Confessions of a Couponista: Grocery Edition

I love coupons. Really. I love them. I love ads, and sales, and NOT spending money. I have been couponing for a while now and can't believe the difference it has made for our bottom line. I am currently spending about $150 every 2 weeks for groceries. On the off week, I spend a little to add more fresh produce and odds and ends. This week I had $21 in price matched merchandise. This brough my total down to $198. Add in $54 in coupons and I was out the door at $144. I love that my favorite cashiers call me "the coupon lady."

So, how am I doing it? Good question.

1. I am not a brand snob. I will use a coupon to get a product cheaper even if it isn't the brand I normally buy. However, I do avoid partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrups to the best of my ability. So, some coupons just go in the trash after I've read the product labels. (We'll save that soapbox for another day.) Example: This week I had a price match for Simply Orange OJ for $2.25. I had (4) $1 off coupons. So, I got (4) containers of oj for $5. We won't need oj again for a couple of months. Not my typical brand- but hey, for $1.25 - we'll drink it.

2. I match my coupons to sales. Products typically cycle on sale every 5-8 weeks. So, if I get a high value coupon I hold on to it for a while and try to match it to a sale. Example: Soft Scrub Cleaner was on sale for $2.50. I had (2) $1.5o off coupons this week. I spent $2 on (2) bottles.

3. I scour the 'net for coupons. Really, it's a hobby. I LOVE the hunt. A good friend of mine just made a good point about grocery shopping. She said, "you either have the money or the time to coupon." I guess I have the time :)

4. It's not what you save, but what you spend. I don't buy products that we don't/won't use just because I have a coupon. That's just silly.

5. I plan a menu. I plan 5 meals each week for our family. If a meal doesn't get made, it gets added on to the next weeks menu. This way I ensure I have everything I need to make dinner, acutally have a plan for said dinners, and use the food in the pantry that I'm getting at such great prices. Example: Pasta Fagioli in the crock pot this week. Need 2 cans of petite diced tomoatoes. Got 2 cans on sale for .88 each. Had (2) .75 off coupons. Total for tomatoes .26.

Disclaimer: I didn't make any of this up. I'm not the only one out there using coupons like printed money. There are endless resources on the web to help you start saving as well!

Gettin' Muddy

There is really nothing sweeter than a 50 degree day in February. A little time outside in spring jackets is just what we needed to cure the cabin fever. The snow has been melting like crazy and were are getting little peeks of green grass and gravel. We know it will get cold again. It will snow again. But, for now, we are going to cherish this little glimpse of Spring!

He picked right up where he left off in the Fall. Puppy, check. Tools, check. Muddy boots, check. Time to get to work.

Please excuse the interruption of this blog....

I've be noticibly absent from this blog. My husband actually pointed out that I didn't make ANY posts in January. Ooops. I don't have any grand reasons why. I just didn't post. I'm sorry.

Life has been chaotic and busy for us. January brought time with friends and family, the flu, snowdays, endless games of hide and seek, and cabin fever. We are all looking forward to sunny days.

Alan and I came up with a new financial plan and have been saving money and cutting expenses like crazy. It's amazing to me how much money we were spending and didn't even have anything to show for it. It is SO easy to spend too much money. I'm pretty excited about the things we've done and I promise to share them with you all. Stay tuned for some upcoming posts about the Asiala family's newfound frugality.