Coupons.

In other words free money! You can find coupons online or in the Sunday paper. I get my coupons out of the paper each week. A short time ago I would save at least $50 and sometimes as much as $120 each visit.

We don’t save as much money grocery shopping as we used to because we try not to eat processed or boxed foods. We eat fresh fruits and veggies 75-80% of the time. Farmers markets are a great place to get fresh food for cheaper than store prices. They taste better and you are helping support your local farmers.

There is a grocery store called Publix here in the south so I will use them as an example. They double coupons up to .50 cents. Each week they have items that are “Buy One Get One Free” or BOGO. The great thing about Publix is if you get one of the BOGO items instead of two, you only pay ½ price for the item. I have noticed that most of the time the weekly coupons coincide with the sale items at each grocery store. For example a box of Pasta Roni is $1.29. If is BOGO – you would get one box and it would cost .65 cents. If you had a .50 cent off coupon Publix would double it so you would get $1.00 off. After that Publix would end up paying you .35 cents! Wow! The store will pay you to shop there. Another example – Publix has BOGO on Glade Plug-In refills which are $2.99 each – you grab 2 and pay $2.99 for both but wait….you have a manufactures coupon that is also buy one get one free so the 2 you just paid $2.99 for just became free because that coupon just took off $2.99.  You just got 2 Plug-In refills for free!

Some stores will give you an item for free if it rings up the wrong price so always watch everything that is scanned.

Look online at your favorite grocery store and see what is on special for that week and use your coupons. Most of the items that are on the shelf have a long shelf life and you can stock up on items when they are on sale instead of waiting until you are out and paying regular price then.

If you aren’t a fan of “free money” aka coupons you can do your shopping at Aldis. They have everything you would get in a grocery store but in their own brand. You can buy a bottle of merlot for $2.98.

Also check out dollar stores – like Dollar Tree or the .99 Cent Store for items like spices, shampoo, toothpaste, hand soap, powder ect. Sometimes they will carry name brand items and you will be able to use your coupons there.

Saving money always makes you feel good!