into coupons to help save anyway I could. I tried several of the coupon clubs and found myself spending more money and time on products I never used. I quickly ditched the idea that I could ever save 75% on groceries. After a year I decided to try coupons again, but this time I was going to follow my own set of rules.

1. Make a list! If I don’t make a list I always forget half the stuff I need and end up with extras in my basket. The best thing for me is to keep a dry erase board on my fridge, whenever I run out of an essential (ketchup, toilet paper, eggs, etc.) I just write it down.
2. Plan out your meals. For breakfast, my crew eats the same two or three things every morning so I always make sure I have oatmeal, granola, yogurt and fruit on hand. Lunches are always leftovers or a sandwich with fruit and chips so my planning really comes into play at dinner time. I always try to plan two freezer or pantry meals (use what you have on stock – maybe you have chicken and broccoli on hand and just need to pick up some cream of mushroom to make Chicken Divan). Then I look at my grocery store’s weekly sales circular and see what they have on sale. From that I create two more meals. One meal I don’t worry about cost and just make whatever my family is craving. Friday nights are almost always pizza night around here (pizza crust is super easy and cheap to make – you probably have everything on hand, then just top with whatever toppings you like – my crew favors plan ol cheese, but I also make a mean garlic chicken pizza).
3. Focus on one grocery store. I didn’t have time to go to three or four stores getting all the deals so I decided to focus on the grocery store right next to us. I signed up for their club card so that I would receive store coupons in the mail that I could stack with manufacturer coupons (yes you can use both a store and manufacturer coupon at just about every store). The store I went to also doubled and tripled coupons if you had a card so ask your store about their coupon policy, some only double/triple on certain days. There are a few items that I can get 25% – 50% cheaper at my local mass retailer so every two weeks I make a trip to get those basic items.
4. Get those coupons! I am lucky enough to get a small weekly paper for free every Tuesday with the Sunday coupons delivered to my door, but if you aren’t I would definitely get signed up to get a Sunday paper. Just sign up for one, you don’t need 30 sets of coupons. Also, check the internet for coupons. There are several coupon sites you can check (I would just do one, again, don’t get bogged down with trying to get every single coupon out there) and print coupons for those items you typically use. You can also print those coupons twice.

That’s it. Following these four things allowed me to save on average 35% every week and I didn’t spend hours trekking to numerous stores, clipping thousands of needless coupons, or getting food that my family wouldn’t eat.