Couponing = Not as Important as Haiti

But, I'm sure you've all been wondering how this month of couponing has gone so far.

So, I'm going to tell you. And I'm not saying this to boast in any special powers I've been granted as a human being. Most of this stuff I have figured out and come up with as a result of pulling inspiration from a lot of different places online and from people I know and really thinking long and hard about where I'd rather have our monthly grocery money going if it's possible to actually save... and it is.

Here's the scoop.

As I mentioned, I've got a little strategy going that includes the following steps:

1. Shop only at Publix every Sunday this entire month (I do this simply because it's a mile down the street and incredibly convenient and I LIKE the experience there.)
2. Shop (mostly) the BOGO, Advantage, and weekly sales. (There are also the occasional exceptions for recipes, cravings, etc. Man can not live by coupon alone.)
3. Purchase one newspaper per person in our home = 2. (I have heard people say "one per person over the age of 10" and I think that means that kids over the age of 10 consume more? I don't know, regardless there's just two of us. I usually pick mine up at Walgreen's on our way home from church for $3.50 total. There are usually other good coupons from restaurants/stores as well as the articles and the rest can be used for wrapping paper, crafts, the firepit, etc.)
4. Write, in Sharpie, the date on the coupon inserts and stick them in a folder. (I find this saves from clipping every coupon unnecessarily... I'm not always going to use them all.)
5. Look through the weekly Publix Ad for deals. (Who knows, your favorite fruit, toilet paper, sub from the deli, or spaghetti sauce might be on sale. It's always good to stock up on items.)
6. Compare the weekly Publix Ad with I Heart Publix's weekly round-up of the ad + corresponding coupons available in previous (or current) Sunday coupon inserts.
7. Pull inserts or print those listed on IHP's website and cut only as needed.

The first two Sundays this month I only half-heartedly did any of this. I was definitely hitting the first point at full-speed but lagging in the others. I bought my first papers on 1/17 if that tells you anything.

Okay, so here are the results...

1/03 - saved 22%
1/10 - saved 21%
1/17 - saved 50%
1/24 - saved 68%
1/31 - saved 69%

Total $ Savings = $213.93

And just think if I'd done a full month at that rate!

Whew. Get's me all excited.

It's like a game for me, appealing to the mathematical, competitive, frugal, and domestic parts of my little brain. Plus, it's a learning thing and I always enjoy that.

Take for instance, these things I've learned in the last month:

1. You can use a coupon PER item at the grocery store, even when it's BOGO. Who knew?!
2. You can stack a manufacturer coupon (like the ones you get in the paper) with one Publix store coupon (also found in the paper or online/in flyers/magazines) and one competitor store coupon if you have any.
3. Yeah! Publix takes competitor store coupons (as long as they are manufacturer ones). Up until today, this meant Food Lion, Kroger, and Target coupons published by the manufacturer would work. Unfortunately, the local Food Lion is closing and is therefore no longer a competitor, but oh well.
4. Of course, Publix doubles all coupons up to $.50 a piece.
5. Buying multiples of an item doesn't make you crazy, it makes you smart. I seriously don't have to go shopping for salad dressing (which is a staple), cereal, tuna fish, or pasta for awhile if I don't want to. Instead of getting stuff when you need it, you have it in advance and at a much lower cost.
6. It doesn't take as much time as you'd think. Once you do it once or twice, it strangely becomes a lot easier and more natural. And for me, I've found it makes me less worried or bothered when it's "necessary" to get stuff that isn't on sale.

So my approach now, is stocking up on all the things we actually like/want/use/etc. that run the sale/coupon circuit and using even just a portion of the extra money saved to purchase stuff at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's that we like/want/use/etc. that don't run the sale/coupon circuit.

For us, it's all trade off and yet, our grocery budget is smaller than ever before.

And I have to say, I like grocery shopping more than ever before, as well!

That Whole Couponing Thing

Okay, so I'm no stranger to coupons. What I have been a stranger to is the science behind it. And the joy of making a huge dent in your total grocery bill. Enough to make you feel like Einstein and want to go to the grocery store everyday just to show off your coupon ninja skills.

A year and a half ago, when I was gainfully unemployed, I managed to make use of a nice little free subscription to the Review Appeal (a small, weekly paper here in Franklin) which housed within it an occasional coupon insert. Clip clip clip and you've got $.55 here, $1.00 there, and if you were lucky like me, you managed to have the time to shop between a couple of different grocery stores ALL of which doubled your coupons (up to $.50). I'd say on any given grocery store trip I was saving, oh, I don't know, $15-20. Small victories, but chump change in the grand scheme of what I could have been doing...

Fast forward to last year, and I hardly touched a coupon. I didn't have time. We no longer got that paper. And I just, well, I could really care less. Besides, we didn't have the space to do all those things that crazy couponers do like... breath... stockpiling.

And then somewhere along the way, probably in the last couple of months, I started thinking about all of those BOGO (that's buy one, get one) specials at Publix (where we shop, primarily because of convenience) and those crazy people who buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper and print coupons online and thought... I think they might be on to something.

See, when I was couponing before, I wasn't avid and fairly lackadaisical in my approach.

And I want to, at some level, stay that way. Not lackadaisical per say, just... calm? Casual? Because I don't want it to be something which consumes my life in a period of it where there's just not a lot of extra time. But man, how much I miss out on maximizing our monthly grocery budget and having - gasp - a surplus of food at the end of the month. One of the things I was excited about in purchasing our home was having space - in every capacity - but especially when it comes to food. Pantry, refrigerator, freezer - you name it. We've got more than we've ever had and that's the sort of thing you need if you're going to really take this whole coupon thing (relatively) seriously.

So over the last two weeks, I've taken a fairly okay stab each week at printing a few online coupons and browsing the store for deals like I used to, and getting back to that about $20 a week savings. But that $20 was only about 20% savings... and I was so nonchalant about it all I was probably spending about two hours in the whole process (so sue me, I like wandering the grocery store).

Today, I decided to focus and plan. I spent an hour doing the following: set up our new printer to print from both of the computers wirelessly (this is particularly useful for double printing), sat at my laptop with two (read that, TWO) copies of the Sunday paper and a pair of scissors, pulled the I Heart Publix site up, linked to a couple of printable coupon websites from which I printed about 10 pages worth of coupons, and browsed through the Publix insert (though I had already read about it from IHP). Then I spent 15 minutes creating a spreadsheet (because, hey, that works for me) with columns indicating the retail price (published in the insert), sale price, and coupon information (for the ones I had) for the items on my list.

Sidenote: about half of the things on my list were for a dinner I am fixing tonight for company (which isn't entirely economical, but it's going to be good and who gives) and I just gave my best estimate for what I'd spend on them. Printed this out, and there I had my shopping list.

Armed at the ready, I hit up Publix. Thirty minutes later, I had my cart full of everything on the list (and a bunch of bananas was added at the last minute because they're a staple around here, I'd forgotten to put them on the list, and they were $.10 off a pound) and was standing at the self-check kiosk. I had to see and be a part of this wonder of seeing my savings firsthand.

And wow.

If I wasn't right on the money at cutting my bill in half, I don't know where I was. Well, I mean, I do, because I was right at half. Seriously. Just an hour and forty five minutes total spent planning and executing - and I bought $88 worth of groceries for $44. No lie. I was stunned, honestly, because even when I left the house and surveyed what my spreadsheet said I would save (which was right at that amount) I didn't believe it. There was just no way. And that's just 50% and there's people out there working magic at 65-75% EVERY WEEK.

Incredible stuff.

I'm a believer.

And this is only just the beginning.