Proverbs 31:15
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
So how can I buy $108 worth of groceries for $44 including tax? Well for starters I subscribe to southersavers.com blog. AND I check the website throughout the day. Because I do that, I was able to get in on a deal on Friday to get two B1G1 coupons for eggs.
So here are the basics.
First-go to southernsavers.com and read the Getting Started Guides (drop down at the top of the banner). No sense in me repeating what someone else already has typed and you've got to learn the lingo.
Second - Expect to pay a little more than what you budgeted to start with as you build up your stock-pile. (And by stock-pile I don't mean WWIII stock-pile, just extra staples.)
Third - It will take a lot of time at first to get organized and figure what the best method of organization is for you. Google will be your best friend. Google "couponing organization" and search around to see what might be something you use.
Here are some blogs that I subscribe to. Some post the same things since they feed off of each other.
Deal Seeking Mom
Freebies 4 Mom
For the Mommas
I heart cvs (or I heart walgreens)
And some of the blogs have links to other blogs but don't get into too many of them.
Southernsavers.com posts the ads on a schedule each week. For us, Publix is posted early Wednesday morning. I normally shop Monday afternoon so I can get the penny item. Always read the comments. You can get a lot of useful information from them and they help with the learning curve.
Most of your home and beauty items can be gotten super cheap at Walgreens, CVS or Rite Aid. I use Walgreens for the most part because my OOP (Out of pocket) can be so low when I roll the Register Rewards.
For example, today I bought 4 boxes of Quaker granola bars ($2.50 each); one bottle of Walgreens hydrogen peroxide ($0.29); one bottle of John Frieda conditioner ($5.99). Total $16.28 before tax. Paid with register rewards (RR) from two weeks ago ($13.00); 1 $1/1 John Frieda from this Sunday's coupons; 1 $1/2 quaker granola. Total OOP was $1.52 and I got $5 RR from the granola bars and $3 RR from the John Frieda to use on my next trip. The RR usually expire in two weeks from their issue date. Also, since I had 6 coupons (2 manufacturer and 4 RR) I had to have 6 items; hence the hydrogen peroxide. Anything that you can get for free, get it. If you don't use it, donate it to the church or elsewhere.
Next Walgreens trip (WAGS) will be 2 Ban deodorant (3.00 get $1 RR); 2 Nyquil (10.00 get $5 RR) and 3 Halloween cups ($0.18 each) - these are my "fillers" for the coupon vs item count. I will pay with the $5RR and $3RR from the previous transaction plus $1RR from two weeks ago.
NOTE: You can't use a RR to pay for the same manufacturer purchase if you want to get more register rewards (i.e. I couldn't use the $5 RR from Sunday's trip to buy more granola bars if I want to get that RR again. But I can use the $5 RR from the 2nd transation to buy the 4 boxes of granola on trip #3)
Second transaction estimated OOP = less than $3.00 will get a total of 6 RR for next trip.
It took me about 4 weeks to get where I could save about 50-60% off my weekly bill. And it takes some patience to make multiple trips (Walgreens is usually a lunch time quick trip). Wal Mart is still a thorn in my side. It is hard to feel like I'm saving any decent amount of money there. I do buy most of my meat there since they price match (best way to save at WM is pricematch). I stocked up on meat today and paid $80 but got 9 meals worth of chicken; 3-4 meals from smoked turkey sausage; 2 packs of lunch meat; 2 packs of diced and 2 packs of chunk ham; 3 gal milk; 1 can bread crumbs; and addl Sunday paper (3 inserts this week); 2 oil candle refills and 1 3-wick candle. I will not need much meat for a while (plus it is almost deer season).
That is enough for this message. More to come...
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