so YOU ALL SERIOUSLY read all the stores weekly ads tonight?

[overwhelmedshopper]

ok I new and yes very overwhelmned so I jsut was looking at my grocery stores ad and there is SO many different items just in one store. so it brought me to have to ask all of you .. YOU ACTUALLY GO to all those different stores both drug and grocerys and check each weekly circular its seems like so much work is it?

[$Saving!]

Well, the drug store deals all begin on Sundays (Walgreens/CVS/Rite Aid) and they usually offer some excellent deals and you'll learn that if you don't get there on Sunday, they might be out of things you wanted to get.

It's become a race for many people because of *the show that shall not be named* and how they've horribly influenced new couponers by showing greed and shelf clearing

As to grocery stores, some of my stores start their ads on Wed, only one starts on Sunday.

But once you get into the habit of scanning the ad for the best deals only, you really find it won't take much time to pick off the loss leaders/best deals from each store and making your list(s) for stores that have items you want to purchase with your coupon match ups.

Remember, don't overwhelm yourself! Start small, one grocery store at a time, one drug store at a time. Learn their policies and how it works (each one is unique) and once familiar with one, then add another.

I've been couponing 30 years now and you will find that you're never done learning Policies will change, customer loyalty programs will change or have things added to them etc.

[Kulis]

If you're just starting out, I second the advice to stick with shopping one store until you get the hang of it.
I get all the ads in my Sunday paper. I usually at least look at them all -- even the stores I rarely shop -- to get an idea of prices for the things I usually buy or sometimes to pricematch at Walmart or Target.
There are two very small grocery stores in my area that often have manufacturer coupons in their ads. These coupons usually expire by the end of the week, but I can use them at any store.

[isis]

Like $saving said, the drug stores start their sales on Sunday, so I usually do CVS, Rite Aid and/or Walgreens, b/c they are all within a few mins of each other and each one offers something different on sale. This week I plan on just going to CVS & Walgreens. Some weeks I don't do any drug stores.

My grocery stores run either Wed-Tues or Thurs-Wed. I don't have many grocery stores to choose from, 1 chain (Winn Dixie) and a bunch of local stores. Then Target & Walmart for big-box stores.

That's why its good to ck the store forum(s) in your area, b/c the match-ups are done and you can pick/choose which deals you are interested in. You don't have to do ALL the deals. Just stick to your normal grocery shopping (b/c that show...doesn't show people buying the staples - bread, milk, eggs, produce, meat), and that is a big part of my grocery budget! Then fill in with sales that you may have a coupon.

[belinda2]

My grocery store ads are in the Wednesday paper which is delivered to my door but these ads are also online. I'll than check the store forum and see how other shoppers view the upcoming ad. It helps me get the best price.

[amylynne01]

A lot of the time, the drug store ads are up here in advance (anywhere from 1-3 weeks). So you can have those shopping lists done way ahead of time. I shop at 2 local stores. One does Friday - Thursday and the other Sunday - Saturday. The ad for the first comes in my mail Tuesday or Wednesday. The ad for the second comes Wednesday or Thursday. I look at both at the same time and plan my lists.

Eventually you will know what a good deal is, what you're looking for, what you're willing to spend, and what coupons you have. It is overwhelming at the beginning, so stick to one grocery store and one drugstore. Throw all the other ads away right now! You do not need to shop at every store every week because that is how you get burned out.

[Merczilla]

Most of my stores sales ads come in the SUnday paper and run Sun-Sat. I have one store that runs Wed-Tues. I can also look online at these stores and see their ads. I have two local boys that I have to go to their store to see what's on sale as there is either no printed ad and they don't have a website.

That said, I think what you need to really learn first is your prices. You need to know at a glance if that's a good price or not for the item. For instance, I'll see that store A has Rosarita refried beans for 4/$5 or $1.25 a can. I know in my head that Store B has them for $1.05 a can regular shelf price, so that's not a good deal. If someone puts them on sale for less than $1 a can, then that's when I would buy, especially if I had coupons for it.

Maybe take notes or a "price book" would help. Use your receipts or next time you go to the store, write down what you pay for your regular items i.e. $1.79 loaf of bread, $4 gallon milk, $3.79 Kraft cheese slices, etc. that way when the ads come out, you can see if it's actually a good price or not. Say someone puts the Kraft cheese on for $2.50. You'll know that's better than what you paid before and if you have a coupon, even better.

[JulieDB]

Looking at the ads is not a lot of work at all.

First off I do a lot of my shopping at Winco or Costco. No ads for those stores although I do get coupons once a month from Costco.

The other place I shop at either weekly or every other week is Target. Their ad comes out on Sunday. And that is usually the day that we shop there. I do look in the ad but it seems I rarely buy anything on sale there. I do buy the cat litter and sometimes cat treats. They don't seem to put many grocery items on sale. Our store recently got a grocery.

Today is Sunday. We got plenty of ads that I did not look at because I rarely ever shop at those stores. I did not look at the Fred Meyer ad even though we did wind up going there. They had half off their clearance prices on clothing and maybe shoes. We didn't need shoes so didn't look there. Didn't really need clothing either but seeing as how I haven't bought many new things for my daughter and school is starting soon I let her get a couple of shirts. Last year (horror of horrors) we went to the big sale, she bought a bunch of tops and then found out that her gym teacher had the same tops. She couldn't wait to get rid of them. I did feel sorry for her then.

I once had a dress that was the same as my teacher. I had loved the dress until she wore the same thing. Odd thing is my mom made the dress for me but the teacher's dress was a very similar pattern and she even used the same exact buttons! She had made hers. I was happy about it at first but then the other kids started teasing me. So I never wanted to wear the dress again. But I digress...

I only look at the Top Foods ad if we are going to Woodinville. Otherwise they are just too far away even if they do have a good sale item or two.

I generally only look at the Safeway ad if we are going to be near there. Their prices overall are too high for me.

I do look at the Albertsons ad this time of year because going there means a special trip. But once school starts I will not look at the ad, exception being the Sunday ad to see if they have any doublers in there for coupons. Daughter's dance studio is in a strip mall near the Albertsons. So I often pass the time by walking up and down the aisles in Albertsons.

I did look at the drugstore ads today but only because I needed something to do tomorrow. Am going to be dropping daughter off for a movie and was going to go shopping but my plans have changed now. Not going to do that. But... I did notice Coke products for a very good price and will be going to Rite Aid at some point for those.

Used to be that the main thing I was looking for in the ads was Coke products. I hate to pay full price for those. But Winco has such a low price on them, I know I can always stock up there.

So now really I have much less need to look through the ads. I mainly only do it if I have a need for something. But then I am not one of those people who will only buy products when they are on sale. Yes, I liketo save money. But I am also picky as to what products I use when it comes to some things. And we have food allergies so need to buy specialty things that rarely go on sale.

I guess if I had a large family with no medical issues, I would be more open to buying things just because they were cheap. But I just can't do that.