Saving Money

Happy Wednesday!
Lately I have been asked how I spend $100 or less a week for food, paper products, cleaning supplies, laundry stuff , dog food and health and beauty products. The answer is simple. COUPONS!

I’m going to try to keep this simple for now but please feel free to contact me with questions or wanting more info.

First things is to remember if you want to cut your grocery bill it will take time. You will need to build a stockpile so that you never pay full price again. This begins with buying your Sunday newspaper. You will need to find out what paper in your area gives the best coupons. We really only have 1 here but when I can get my hands on a Detroit Free Press it is like striking gold. The other thing I do is I buy 4 papers. I get mine on Sunday mornings at the Dollar Tree since they normally sell for $1.75. Why 4 papers? Because the main store I use coupons at will allow me to use 4 of the same coupons at a time. You will need to contact your grocery stores and find out their coupon policies. The store I go to will double up to $1.00 so say x brand of deodorant is on sale for $2 and I have a $1 of one I get that for fee! Ironically the store I go to is one of the more pricier stores in town but combining sales and coupons make it worth the 18 min drive there once a week. I try to only buy what is on sale that I have coupons for there to keep my cost down. I get what I can’t get there at Aldis.

Another huge way to save money is with rebates. I only do Rite Aid and I take my rebate and put it on a gift card and only use that money to buy more things that are cheap or free after rebate!

Things I don’t pay for or pay very little for:
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Deodorant
Yogurt
Shampoos and Conditioners
Boxed potatoes
Makeup
Dishwasher detergent
Salad dressing
Frozen veggies
And lots more.

My trip for this week. Remember I don’t shop like a lot of you do so this is obviously not a weeks worth of groceries for us but things to add to the stockpile for when we need them. Oh and please don’t to food banks if you end up with to much.

1/19/09 at Giant Eagle
8 Reese’s Whips
4 Four Piece Rubbermaid food containers
2 mild Ortega taco sauces
2 Suave deodorant
4 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars

Paid $6.20
Saved $32.67 85% savings!

You will spend more time at this in the beginning because it is something new. I spend about 45 min a week clipping and putting coupons away and maybe another 15 minutes pulling the coupons I will be using. Remember if the store is out of something get a rain check!

I know this a just a little bit of information so like I said please contact me if you have any further questions.