Doing my best...want to do better

[nagrom13]

Ok so, I have been trying to use coupons in conjunction with store sales but i feel like I could do a lot better. I read a lot of different ideas, thoughts, methods so to say, on how to pay next to nothing for groceries....but some how that isnt enough. If there is anyone out there who would be willing to "coach" me with this I would greatly appreciate it. The supermarkets in my area are.....Shoprite, Pathmark, Wegmans, Stop n Shop and I have CVS and Walgreens.

Thanks so much....I would love to REALLY get the most for as little as possible

[cpnmaniac44]

Originally Posted by nagrom13 Ok so, I have been trying to use coupons in conjunction with store sales but i feel like I could do a lot better. I read a lot of different ideas, thoughts, methods so to say, on how to pay next to nothing for groceries....but some how that isnt enough. If there is anyone out there who would be willing to "coach" me with this I would greatly appreciate it. The supermarkets in my area are.....Shoprite, Pathmark, Wegmans, Stop n Shop and I have CVS and Walgreens. Thanks so much....I would love to REALLY get the most for as little as possible

I do not have any of your grocers, but with CVS, take advantage of their store sales + coupons + extra care bucks (all in the same transaction).

At Walgreen you can use manufacturer's coupons on top of their store coupons.

[petergabrielfan]

I don't have any of your grocers either, and I only have Walgreens for the drug stores you mentioned. However, my biggest suggestion would be to go to the forums for those stores here on HCW every week. When the ads come out, there are some people here who are masters at matching up sales with coupons. It used to take me a lot of time and effort to do it by myself. Soon you'll learn the sales cycles for your stores and will learn whether or not a sale is really a good deal. I just haunt the forums on HCW for the stores I shop at a lot. It's amazing the deals you can find just by chatting with others here.

[tmsmalley]

Also, you have to walk before you can fly. For example, I paid something like .07 for toothpaste (the only kind Mr. Fussy likes to use) a few months ago. But I don't get a deal like that every day. I stocked up enough that he's set for the year, so I have a whole year to find another .07 toothpaste bargain. If he had needed toothpaste before I found that deal when I didn't have a stockpile of it, I would have had to pay full price if that was the best I could do.

So, as your stockpiles build up, you end up saving more and more because you can hold out for the super savings. You also get a sense of when to hold out and when to go full out too based on prices in your area, how much of the thing you use, the sales cycles, your storage space, etc. Remember too that So-and-So's super $3.98 basket full of stuff may not translate to YOUR basket of stuff. If you don't use the same things of course you don't get the same deals.

Relax a bit, hang out on the threads for your stores and remember that this is something that takes a bit of time. Every day that you save anything you're heading towards the goal.

Tess

[alexsmommy020807]

Hi! I'm not a professional couponer (at least I THOUGHT I was till I found THIS site! LOL) but I DO have S&S around the corner. I use them for meats alot. I look for the meats that have the manager coupon stickers on them PLUS the sticker that has where it shows it's on SALE. So if a steak is ON SALE for like.........i don't know......$5 lets say, and there is a $2 manager coupon on it, I get it and freeze i! I get ALL my meats that way. Sausage, pork, steak, ground beef. I save a TON on meats there!!! HTH!

[auntsashie]

Instead of hitting all the stores in the beginning, try to start out at one or two stores. I started out guns blazing and spent way too much oop to do much good. Now, I know what price I am willing to pay for an item.

[mmb1996]

Also try to remember there will always be another sale. I use to feel bad when I let some good coupons expire or missed a great sale but after couponing for years like I do now I have learned not to drive myself crazy trying to hit every sale and use every good coupon.

Start slow keep reading.....I have learned so much from this board and still learn things on a daily basis.

[alterdstate]

My best deals on meat are right up the stret from me at my foodtown. I go in the store when they open (as do many other bargain hunters)> This is when they mark down their meat (50%) for the ones that have a sell by date that day (I am faster and don't mind pushing lil old ladies out of the way as we race down the isles to the meat department.....JK! ) I stock up for meat for the week (month if there is a bunch and freeze it). I can find NY strips (when they have them on sale for 5.99) for half price and their meat is best around (better than Krogers) I complain a lot about my local Krogers as their meat looks like crap (steaks mainly) I am very picky about meat and I never ever buy it at wal-mart as they do things to their meat I won't mention here. (I know a butcher or two that works at the one here) Now I just got to start using coupons for everything else. I did great today had so many coupons I forgot an item at checkout lol.