Saving Money Using Coupons

About a year and half ago I stumbled across a blog called Southern Savers and it radically changed the way I grocery shop. I used coupons before discovering this site but I did not use them in conjunction with sales for maximum savings.

Before Southern Savers I made a meal plan and bought whatever we needed. Every Friday, I went to Kroger and bought some of their sale items and then bought everything else we needed at Wal-Mart. Ran out of Wheat Thins? Just went the store and bought more. I cringe remembering that I used to pay $3-4 for a box of crackers.

I save 50-75% on my grocery bill since I've started using this website and created a stockpile of things we regularly use. My goal is to always save more than I spend. When I get home I put everything on the table and make Steven guess how much I spent, how much I saved, and what I got for free.

Now I buy things we need or regularly use when they are on sale at the grocery store and matched with coupons. The best part is that Southern Savers does all the work for me. All I have to do is check out the sale and coupon match ups, clip my coupons, and go to the store.

The key thing to remember is to buy things when they are at their cheapest price to last until they go on sale again. For example, sales usually run in 6 week cycles. So if my family uses 1 jar of pasta sauce a week I need to buy 6 jars of sauce when they are at their lowest price. My friends make fun of me for having 8 bottles of A1 but I got them for free last summer and they will last until this summer when they go on sale again. I never have to pay full price if I buy the things we need when they are on sale.

Another way we save money is to use Southern Savers to shop at CVS and use their Extra Care Bucks (ECB's). If you can learn how to roll your ECB's you can get many household and toiletry items free or almost free. Some things we never pay for because of the CVS are body wash, shampoo, dish soap, toothpaste, kleenex, feminine products and cleaning supplies.

If you want to get started saving money with Southern Savers you can check out the tutorials or the getting started guides. If you have questions people are usually very kind and helpful when you ask questions in the comments section of a store post or you could attend one of her coupon workshops. You'll also need to get the Sunday paper for coupons and have access to a computer and printer to print coupons.

Two other websites that are great for finding deals are Coupon Cravings and Fiddledeedee.

Give it a try and I guarantee you will be hooked on savings too!

Michelle and and her husband Steven live in SC and are expecting their first child in December. She enjoys photography, sewing, gardening, and cooking. She blogs about every day life at The Halbert Home and photography at Michelle Halbert Photography.

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