Fill Your Belly and Your Wallet

Let’s face it, grocery shopping is a necessity. We all have to do it, and sometimes, the money that we pay towards our other necessities doesn’t leave too much room to get all of the things that we may need. However, I have found that time and money can cooperate with each other if they are utilized in certain ways.

For instance, after spending two hours a week going through the Sunday coupons and the sales ads from the stores, I have been able to cut down my in-store spending from $300 to about $50 or less. I have realized that different stores run specials on certain products like laundry soap, body soap, razors, and even several food products in conjunction with some of the manufacturer coupons that come out.

One week, I was able to find a coupon to save $3 on laundry detergent, and the advertised brand was $3.99 at the grocery store, thus, leaving me paying as little as 99 cents. I found this astounding. The next week the same bottle was $5 or $6. I learned from this. Timing is everything.

I began going through all of the ads and organizing the coupons so I knew if I was getting a good deal. I would write down all of the products that I needed and go through every store ad and write down the price of the product. Then, I would pair the manufacturer coupons that I had to the items that I needed. On top of that, I would check and see if there were any in-store coupons. Sometimes, these are hidden in the ads or coupon books of certain stores.

Some people don’t know it, but a shopper can technically use both an in-store coupon and a manufacturer coupon in the same transactions. In-store coupons are sponsored by the store. The manufacturer coupons, however, are not created by the stores. These are actually created by the companies that own the products that a shopper buys, and when they are turned into a store, the store actually turns the manufacturer coupons into the companies to get reimbursed. A shopper has to read the fine print of these coupons. Some will allow four like coupons, while most will only honor one coupon per item or per transaction.

Another new transition in the couponing world is that a lot of the grocery stores have their own online account that one can sign up for. Stores like Hy-Vee, Bakers, and Family Fare allow a shopper to hook his or her loyalty card to their online account and offer not only the store coupons but some of the manufacturer coupons too. This eliminates having to carry bundles of paper coupons into the store and organizing them before getting to the check-out. I found that not only does this save time, but it can save money. There have been several times where I have clipped a coupon one week and bought the item one or two weeks later and still was able to use the coupon.

Now, there are some people that don’t see the reasoning behind having a loyalty card. I understand the hesitation. Maybe, it’s too much work carrying the card, or maybe, it’s too difficult to keep track of all of the programs. However, I stand by the fact that it is worth it. Most times, stores will allow a shopper to plug in his or her phone number if he or she doesn’t want to carry the card, so that he or she can get the same discount. The coupons even work if the phone number is used, which again saves both time and money.

Also, the loyalty programs come with certain perks. For instance, stores like Bakers and Family Fare usually offer a free item on Fridays with the download of the specified digital coupon. Family Fare even allows a shopper to download the coupon from a console in their store if he or she doesn’t have a computer. The items range anywhere from a free nutrition bar to free eggs or hot dogs. It just depends on the week, but free is free. There is always someone that can use the item somewhere, even if it is a donation to a local food bank.

Another recent change that I have seen in the local stores are the buy one, get one free specials. There are a lot of these now being offered on reading glasses, vitamins, and even body soap. Walgreens, Family Fare, and Bakers are good stores to watch for these specials. Most of the time the offers are items that one will need in time if not right at the moment, and in some cases, there are even coupons that are able to be used in conjunction with these deals.

It you utilize this information and apply it, you may be able to save quite a bit of money on your weekly grocery bill, money that can be used to buy the kids a new pair of shoes or even that new washer that you have been wanting. I noticed in my earlier pursuits to find discounts and budget my shopping that many different types of savings programs were missed by the average consumers. In store coupons or manufacturer coupons were seen as a hassle to some, while rewards programs seemed useless to others. However, when the benefits of programs like these are clearly explained, it seems like people see a different side of the equation.

I’ve worked in retail for most of my life, and I understand how time consuming it is to keep up with all of the sales specials and discounts, but I have also seen people save close to $100 just by paying attention to close-out sales and after holiday sales. These same people use the rewards programs and also know how to coupon, and the time that it took them to pay attention and gather their discounts doesn’t even equate to how many hours a person would have to work at their job just to earn the same amount of money.