Clipping Coupons and Stockpiling Groceries to Save Money

Lots of people wonder if those women you see on TV who show how they paid $5 for a $300 grocery bill did it, is it even really possible? Well, yes it is. It does take work though but it can be done. Today coupons have gone beyond just grabbing the insert in your Sunday paper, you can go to websites of companies and most have printable coupons available, or if you send them an email they will mail you out coupons for their products. If you use your coupons in just the right way and maximize all you can with the various coupon resources out there right now (like the internet, trading forums...) you can save lots of money!

First things first though. If you are brand loyal you probably will not be able to save as much as the woman you saw on tv. The key to couponing is to match your coupons with what is on sale in the grocery store. For example, there was recently a coupon for a particular shampoo in the Sunday paper for $3 off any one bottle, this shampoo sells for anywhere from $2.99 to $3.39 in the different grocery stores, so basically free or really cheap shampoo with this coupon. I went out and bought 5 copies of the paper to get the coupon and then asked friends and family to save the inserts for me. So every time I was at the store I grabbed a bottle of this shampoo, I now have 7 bottles of it stockpiled, now if I was loyal to only one brand of shampoo then it would have been a waste of time to buy all this shampoo, even for free. So now I will not have to buy shampoo for a good few months, if not longer. And the extra $3 I would have paid in another month buying shampoo is $3 in my pocket, sometimes, like in this case, you do not get a huge instant savings, like seeing "you saved $10" on the bottom of your receipt, but overall if I don't buy shampoo for the next 6 months, I saved myself $18.

Now to be like the lady you see on tv, you need to keep track of all the sales at all the stores, you need to hold onto your coupons from the Sunday paper. Just because the coupons you got in last Sundays paper were not used for that week, does not mean throw them away! If you really start to follow sales you will see that the coupons you got last Sunday, will match items on sale at stores a few Sundays later, so hold onto those coupons, they almost always will be of some use before they expire! Keep what coupons you have organized so you know exactly what you have when you check the flyers, and match the sale products to your coupons. Some stores will also price match, so if something is on sale free or cheap with a coupon at a store you don't usually frequent, it can not hurt to see if your regular store will price match and then with the coupon, you still get the product free or cheap without having to go to a store you don't prefer. The easiest way to save is to look over all the flyers and match up the coupons, know your store coupon policy, do they take internet coupons, do they double, do they take expired, even the cashiers and some managers do not know their own coupon policy, if you can get this from the corporate headquarters it might come in handy now and then. There are different websites also that you can go to that will match coupons with every product on sale and break it down store by store, you can also get sneak peeks at sales for the following week, which gives you more time to search out coupons you know you will need. While in the grocery store, keep your eyes open for coupons. The little machine you see sticking out of the shelf that spits out coupons are called "blinkies", even if the product is not on sale grab some of the coupons, most likely it is going to be on sale in the coming weeks. When you first enter your store look for coupons laying around in the holder (turn-styles) that contain the weeks sales flyer, when you see someone giving out samples in the store they usually have coupons to boot, go get some, even if you have no intention of buying the product, take the coupon and hold onto it, because maybe the next week the product will be on sale and end up free with that coupon you passed up, and for free it is worth trying out the product, you might find some new food you love!

Stockpiling is also a huge way to save money. Like with the shampoo, sure I do not need 7 bottles right now but that is 7 bottles I do not have to worry about buying later on. Just alone for the convenience of knowing I have it here if I run out is a good enough reason to stockpile, but if I can get a product I use for free or cheap with my coupons then it is worth stocking up even more! As I said, you will not see instant savings, but the $3 I don't need to spend on shampoo will add up. There are lots of toiletry type items that can easily be stockpiled, shampoo, deodorant, razors, etc. Always save the coupons you see for these products, they are always going on sale and with coupons come out free or cheap. Another good reason to study the sale flyer for the coming weeks (which you can find at many different coupon trading websites) if that, for example, I see that in 2 weeks my favorite toothpaste is on sale for $1, the Sunday 2 weeks before I see a coupon for that exact toothpaste for $1 off, then I know "hey I better go out and grab a couple more copies of the paper for this coupon or let me go and find some more of that coupon", then 2 weeks from then when the sale starts you have multiples of that coupon and you can stock up on the toothpaste, and again, you will get the thrill of getting it for free and in a few months will realize you saved more than just that $1 because you have not bought toothpaste in a few months. Even if the toothpaste is on sale for $1.50, after your coupon the toothpaste will cost you 50 cents, of course it is not as good as free, but it is a heck of a lot better than paying full price, so worth spending the money now for some extra of the product, then figuring since you need to lay out money it is not worth it.

Overall, if you want to put in the time studying flyers, scouring the internet for good deals, printing coupons you see at various websites and are not brand loyal then you will save money, guaranteed. Just keep your eyes open to every sale, every coupon you see floating around, and don't think " I really do not need to buy 10 tubes of toothpaste right now", truth be told, yes, you don't NEED to buy it all at one shot, but you do NEED to save money and this is the best way to do it in the long run! Even if you spend a little to buy the product (because like the toothpaste example, things may not always be free with coupons, but they are definitely cheaper), it is better to spend less now than more later!