I saved $$ at the grocery store today

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

On Sunday I made a point of getting the newspaper so I could clip coupons. I also read the Giant store's circular, something I rarely, if ever, do. For Labor Day, there were lots of BOGOF and many 2/$.

So I put together my list, again something I hardly ever do. I listed items according to what was- a) on sale, with a memo of any coupons I had for those items, b) items included in the "One check rebates" program (new), c) items I had coupons for, other than sale items, plus which were eligible for double and triple coupons and d) anything else I thought I needed to buy.

I picked up only a few, maybe 10, items not on the list. I was shocked, and pleased, when I started tallying the coupons in my hand. My final bill, before Bonus Buys (sale items) was $183.75. The Bonus Buy savings were $21.94 and my manufacturer coupons saved me an additional $18.15! My final bill was $140.04.
The One Check Rebates give me another $3.50, plus I had a Valupage coupon for $1.50 off my "next" purchase. That's another $5.00 in savings! What a great feeling it is when you save money.

This is the week I plan to start putting those coupon savings away in savings (for our WDW trip of course!). I'm off to a great start. The past few weeks I think I saved that much in 3 smaller trips to the store. I recall save $7-8 on two occasions and $12 on another.

 

[Biyanna]

Way to go! I've been slacking off on my coupon clipping. But you have got me going now.

 

[mad4themouse]

Pretty nice totals. Congrats!

I've been doing the same for about a year now and usually save between $17 to $25 per trip using coupons alone. However, in our area, almost all of the grocery stores offer double coupons all of the time.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Giant offers double coupons (values up to 50 cents) everyday.

 

[summerrluvv]

That's great!!! Another good idea is when you find a great sale on something and a coupon for it makes it free or almost free...to stock up on those coupons!! I buy a lot of coupons from ebay. This week I'm getting Aquafresh toothbrush twin packs for free (on sale for 1.99 minus 1.00 coupon doubled) and uncrustables for .50 a box.

 

[crazymomof4]

I've been doing the coupon/circular thing before my weekly shopping since I was a newlywed, 18 yrs ago. It's as much a part of my life as brushing my teeth!! One year I really should add up what I saved. I can't see myself putting my coupon savings aside for vacation $$ though, bc. these savings are a long-standing part of our family's budget. I know, though, that indirectly these savings do help to pay for vacations anyhow. Yesterday I spent $145 on groceries and saved $40 on my clipped coupons and Shop Rite Price Plus sales, so my bill ended up being $105. The best part was that I had my DS push a second cart and BOTH were pretty full as we left the store.

 

[HeyMickey]

I've never heard of buying coupons on eBay. What will they think of next?

My mother is the queen of saving money at the grocery store. Between store specials and double coupons she can shave 50% off the grocery bill. I keep telling her she should frame those receipts. I'm going to graduate college with no debt and it's largely thanks to good old coupon clipping

I find clipping coupons to be kind of therapeutic actually. I've done it since I was a little kid. I was raised well, what can I say.

 

[jgates]

One of the big coupon processors or clearinghouses just wrote a letter to Ebay requesting that they discontinue all coupon sales. I don't know if they have or not - haven't checked yet. Most of it was due to fraudulent sales of the 'Free' coupons where they scanned an image and then sold several hundred copies of the fake coupon!

 

[SamSam]

Love those coupons! Two days ago I bought $60 of groceries for $30. My favorite local store was running double coupons, with that and in store specials I did great.
I am always trading off in my mind................$30 saved in grocery shopping is a lunch at WDW.

 

[leisuregoddess]

I am an avid coupon clipper!!! Over time, it makes a tremendous difference. And yes, the savings usually go towards a treat--like a special meal at Disney!!!

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by jgates
One of the big coupon processors or clearinghouses just wrote a letter to Ebay requesting that they discontinue all coupon sales. I don't know if they have or not - haven't checked yet. Most of it was due to fraudulent sales of the 'Free' coupons where they scanned an image and then sold several hundred copies of the fake coupon!

Well, I would never buy the "free's" on ebay. I only buy coupons from actual inserts in the paper.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
Well, I would never buy the "free's" on ebay. I only buy coupons from actual inserts in the paper.

So you pay for the whole insert, not individual coupons (which makes more sense to those of us who never heard of such a thing). If you don't mind my asking, how much are you willing to spend for them?

I was reviewing my receipt and below the manufacturers' coupons is a listing of $4.90 for doubled coupons and $1.50 for tripled coupons. I think this is in addition to the savings mentioned in the OP, as the total for 4 savings items is $46.49. So minus the Bonuscard savings (sale prices), I saved $24.55.

 

[Alice28]

I had success with coupons this weekend too. I am back to clipping coupons now that I am going to stay at home with my kids---I should have been doing it all along, but I got lazy. My total was $110, but with the Sunday circulars and the store coupons I got it down to $84. I was fairly impressed with myself! Between that and my $220 Costco trip I did the day before, I shouldn't have to buy groceries til mid September!!

 

[NancyIL]

Well done!

I used to be diligent about clipping coupons and using them. Now I do a lot of shopping at Sam's Club, so my coupons often expire in a drawer without ever getting clipped!

I need to do a much better job of reading the ads, clipping coupons (and bringing them to the store with me), and shopping the sales.

 

[OhMari]

Some people keep track on a Excel Spreadsheet of all their savings.

We go school shopping usually in June when Spring and Summer Jeans go on Sale. My daughter always ask why we walk to the back of stores, I whispered Clarence is back there.

I have 2 daughters and 2 sons. My 8th grade daughter wears a size 2. When my 19 year old daughter was her age she wore a size womens 12. Anyhow, we usually find amazing clothes in her size.

I started keeping track and I put the money away if it is cash in a bank bag, or I subtract it out of the check book and keep track of it on Excel. I saved almost over $500 from last Sept. to our vacation in WDW over Easter and it was all free money for us.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Originally posted by summerrluvv
That's great!!! Another good idea is when you find a great sale on something and a coupon for it makes it free or almost free...to stock up on those coupons!! I buy a lot of coupons from ebay. This week I'm getting Aquafresh toothbrush twin packs for free (on sale for 1.99 minus 1.00 coupon doubled) and uncrustables for .50 a box.

I stumbled upon grocery coupons for sale on ebay while searching for more coupons. Some great deals to be had as it seem many bids start out very little (less than $1) and you're left to pay shipping. I'm sure you can easily save the price of shipping with a lot of 100 or more coupons.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

So, I scoured the paper today and I clipped the coupons I wanted plus read two stores' circulars for their specials. It took me most of the day to clip, read and compile my list (in MS Word with check boxes, sales, coupons and rebates), and now I'm ready to shop (since when?).

While I was clipping my coupons I remembered this thread. I decided to take ALL of the "extra" coupons today and put them on ebay. I had over 100 coupons from the 3 or 4 booklets (I think they're making up for the holiday) in addtion to the few I kept. I listed them by category- Health and Beauty, Pets, General (food) and Household, starting at 35 cents (price of my newspaper divided by the four categories listed) plus 75 cents postage for each. In the few hours since listing I have a bid of 35 cents on the HBA packet!

No, I won't rolling in the dough from these auctions, but my recycle bag will be lighter and someone else's wallet will be a little fatter thanks to this thread.

Thank you summerrluvv !


P.S. Come back in a day or two to see if my day's work paid off.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Whew! Two days, two stores- I've had enough shopping for a while (2 weeks). I don't think my freezer will fit another object and the pantry is about to overload. I need to go back once more for dog food and maybe a few more rebate offers.

Last night I had to go shoping immediately after work, on a Monday. There was no recourse- the cupboards were bare almost all weekend and DH doesn't get paid until the beginning of the week. I rushed to finish because I my DN was smoking a turkey on her grill (it had been in our freezer since Thanksgiving, (ours ran out of gas since last weekend) and I wanted to make her mashed potatoes before it got too late. (We finally had dinner at 8pm, after I got home and made the potatoes).

Store #1 Giant

$108.41 full price
-$34.95 total savings ($22.20 BonusCard, $12.75 mfr. coupons)
= $73.70

I Returned to Store #1 at lunch today to finish my list and get DH his prefered beverage. Spent another $13.59 after BonusCard savings of $3.29.


Normally I don't shop Weis because they are generally higher priced than Giant and another local chain. This week's ads were very similar to Giant, lots of Buy # Get # free or #/$. I took advantage of Triple Coupons (only a few) and One-Check rebates when I made my list(s).

Store #2 Weis

$122.99 full price
-$31.55 total savings ($21.30 Weis Club, $10.25 mfr. coupons)
= $91.44

This week's staggering total that I paid was $178.73 after all the store cards and coupons. Both stores are offering One-Check Rebates programs. I've earned $4.50 so far at Giant and $11 at Weis. That will reduce my shopping bill to $163.23.

 

[Cindy B]

My local Giant, double up to 99 cents.. so a 75 cent became 1.50. PLUS they did triple coupons as well.

I usually do at least 10-25% of each total bill. Its a lousy day if its only 10%. I am only counting manufacturers coupons, not the Bonus Card type things..

Yes, I've sold coupons on Ebay.. I ddint make much money off it, so I stopped.