You know those people who spend $6.12 on groceries...

[lucigo]

My hubby is a retiree and we do not often shop at the commissary. It is about 30 miles from my home. Unless I am missing some great commissary tips and tricks, it never seemed worth the drive.

I have never found the commissary worth going to...Wal-Mart is cheaper and closer!

 

[81felgs]

Publix is my main store. The usually have a coupon booklet in the front of the store, and a lot of times the sales will overlap with the coupons in that book.
In the winter coupon book, they had 1$ off philly cream cheese. thanksgiving week, the cream cheese was on sale for 1.25$... not bad for 25cents, but in the sunday paper they had 1$/3... so I could get 4 boxes for free. (As far as I know, most people consider cream cheese to be a fairly healthy things to eat)

One week, they had b1g1 TGI Fridays frozen snacks. They're like 3.50$ a box. In the coupon book up front they had 1$ off coupon, plus the sunday paper had 2$ off coupon, and the box of one product had *new-try me* get 75 cents off. So I got two boxes for free. (or something like that...).

I don't clip all the coupons, only for things that I know I'll eat. And then stock them up for when publix puts it on sale. Publix doesn't double coupons at all in Florida, but they're register doesn't match coupons to the product. It just says "vendor coupon" "store coupon" "manufacturer coupon".
I noticed as the cashier at Target was scanning coupons, it was matching to what was rung up, and if it didn't match up exactly she would have to hit "accept coupon".

That is great that you got a deal on the TGI Friday's snacks. But our family doesn't eat stuff like that. My hubby is a little bit of a healthy food nut. My wish for the new year is to see coupons for: 94% fat free ground turkey, chicken breast, $1.00 off a pound of grapes or other fresh fruit, fresh milk (including soymilk), eggs, yogurt and cheese. Please and thank you.

 

[teedisney]

PP - coupons are regional. I always get the Sunday paper when travelling and I'm amazed. Last trip to Florida they had milk and meat coupons.

Some times the foods that you like don't have coupons but if you use coupons for paper goods, cleaning products etc then you save on your overall grocery budget.

Also some times other stores close to where you live have better deals for 20 mintues of travel time.

 

[RangerPooh]

I too have noticed that coupons are regional. When we lived in Ca we had a gluton of coupons for our area. Upon moving to WA we learned that this was not the case and would have to buy either multiple papers or search out specific papers in order to get the most coupons. Same thing with Michigan. I did participate in a coupon swap for a while that did provide me with some coupons that we don't see too often in our area.

As for savings, I do check the clearance meat section but don't always find what we prefer to eat. Althoug when I do find a good deal I will snag it. In the past we found that Sunday's were the days when the markets would disocunt their milk that was about to expire. Didn't matter to us as it would be gone within a day or two. Also when we were living in Michigan we would buy our bread at the day old bakery. Snagging loaves of bread for .59-79$ was a great deal!

I would liketo know where people live that have double and triple coupon days? As a former (and soon t be again) west coaster this did NOT happen. It happened occassionally in Michigan and one of our local Safeways does double.

 

[4disney]

As others have posted in order to save money on your grocery bill you can not be brand loyal. You also need to buy items when they are on sale and using coupons with the sale. This is how you get items free and then you use your weekly budget for grocerys on the milk, eggs, meat, fruits and veggies you need for the week. It does take time but it can be very rewarding. I have recently been cut from 4 days a week to 2 days a week and knowing how to save at the grocery is going to really benefit us until I can get my hours back. It is not impossible to do but you have to work at it. Visit my website below to see pictures of the products have purchased, what I spent and what I saved. In the past my savings went toward our trips to Disney. Now that is rewarding!

Visit www.savingwithtammy.blogspot.com

 

[delmar411]

That is great that you got a deal on the TGI Friday's snacks. But our family doesn't eat stuff like that. My hubby is a little bit of a healthy food nut. My wish for the new year is to see coupons for: 94% fat free ground turkey, chicken breast, $1.00 off a pound of grapes or other fresh fruit, fresh milk (including soymilk), eggs, yogurt and cheese. Please and thank you.

There are coupons available for those items. Number one, go to the manf websites and ask for coupons. They will send you some. Number two, look on Ebay or on coupon forums to see who's got what to trade. Number three, look closely at the products in your store to see when you can snag a good deal.

I know a few ladies that only eat organic and they use a ton of coupons. They are always looking for those organic coupons and hustle to make trades when they are available but I know they are available if you just work at it.

Target often has fruit coupons on their website although I'm not sure how their coupons work now they the system has changed. But at a min you could get 2 sets of the coupons per computer.

 

[jodifla]

OP here. Thanks everyone for your info. I will check out the forums mentioned.

Reading these posts, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of the problem is in fact where we live (New England). We have no Super Targets or Super Walmarts. Our Sunday paper has fewer and fewer coupons. I do sometimes get coupons online, but many times they are repetitive and I just don't need 20 packages of pillsbury rolls. I buy the items that are on sale, and if I favor a particular brand of something, will wait for the week it is on sale. We rarely get coupons for money off our next purchase (maybe twice last year). Double coupons only up to $.99 and as others have said, most of our coupons are $1/2. A couple of times a year there might be 5 coupons in the circular for double on the $1 coupons.

We never see coupons for produce, milk or meat. I guess our stores are just too busy, because the clearance meat might be one or two packages and even those are few and far between.

I'm glad to know that those people who got the $150 of groceries for $6.12 really got 20 boxes of mac and cheese, 10 bags of chips, and 25 boxes of tissues. And that they probably made a separate trip for milk and meat. At least I know it's not something I should feel guilty for missing out on.

My husband and I did the Grocery Game as an experiment. There was some very interesting information on the list. What I really liked about it was how she detailed the items that were on sale with original prices and sale prices, something flyers don't do.

From that, I was able to see that produce, meat and dairy items went on sale. Stores rotate sales, and in about 3 months, everything goes on sale. So key is knowing when to buy what, and stockpiling it.

There was a BOGO sale on porkchops. It wasn't advertised, but it was on the Grocery Game list. So that was a big cost savings. And recently, peppers were on sale for $1.

THe key is stocking up your pantry, then making your menu from your pantry and freezer, then just shopping for what I needed.

I tended to do the opposite....make a menu, check the pantry and freezer, then the shopping list. Considering what I already have on hand first is a cost saver.

 

[estherhead]

That is great that you got a deal on the TGI Friday's snacks. But our family doesn't eat stuff like that. My hubby is a little bit of a healthy food nut. My wish for the new year is to see coupons for: 94% fat free ground turkey, chicken breast, $1.00 off a pound of grapes or other fresh fruit, fresh milk (including soymilk), eggs, yogurt and cheese. Please and thank you.

We don't eat stuff like that either but there are always good deals around here on the above things except for the 94% ff turkey. I've given up on it. If I want it, I have to pay the money for it. Every once in awhile I luck out & it's on clearance and I buy every single one they have. Stockpiling would be key for you.

Two years ago when I started couponing I realized to eat healthy & cheap I would have to get a freezer in my garage. It is chock full of meat. I now know, for example, that the cheapest pork loin goes in my area is $1.69. When I see that advertised I buy a bunch.

I just bought Dannon yogurt Light and Fit today. It was 10 for $5.00. I had a $1.00 store coupon and a $1.00 of 10 from manf. So it was $3.00 for 10 (plus I had a gift card so it was free ) I don't drink soy milk (I actually avoid all soy, but that's another subject) but I threw away a Silk coupon today & when I was buying black bean burgers I saw it was on sale so it would have been almost free. I often get Silk coupons.

Also, eggs and milk are constantly being offered for free around here if you buy this or that. And cheese is something I get cheap lots of times. Kraft puts out great coupons, has great sales, and has fabulous cheeses, in my opinion. I also find Weight Watchers cheese coupons in the mall on (on the counter) and they have string cheese and light cream cheeses, etc.

 

[SandrA9810]

Besides oranges and bananas (69 cents a pound), fruits and veggies are expensive here in Florida. Even milk is 3.09 a gallon here. But I can generally find lots of coupons for frozen veggies, and publix constantly put green giant for 1$ a box or birds eye for 50% off. Those new steam bags are great. A few weeks ago with 1$ off coupon and publix sale, I got the bertolli frozen skillet meals for 3.99 a bag. I usually don't eat those frozen snacks like that, just because they're really expensive for such a small amount, but for free or 50cents a box, it's a nice little treat.

After holidays is also a great time for stocking up on regular "holiday" packaged things like tupperware containers, ziploc bags, and bath things like hand soaps or bath soaps. Last year, I think it was feb or march, I found several packages of ziploc bags from Christmas on clearance for like 80% off (I guess they got hidden behind everything on the shelf). Besides the holiday printing, nothing makes it any less a ziploc bag.

I also always shop on wesnesdays, because they release the next week's ad in the paper. So I if I need it, I can find out if it's going to be on sale or not.

I've found that different areas offer different coupons. When I went down for my aunt's funeral in Miami, my sister bought each of us a paper for the obit, and there were like 3 more inserts of coupons than the paper in Orlando. She even let me have the coupons out of her paper, so triple coupons in one day.

Ohh... Target occasionally puts meat on sale. One time they had 80/20 ground beef for 1.99 a pound. Well they were sold out, so they substituted the 94/6 (the best beef) for the same price. I went with my aunt to a grand opening of a new super target in Dallas, and they had a lot of good meats for 1/2 off.

 

[GJM]

I have never found the commissary worth going to...Wal-Mart is cheaper and closer!

The closest commissary is an hour and a half away, we try and go when we visit my DH uncle since he lives near there. I buy so much stuff. I find the prices are cheaper then the Walmart near me.

I love the commissary!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Just today I brought home organic Greek yogurt (Stonyfield's brand--Oikios? something like that). It's $1.00 for a 5.3oz cup at SuperFresh this week. Combined with the $1.00/1 coupon, each cup is free.

I read several coupon forums almost daily---HotCouponWorld, AFullCup, SlickDeals (the grocery/drugstore forum only), etc. I shop regularly at 3 different grocery store chains, with 2 more that I visit infrequently depending on the specials. I've found that the coupon forums vary in their strength with respect to the different chains so I need to gather information from many sources.

It's a lot of work. There are weeks when I visit 5 different Acme stores or stop at Pathmark in the morning and in the evening, every day! But that's how I can keep our grocery bill under $250/month for our family of five (including 2 teenagers).

And no, we don't eat processed food unless you count taco shells and dry pasta as processed food! In fact, one dd has multiple food allergies so almost everything is made from scratch.

 

[ilovemonk]

That is great that you got a deal on the TGI Friday's snacks. But our family doesn't eat stuff like that. My hubby is a little bit of a healthy food nut. My wish for the new year is to see coupons for: 94% fat free ground turkey, chicken breast, $1.00 off a pound of grapes or other fresh fruit, fresh milk (including soymilk), eggs, yogurt and cheese. Please and thank you.

Ditto for us.

I rarely use coupons now. We don't do much packaged foods. Not just because of low nutrition and hfcs, but also because of GMO concerns.

I have turned to using S.H.A.R.E, CSA's, pick your own organic produce places, etc. and preserving/ freezing our bounties from our gardens. We also make our own yogurt and other healthy foods.

 

[estherhead]

I'm "popping" back on here to tell you something I just discovered! My best friend swears by the PrestoPopper microwave popper. I've been sceptical. But I eat a LOT of popcorn. This makes air popped corn in your microwave. It was $15.00 at Wal-Mart and I just made the most delicious popcorn from it. I will never again buy the expensive 100 cal. bags. For $1.00 bag of kernels I can easily get a whole week of snacks.

Yippee!

As for canning the bounty of your own garden, it's awesome but not for everyone. I grew up with two huge gardens and still have my parent's fresh veggies all summer but I've planted gardens numerous times and sadly it is not a skill set of mine. I can grow flowers and I can grow herbs and I can grow zucchini (who can't?) but I kill too many tomatoes and other veggies to mention. It therefore saves me no money. Since I've spent money on cages & fertilizer and gotten like, 5 tomatoes. And I really don't enjoy it.

For me, it isn't a money saver. It's a lovely thought. Kind of like getting groceries for $6.00 a week. The amount of time and knowledge involved to coupon to that extent or to can/garden everything is something that most people can't even dream about. I've read & read & read on both subjects and eventually settle on just a few things which I can do without changing my actual personality, life, job, etc.

 

[estherhead]

sorry, double posted

 

[ELLE-TN]

That is great that you got a deal on the TGI Friday's snacks. But our family doesn't eat stuff like that. My hubby is a little bit of a healthy food nut. My wish for the new year is to see coupons for: 94% fat free ground turkey, chicken breast, $1.00 off a pound of grapes or other fresh fruit, fresh milk (including soymilk), eggs, yogurt and cheese. Please and thank you.

Those coupons are called wine tags. Depending on your state whether or not there is a wine/beer purchase required. Plus there are lots of MIR from the alcohol companies. There again, depending on whether your are NBPR state or not. I've seen rebates for chicken, beef, deli trays, fruit/veggie, etc.

 

[81felgs]

We don't eat stuff like that either but there are always good deals around here on the above things except for the 94% ff turkey. I've given up on it. If I want it, I have to pay the money for it. Every once in awhile I luck out & it's on clearance and I buy every single one they have. Stockpiling would be key for you.

Two years ago when I started couponing I realized to eat healthy & cheap I would have to get a freezer in my garage. It is chock full of meat. I now know, for example, that the cheapest pork loin goes in my area is $1.69. When I see that advertised I buy a bunch.

I just bought Dannon yogurt Light and Fit today. It was 10 for $5.00. I had a $1.00 store coupon and a $1.00 of 10 from manf. So it was $3.00 for 10 (plus I had a gift card so it was free ) I don't drink soy milk (I actually avoid all soy, but that's another subject) but I threw away a Silk coupon today & when I was buying black bean burgers I saw it was on sale so it would have been almost free. I often get Silk coupons.

Also, eggs and milk are constantly being offered for free around here if you buy this or that. And cheese is something I get cheap lots of times. Kraft puts out great coupons, has great sales, and has fabulous cheeses, in my opinion. I also find Weight Watchers cheese coupons in the mall on (on the counter) and they have string cheese and light cream cheeses, etc.

Oh it's like slander to hear you say you thew away the Silk coupons...

 

[81felgs]

Ditto for us.

I rarely use coupons now. We don't do much packaged foods. Not just because of low nutrition and hfcs, but also because of GMO concerns.

I have turned to using S.H.A.R.E, CSA's, pick your own organic produce places, etc. and preserving/ freezing our bounties from our gardens. We also make our own yogurt and other healthy foods.

Yes this! We used a CSA this past summer and I've never eaten better or healthier. We loved it.

 

[estherhead]

Oh it's like slander to hear you say you thew away the Silk coupons...

I do hearby promise to never do so again. I will go on the coupon train & send them on. I have a few thyroid/girl issues so soy is on my official doctor do not eat list. I mean, I can have soy sauce, but I avoid tofu & Silk, etc.

Course now that I've said that I'll never get one again!

 

[81felgs]

I do hearby promise to never do so again. I will go on the coupon train & send them on. I have a few thyroid/girl issues so soy is on my official doctor do not eat list. I mean, I can have soy sauce, but I avoid tofu & Silk, etc.

Course now that I've said that I'll never get one again!

Of course! LOL!

 

[kacaju]

I would liketo know where people live that have double and triple coupon days? As a former (and soon t be again) west coaster this did NOT happen. It happened occassionally in Michigan and one of our local Safeways does double.

I live in NJ and all of our store double coupons eveyday. Once in a while they will do triple coupons for a week.