Help! I still feel like I'm leaving money at the store!

[CouponQueen2609]

For those of you who spend this outragous amount of money and walk out paying pennies, how do you do it? I go in and spend easily $150.00 every Sunday afternoon, with Q's I actually pay 50% on the actual total. I want to save more!!!

Currently, I buy BOGO's and a use 2 Q's per item I buy those. If I am buying an item that is not BOGO I still make sure I have a store and manuf. Q.

So how can I go in and spend $300.00 and pay $25.00? What else am I missing???? Help! :shrug7:

[saving-n-va]

Well first of all, since you are in Florida, I'm assuming you don't have double coupons right? I know my dd doesn't have them down there where she lives, so you may not get the savings that others with double and triple coupon stores have. Second, what you spend will also depend on the size of your family. It looks like you have several growing boys and boys can EAT! I swore I was gonna buy a cow just for the milk when my son was a teen. I spend around $200 a month on just dh and I. But we eat well, and I send both of my "kids" (one in college one in military) one or two care packages a month, and donate to a local food pantry. So don't judge your budget on what others are doing.

If you are new to couponing, remember many of us have been at it for quite a while. So don't compare your savings to others.

What many or most of us do is buy enough of an item when it is on sale to last until it goes on sale again. Creating a stockpile takes time, but once you have a good inventory your costs will go down. I started my stockpiling with health and beauty items that were free or under 50 cents. Then it grew from there. Allow a certain amount in your weekly grocery budget to purchase stockpile items that are super cheap and get enough to last for about 12 weeks. Most things cycle that way, others are more seasonal. That will get you a good start.

Remember there are many experienced shoppers here on the boards and can help you with any questions. Hope that all helps. You are doing a great job already, keep up the good work!

[aneesha33]

For those of you who spend this outragous amount of money and walk out paying pennies, how do you do it? I go in and spend easily $150.00 every Sunday afternoon, with Q's I actually pay 50% on the actual total. I want to save more!!!

Currently, I buy BOGO's and a use 2 Q's per item I buy those. If I am buying an item that is not BOGO I still make sure I have a store and manuf. Q.

So how can I go in and spend $300.00 and pay $25.00? What else am I missing???? Help! :shrug7:


I see you are in FL. Are you shopping Publix? If so, are you using competitors qs??? 5.00 off 50.00 albertsons qs???

I have yet to get 300.00 worth of groceries for pennies. But I also dont think I ever will. When I do my grocery shopping I get the stuff that is on sale and what I have coupons for. Then the staples (eggs, milk, and meat) is what brings my total up.

IMO people that get 300.00 for pennies are stockpiling on a good deal. Which is easier for me to do at CVS than at Publix....

[tmsmalley]

A lot depends on what you're buying too. I might be able to go in and buy $300 worth of stuff for $25 too but then I'd have $260 worth of stuff I don't want and don't use. Don't compare yourself against others that way. We all have different needs, different stores, different policies, different amounts of time to spend going from store to store and different stockpiles.

Tess

[hbaqueen]

I agree with the others. I have been at this hot n heavy for over 3 years and was always a coupon user even before that and I never get my food totals as low as others. When Krogers use to have super doubles every few months I could get some kick butt totals but as a PP mentioned part of it wasnt stuff I used daily. Now no SDs except Kmart and we dont have a super K so no food. I pretty much focus on getting all my hba/cleaning/baby/snacks free ro super cheap and I foot the bill for the rest.
Yesterday I lucked in to 2 $3 off any pork qs while shopping that expired yesterday. But generally those types of tearpads are gone within an hour of being put out around here. So meat, fruit, veggies, and milk cost me a fortune.
We only double to .50 here too and have limited stores.
Id love to get my food budget down and my food stockpile up but with the sales/stores/offers we have its just not easy even when I work at it.
So I have NO advice but just wanted to say hang in there and what you save in the other areas will help bring your total cost down.

[CouponQueen2609]

I see you are in FL. Are you shopping Publix? If so, are you using competitors qs??? 5.00 off 50.00 albertsons qs???

I have yet to get 300.00 worth of groceries for pennies. But I also dont think I ever will. When I do my grocery shopping I get the stuff that is on sale and what I have coupons for. Then the staples (eggs, milk, and meat) is what brings my total up.

IMO people that get 300.00 for pennies are stockpiling on a good deal. Which is easier for me to do at CVS than at Publix....

Yes, I am shopping at Publix. I have tried to get the Albertson's Q's and they are hard to find since we do not have one with 50 miles of us. I manage to get away with Food Lion and I don't think there has ever been one in the 30 years I have lived in this area.

I only buy my meat at BJ's. My husband knows how to cut meat, so I just buy BIG and he cuts it up and seals it in family size portions that work for us. However, if the meat is a really good buy then I'll buy it a Publix.

[CouponQueen2609]

Thanks for the relies so far! I have a pantry full of stuff we can go through pretty quickly so I stock up on those things when they are BOGO and I have Q's for them.

It really sounds like I'm not doing as bad as I thought. I save 50% on the total bill and I only buy what we use or can use. I like to *TRY* new things every once and awhile.

In reference to the "buying a cow" we did, but we bought ours for meat. All was good until the kids named the darn things. Now we have 6 very good cheap lawn mowers. :giggle2:

:thanks7:

[jenlovestoteach]

Welcome! Just wanted to add that one way I save on my grocery store bill is by buying grocery items at CVS/Walgreens with my "free" money that I've acquired there since it's easier to get the deals at the pharmacy stores and the $/$$ coupons that are always out. I haven't bought milk, eggs, OJ or ice cream at the grocery store since I started couponing seriously. There are so many moneymakers that I can use that savings towards things that I don't usually save on at grocery stores, which in return reduces my grocery bill

[CJOVANALST]

Also remember that a lot of couponers will say they bought $300 worth of groceries for $25 but that does not include fresh meat, milk, eggs, etc. I don't know how many "coupon queen" videos online and they are only buying items from the inner aisles at the store. OR the $300 is calculated by the retail value when they probably got it for a sale price. I have been couponing for a couple of years and my best savings to date was 75%. I think it will always be a work in progress. That is part of the thrill... trying to get your OOP and montly spending lower and lower.

[anaj06]

The main thing I do is buy when things are at their lowest (or the lowest price I know them to be). Then I buy as many as I have Qs for (sometimes buying more Qs). I want to have so much of it (but not more than we can use before it exp) that I will only buy it for free or cheap in the few months after. Make since?

1 Example - Target had Motts Applejuice for $1.75 - get $5 GC wyb 5 a couple of weeks ago. Welll $.75 for 64oz juice is about the best price I get; and this time no coupons involved. I have paid $.25 and $.50 but on random occasions and not very many at a time. So, I bought 25 juices that week. (We use 4 a month just when sending in preschool snacks on each child's day plus what we drink at home (and they all have exp into next summer). So, now I won't buy juice unless I get it for 25-50 cents and I won't buy juice Qs over the next 6 months or so...I'll just use what I have.

2 example- We eat Eggo waffles 3-4 mornings a week...so we consume a lot of them. I bought 20 - $1.00 off eggo waffle coupons. They are regularly price at WM for $1.50. I bought 10 on each receipt for $5.00...then submitted my receipts to the Kellogg calendar rebate forms....Made $5.00 on each set of 10 after rebate. I won't buy eggos again unless they are 16-20 cents which is the lowest I have seen them.

3 example - I am waiting on this to materialize. I have 20 coupons for $1.00 off any cheese and I just bought (waiting on them to be mailed ) 20 coupons for $1.50 off any bread wyb Kraft cheese. Hopefully Kraft slices will be on sale 2/$3 or 3/$5 before the coupons expire....if so, I will buy 20 kraft slices and 20 loaves of bread for $10 - $14 for all. Both items freeze well. If I get really lucky, HT will run Superdoubles before 11/7 and I can get all 40 items for free....but I am not counting on this one.


I think for everyone it is just piecing together the items that you use and buying a bunch when they are at their bottom price.


Another trick is getting rain checks. Lets say Cheerios are BOGO this week at $3.99. They are out and you get BOGO rainchecks. Then 3 weeks or 3 months from then, the same Cheerios go on sale 2/$4.00. This is when you'd cash in your rainchecks and get both boxes for $2.00 minus coupons of course!

HTHs and good luck!

[AllisonL]

Another trick is getting rain checks. Lets say Cheerios are BOGO this week at $3.99. They are out and you get BOGO rainchecks. Then 3 weeks or 3 months from then, the same Cheerios go on sale 2/$4.00. This is when you'd cash in your rainchecks and get both boxes for $2.00 minus coupons of course!



Hallelujah for rainchecks! I purposely hit grocery stores on the last day of a sale, hoping they're out of stuff so I can get rainchecks. Sometimes, I'll go to 2 or 3 Publix stores at the end of their sales cycle and pick up multiple rainchecks for the same item. Rainchecks are gold!:giggle2:

[434Teresa]

I dont have many stores to choose from here so I shop at walmart..I can go in and get anything and everything we need in one stop(4 kids 2 of which are 2year old twins).. most of the time my total will be about $250 and I will pay around $60 I am happy with that..I feed 2 teen boys two year old twins,me and dad and get items we need for about $60 a week so I think I am doing great..right now I am stocking up on snuggle 70ct dryer sheets its free at family dollar with the $3 coupon, I will have enough to last a year when done this week..then next week I will stock up on surf washing powders with the $3 coupons that are out I will pay $1.50 for a box of 40 loads so I will stock up alot on those to...by stocking when things are free or this cheap it cuts alot of cost off of my weekly bill the surf I will get 3 boxes for what one box cost regular price. Some weeks I dont have to make a weekly trip because we have enough to last so I save that weeks money for things I might want to stock up on later, I have a jar for that....I have had as much as $180 in the jar at one time but i leave as long as I can for like the surf I plain to buy up about 30 boxes which will be about $60 but regular would be about $150..yes i have lots of clothes to wash but I will put some in my christmas gift baskets to.

[MoneySavinDiva]

The main thing I do is buy when things are at their lowest (or the lowest price I know them to be). Then I buy as many as I have Qs for (sometimes buying more Qs). I want to have so much of it (but not more than we can use before it exp) that I will only buy it for free or cheap in the few months after. Make since?

1 Example - Target had Motts Applejuice for $1.75 - get $5 GC wyb 5 a couple of weeks ago. Welll $.75 for 64oz juice is about the best price I get; and this time no coupons involved. I have paid $.25 and $.50 but on random occasions and not very many at a time. So, I bought 25 juices that week. (We use 4 a month just when sending in preschool snacks on each child's day plus what we drink at home (and they all have exp into next summer). So, now I won't buy juice unless I get it for 25-50 cents and I won't buy juice Qs over the next 6 months or so...I'll just use what I have.

2 example- We eat Eggo waffles 3-4 mornings a week...so we consume a lot of them. I bought 20 - $1.00 off eggo waffle coupons. They are regularly price at WM for $1.50. I bought 10 on each receipt for $5.00...then submitted my receipts to the Kellogg calendar rebate forms....Made $5.00 on each set of 10 after rebate. I won't buy eggos again unless they are 16-20 cents which is the lowest I have seen them.

3 example - I am waiting on this to materialize. I have 20 coupons for $1.00 off any cheese and I just bought (waiting on them to be mailed ) 20 coupons for $1.50 off any bread wyb Kraft cheese. Hopefully Kraft slices will be on sale 2/$3 or 3/$5 before the coupons expire....if so, I will buy 20 kraft slices and 20 loaves of bread for $10 - $14 for all. Both items freeze well. If I get really lucky, HT will run Superdoubles before 11/7 and I can get all 40 items for free....but I am not counting on this one.


I think for everyone it is just piecing together the items that you use and buying a bunch when they are at their bottom price.


Another trick is getting rain checks. Lets say Cheerios are BOGO this week at $3.99. They are out and you get BOGO rainchecks. Then 3 weeks or 3 months from then, the same Cheerios go on sale 2/$4.00. This is when you'd cash in your rainchecks and get both boxes for $2.00 minus coupons of course!

HTHs and good luck!

I agree with everything said here! It's all about keeping up the stockpile, knowing your goal prices and trading for coupons/asking for rainchecks to get the most bang for your buck! I also live in the LOND, and I agree it does seem like we're getting the shaft when it comes to how much we pay for groceries etc. vs. those who do get doubles. But just by doing some of the things mentioned by pp's I've been able to maintain a 50%+ savings at every one of my shopping trips. Good luck, you'll catch on with time!

[mommas2moody]

This is a GREAT thread!
I have read through it all and it seems like I am on the right track. I have pretty much been stockpiling and so far it's working. I haven't gotten my savings down as far as others but I know I will get there. Compared to my past weekly grocery bills, I have lowered my spending by 25% which includes my stockpile items.