How I save so much money by using coupons.....

Good Morning!!!

Recently I have had alot of requests for me to explain how I save so much money by using coupons, so I decided to repost this for those that have recently joined and are interested. So hang in here with me...it's alot of info, but I think it will really help you!

So my Sunday evening usually consists of sorting, cutting and clipping all of my coupons. I sort out the ones that I want and put those in a one pile. I take the others that I am not using, mark them with the date and put in a bag for possible future use. Each week I check the new ones that I have and go over the older ones that I have kept from previous weeks (after I go through the Kroger ad to see what's on sale). I have used quite a few that I thought I never would, so I wouldn't throw any of them out until they expire.

Here comes the time consuming part, I go through the local Kroger ad (that's where I do my shopping) and look at the sales. Then I match up the coupons that I have with the sales. My kroger doubles up to .99, which is amazing! So a coupon that says it's worth .75 is really worth $1.50, and so on. That applies as long as it doesn't say "Do Not Double" across the top of the coupon. I will not buy anything that is not on sale or that I do not have a coupon for, other than meat. If you wait long enough, pretty much everything comes on sale at one time or another. So you usually are able to match up a coupon and a sale for most items. So after I match up my coupons with the sales, I go to my free menu planning website here and plan out our meals according to the current sales. It's nice because my meals are planned out for the week and I know that I have everything that I need for them.

I have saved alot of money by stopping "quick, pick up" trips to the store. I would go in to pick up one or two things that I had forgotten and walk out with way more and even worse, I was paying full price for the stuff. We have cut our yearly grocery bill down from over $3400 a year to an average of $1500 a year! The only difference is that before I was buying mostly store brand items and now it's almost always name brand items that I'm getting and its way cheaper!

So after I get my coupons cut, clipped and organized, my coupons matched up, and my meals planned I make my list. This is very important in saving money!!!! Always make a list and stick to it!!! I mark if I have a coupon (c) or a rebate (r) beside each item on my list, that way when I check it off I make sure that I have the coupon for it or I make sure I separate the rebates to get individual receipts. Prior to going, I also put all of my coupons in order according to the store layout, I have our local Kroger memorized to a T. So as I'm going through the aisles I put the items in my cart, check it off my list, and put my coupon in the very front pouch of my coupon organizer so at checkout I'm not scrambling around like a madwomen looking for coupons.

I also recommend going to the store on Monday if at all possible!!! They start to sell out of the items that have good coupon matchups by Tuesday and most of them are gone by Wednesday, so the earlier you can get there the better!

I know this sounds like alot, so you can decide if it's worth it. But after a few times, it almost becomes a second nature and you will get quicker at it. To try and make things a little easier on you, I recommend checking out Pink Coupon Cafe's Weekly Matchups every Sunday evening. She is awesome and posts the coupons, the sale and the link (if it's an online coupon). So definately check her out! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask or leave a comment!