Couponing

I've been couponing for about a year and a half now. I enjoy doing it and I really like seeing how much money I can save. For a penny pincher like myself, I love getting to the register and figuring out exactly what percentage I saved on our groceries! [And I don't even like math.] My favorite site to use is:

http://www.southernsavers.com/

The site is really easy to navigate. You simply click on the tab of the grocery store where you shop at the top of the page. This takes you to the most recent ad with the deals that match. If there is a coupon that goes with an item it's listed along with where to find it. Sometimes you can just print coupons right off, other times you have to get it from an insert that comes in the paper. My inserts go back to around August of last year [anything before that is most likely expired]. I keep them in a nice stack organized by date so I can just flip right to it and cut it out, assuming I haven't already used it.

Something that helps get the best deals is not being partial to one particular grocery store. I like Bi-Lo because it offers fuel perks, but if Publix has better deals, I'm there. And...sometimes I'll go to both. For example, this week Publix has way better produce deals, so I'll probably stop by there on my way home from work one evening and do the remainder of my shopping on Sunday at Bi-Lo. If Publix wasn't on my way home from work and I had to drive out of my way to get there I probably wouldn't make 2 trips [okay, let's be real - I definitely wouldn't because I'd be spending my grocery savings on gas]. Since produce deals are hard to come by, especially in the winter I'm definitely taking advantage of this weeks ad.

Something that hurts is that I don't buy stuff in bulk or stuff that I don't need / would never use. By default I get rid of anything that hasn't been used in a while [the time I hold onto something depends on what it is], so I don't want or need tons of extra non-perishable food items overflowing from cabinets or taking up our precious, limited closet space. The extreme couponers by tons of things that they don't want or will never use and most of the time just store it in some extra room in their house. Get real people! You could and should donate those things to someone who needs it way more than you!

One of my goals with couponing has been to save 50% or more on my grocery bills. So far I've only done it once -- typically I average between 35-38% savings. Honestly that's not too shabby, but I know I can reach that 50% mark! I'll keep you posted after I do my shopping this week and maybe even post my grocery list along with the savings if I'm able to reach that 50% mark!