How do you Shop?
Grocery shopping. Even die hard couponers would admit that it's not really all that fun most of the time. Especially with kids in tow. My goal in life right now is to never ever have to bring my kids to the grocery store, but that is another post. This one is about HOW to grocery shop to maximize your grocery savings. And I'm wondering...how do you shop? I just tried a new strategy this week and it worked surprisingly well. Instead of planning out my list ahead of time and getting my coupons all in order, I read the ad quickly, grabbed my Couponizer and hit the store. It was pretty fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, but I only NEEDED a couple of items and the rest of the week I just had to throw together a few dinners and lunches. I walked the aisles and looked for the sales, then dug for my coupons. I have to say that I did find some deals that I may not otherwise have known about if I wasn't scanning the shelves. And I came up with some meal ideas that I wasn't thinking about before because of something on sale. I ended up spending about $65 and I saved $38 ($22 in store sales and specials, $16 in coupons). This is a pretty standard week for me...not a great one, but not the worst, either.
But I think I'm going to stick with my tried and true method. Most weeks, I look at the ad either online or from my Wednesday paper and plan my meals for the week based on what is in the ad. I make a list, get all of my coupons out ahead of time and organize them in order of my store's layout. This method takes a LOT more work ahead of time, but it makes shopping faster and in general I do think I save more money because I'm prepared for all of the deals with the right coupons and I know just what to look for. Plus, there is NO way I could do the "on the fly" method with my kids along...it just requires too much time and strolling around the store.
My point is that there are a lot of different ways to shop for groceries using coupons...pick what works best for you and go with it! If you are a planner like me, map out the store and get there prepared. If you like to live on the edge, show up at the store with nothing but your purse full of coupons. Or you can be the over-achiever and go to 3 different stores each week to buy the best deals at each one. Whatever you do, give coupons a try...you will be amazed at how much you can save!
***I want to wish you all a very happy Easter!!! I hope you are enjoying time with your families today!!***