<p>So… over the weekend I reviewed what I spent money on in March and April.</p>
<p>If you would have told me I spent $500 on groceries, cleaning supplies and toiletries in one month I would have said no way. </p>
<p>But the evidence in my check book suggests otherwise. </p>
<p>I started doing some homework. I went to a couple of budget forums to get ideas on how I could track and save my purchases.</p>
<p>One, called Southern Savers, was amazing. On that site they will make a list of what is on sale at your local grocery store, and list all the available coupons that can be had or printed for those sale items. It made it so easy.</p>
<p>I tried it, and ended up spending $33.24, and saving $21.87 on my first try. I bought enough meat and sides for 10 days of meals. No veggies yet because we prefer them fresh.</p>
<p>My question is, do you all bother with couponing and scouring the sales? Have you tried it, stuck with it, and saved a significant amount of money every month?</p>
<p>I clip coupons out of the paper & paper inserts, and stock up on items on sale that I know I will use later. I save the coupons from manufacturers (from paper inserts or from packing) and watch for sales at my grocery store. I had done it sporadically in the past, but got serious about two years ago when I was unemployed for a few months. And I have kept it up. I also buy more store brands than I used to; the quality seems to have improved for a lot of the items over the past few years (eg, kleenex and ziplock baggies are both perfectly acceptable quality now, 2-3 years ago they weren’t…).</p>
<p>That said, I don’t (1) shop at multiple stores, or (2) look online for grocery coupons. If I were unemployed again, I might start, though. </p>
<p>A few days ago I saved $7.40 on a $36 grocery store stop with coupons. I don’t always save that much, but I have found it is worth clipping.</p>
<p>Also, I almost never order anything online any more without searching for an online coupon. Lots of times I can at least get free shipping.</p>
<p>Not coupons, but we will drive, like yesterday, quite a distance to a discount grocer and stock up. And at the local grocery stores (there are several very close), shop strategically: buying things primarily only when on sale, and in multiples. </p>
<p>And if you had any idea how much we earn, you would think we were insane. But it’s just our upbringing (we are wealthy now, but both grew up with very little).</p>
<p>The poster is a real poster - you can take a quick look at the post history if you wish.</p>
<p>We use a discount grocery store (lots of them in our area) and use their fliers. They’re not big on coupons. We have something called Val-Pak in our area. They come in the postal mail. I always throw them out without looking - who has time to go through them all.</p>
<p>I went to buy glasses several weeks ago and the guy there told me that they had a coupon at their website so I got the coupon, printed it out and saved about $160. In general, I don’t bother with coupons - this is the one time in quite a while where it was worthwhile. My wife generally does the shopping - she would use coupons if they were useful.</p>
<p>I use coupons occasionally, but honestly I buy so little that are name brands it’s hardly worth it. The few convenience foods I use tend to come from Trader Joes. I confess though, that I often use the small supermarket near us even though their prices are higher because they are so nice. They have baggers and enough checkout people that I know I can get in and out of there in no time. If I go to Costco I can count on spending half an hour standing in line.</p>
<p>I don’t like coupons for food…with few exceptions. I like fresh veggies/fruit, fish, organic meats…so, sometimes Wegmans has coupons for this stuff but not often. Whole Foods also has coupons sometimes for things like OIKOS yogurt which I love. </p>
<p>I know I spend more on food than the norm but I’m OK with that. We eat out rarely (maybe once per week for a cheap sushi meal). But then, I tend to be picky about food. I think buying cheap processed food can affect your health long term and result in higher healthcare costs down the road. So it would be the last thing I cut in terms of a budget. </p>
<p>We use Costco for paper and cleaning products and some toiletries. Hard to beat those prices and the quality is good.</p>
<p>"Good ideas, but this sounds like a ■■■■■ thread to drum up business for that website. "</p>
<p>Thanks BCEagle for backing me up . I purposely didn’t post a link to the site because I thought someone would say that. </p>
<p>We make a good income, but looking hard at the purchases I make has been an eye-opener. </p>
<p>This month I am taking on the even tougher task of writing down every purchase I make, even if is is a can of pop for a dollar, a magazine, etc. I really want to see where I am wasting money.</p>
<p>I think I can do much better on my discretionary spending.</p>
<p>Toneranger, our grocery store has come quite a ways in terms of coupons for some of the items you described in the past few years. I personally consider it a “good” trip to the grocery if I stay in the outer aisles (produce, organic, meat, dairy, paper products/toiletries) and don’t pick up much from the “middle aisles” (processed foods). I don’t always buy organic, but sometimes I do – and it does go on sale sometimes! I would guess that I save an average of about 10 to 15% on my grocery bill from coupons. But it is important to make sure coupons don’t push you to buy stuff that you wouldn’t normally buy and that isn’t healthy. Just because it is good deal financially doesn’t mean it is good for you!!</p>
<p>The only coupons I use are from stores such as Fresh and Easy. They frequently send us coupons “$10 off a $50 grocery purchase”. This enables me to save on vegetables and meat rather than processed products that I usually am not in the market for.</p>
<p>Vderon: Couponing and other stuff is good. You may want to use MS Money or Quicken to enter everything you spend. After a year or two you will get an idea of how much you need to live and where can you cut. It sounds like lot of work but it is not. We pay everything by one or two credit cards, you know the bills. You can set up recurring expense items with some phony amount and all you have to do is change the amount when you pay the bills. I started doing this in 2003 and by 2006 or 2007 I knew how much I need to live and in 2008 I retired.</p>
<p>Oh and for Misc cash Items every month we take a fixed $ amount and at the end of the month we reconcile - writing $1 here and there was too taxing.</p>
<p>As others have suggested, coupon “savings” can be deceptive, because they are often for prepared foods that are more expensive than more budget items even after the discount.</p>
<p>Vderon- Try this trick about your limiting your discretionary spending.
Make the cash in your wallet-big bills like 50s and 20s, you’ll think twice about breaking a big bill for a silly purchase like a pack of gum or cup of coffee.
It will remind you to reconsider and think again if the purchase is necessary.</p>
<p>I search online for sale items. I will get on every supermarket website once every week and form a grocery list from that.</p>
<p>I also buy at Costco for nonfood items (foils, zip locks, soaps etc.). One needs to lay out a lot at once, but over tiime one saves money.</p>
<p>I shop for fruit, veggies, fresh herbs, organic eggs at my green grocer. The supermarkets can never beat those prices, even on sale. For example, strawberries might cost 1.99 on sale in a supermarket, and I can get better looking ones in the same quantity for 99 cents are the green grocer in my area. Herbs are even a much bigger bargain! For example, my chic grocery store might charge 4.99 for a small amount of an herb in a fancy package. I can get a bigger bunch for a dollar at the local green grocer.</p>
<p>Sadly we don’t have greengrocers where I live. When we go to the city (the nearest big one is 100 miles away) we look at the asian supermarket for herbs and fruit and veg. Our local supermarket charges $3-$4 for a package with a few sprigs of mint or basil and I can get a huge bunch at the asian store for 50 cents.</p>
<p>An old neighbor who moved and have missed for many years had a neat trick for saving money. Every now and then, she’d refuse to go buy food until everything and I mean everything in the refrigerator, pantry, freezer was eaten up. I do this sometimes. It’s nice to clear everything out and start fresh. Not spices, of course, or flour and sugar type staples. But everything else. Makes for some interesting meals. </p>
<p>Aside from that, I have to say I hate coupons. Just hate the hold-up in the line and the hassle of it. I economize by going to Walmart for a lot of stuff - canned goods, orange juice, frozen vegetables, anything where I’m not picky about quality. Never touch their meat or produce, but can save quite a lot on the rest.</p>
<p>But the main way we save money is by driving our cars a really, really, really long time. And by staying in our starter home bought 20 years ago and almost paid off. If you can keep the mortgage low and the car payments non-existent you are on your way to being in good shape financially, imo. We have nice cars - acura, volvo, honda - but they are all at least ten years old. My husband is very good at taking care of them, fortunately. As for the house, it was always a good size for us but not in a super fancy neighborhood - safe but not stylish. We have paid cash - no home equity loans! - to make improvements over the years, mostly brazilian cherry floors throughout the main floor and a reconfiguration of bedrooms and bathroom addition. Would love to move on to the kitchen but right now spending $50K per year after taxes for older kid’s college, with the younger one about to launch. Our strategy is to try to live graciously through these years but resist all the temptations to live large.</p>
<p>"Vderon- Try this trick about your limiting your discretionary spending.
Make the cash in your wallet-big bills like 50s and 20s, you’ll think twice about breaking a big bill for a silly purchase like a pack of gum or cup of coffee.
It will remind you to reconsider and think again if the purchase is necessary. "</p>
<p>I like it! On the other forum I’ve been looking at , they have a running thread , like a challenge, that is called No Buy April, No Buy May, etc.</p>
<p>People post their discretionary budget goals, and then also shoot for a certain number of days in the month that will spend 0 dollars, or “no buy days”.</p>
<p>So they might say: " After I pay my bills, I do not want to spend more than $800 on food, gas, gifts, etc, and I want to shoot for 10 no buy days."</p>
<p>I guess the idea is to make you think before you buy, and also to eliminate those trips to the store where you run in for a gallon of milk and come out with a gallon of milk, a magazine, some make-up and some potato chips.</p>
<p>Two ways I save on food:
I will only go to the store twice a week. One is usually a stock-up run to the place with the best prices on the things I need, and one is a quick run to the small local market for milk, meat and vegetables. I plan three dinners at each run; even my middle-aged brain can keep track of that. (The seventh meal of the week is either leftovers or eating out!)</p>
<p>When I put food away at the end of the meal, I make single-serve dinners, such as a serving of chicken, potatoes and peas in one container. These make great lunches to go, or after school snacks, and keeps certain people from eating all the leftover meat and none of the veg. I hardly ever have to throw food out, and eating leftovers for lunch saves over $50 a week.</p>
<p>Regarding fresh herbs. I hated spending money on a small bunch of herbs in those plastic containers. This winter I took two outdoor pots and put them near the house. I planted parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme,sage and cilantro. Everything did great except for the cilantro. I found it went quickly went to seed. Now whenever I need fresh herbs I just go out my door with my scissors and clip away.
To save money we have made an effort to eat what we have in the house. Using leftovers on those nights where in the past we would have gone to pick up dinner.</p>
. I purposely didn’t post a link to the site because I thought someone would say that. </p>