With the state of the global economy, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on how to save Money with yes coupons.
There are 2 different views on whether Coupons are worth the effort.
The first view is how can cutting out a coupon worth 50 cents really save my family any money. That it takes more of your time then you actually save.
The other view, which is how I run my household is that coupons are a very effective way of saving money.
Every week I have a process that I follow for my grocery shopping which has now saved my family on average $50 dollars a week on our grocery bill. That equates to a savings of about $2600 a year. I will provide some of the things that I do.
1. Never buy anything unless it is on sale. What that means is create a meal plan and shopping list based on the sales that week. For instance if Chicken is on sale, we will have chicken that week for dinner. If Broccoli is on sale we have broccoli for dinner.
2. Buy in bulk when items are on sale. Like I noted in #1 buy only items that are on sale, but also Buy in bulk and freeze the items that you are not using that week. I NEVER buy meat at regular price. Our Family invested in one of those Food Saver Vacuum sealing machines and I freeze meat when it is on sale in serving size portions. When I am freezing the items I will also precut items for say Stir fry so that I save time when it comes to making dinner.
3. Use Coupons when items are on sale. If an item is on sale and I have coupons for it, I buy as much as I can. For instance, my son loves apple sauce. It is regular price 2.49 and was on sale this week for 1.67. I had 50 cent coupons so I only ended up paying 1.17 for a savings of 1.32 per item. By doing this I paid less then half price. I stocked up and now have 4 months worth of apple sauce at home.
4. Join a Forum for Coupons. There a lot out there. I am a Canadian so my favorite site is Smart Canucks. They have a ton of information on how to maximize your savings and where the best deals are.
5. Be aware of SCOP, Other wise Known as the scanning code of Practice here in Canada. If An item scans incorrectly and is under $10 you will get it for FREE. If the item is over $10 you will receive $10 off the price of the item. Not all retailers participate in SCOP, but if they do they will have it posted at the cash register or at the front door of the store. This year alone I have already received 1 free item (value of 9.94) and received $10 off another. That is a savings of 19.94 by just making sure that the store is charging the correct price.
Some of the suggestions that I am making are geared towards Canadians, but I am sure that they will be useful for others as well.
Check back as I will be adding more as the week goes on. This is just a small sampling of what I do to save money on groceries.
So I had a thought, what about making a soap that smells just like a Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Here it is, the Chocolate covered strawberry soap, and let me know tell you it smells divine ! Warm Rich Chocolate, Sweet Ripe Strawberries with hints of Vanilla and Whipped Cream.
