Saving, Saving, Saving

I've had some folks ask me about my couponing prowess. I've decided to put a few of my tricks here for your enjoyment/help. First let me tell you where this skill originated.

When I was a little girl, my mom had what we called the "refunding room". She subscribed to a magazine called Refunding Makes Cents, and she clipped coupons anywhere she could find them. My dad even fixed her a long wooden box to keep all her coupons in. She soaked the labels off of orange juice bottles (back when they were made of glass) so that she could mail them in for the refunding checks.

I never thought much about my mom's obsession, but now that I'm older and poorer, I realize that she is probably the smartest, thriftiest woman I know.

Over the years, I've watched and learned and now I'm pretty adept at saving money on my own. I mentioned in a previous post that I save on average 30-50% on my grocery bills by shopping on sale and with coupons. Here are some tips for saving at the grocery store.

1. ALWAYS buy things on sale. If it's not on sale, don't get it. I rarely purchase anything that isn't marked down.

2. Subscribe to the Sunday paper. This is where you get the really good coupons. It costs us $6.96 a month to have the paper delivered to our house, and on average I save $10-$20 per week couponing. The paper more than pays for itself.

3. Every Sunday I sit down with the sale paper from my grocery store of choice after I have clipped coupons from the inserts, and I look at what is on sale and what I have coupons for. When possible I combine sales and coupons for maximum savings. Let me give you an example. **guys tune out here** Ingles often has their Kotex pantyliners on sale buy one get one free. I almost always have a coupon for $.75 off. I can buy them for $.69 and take off $.75. They are free, and I get $.06 off something else. Make sense?

4. Learn to read the sales papers. Most sales ads tell you how much off the product is. If is is only $.08 off, you aren't getting a good deal. Be aware.

5. Most grocery stores double coupons up to $.50 or $.60. These coupons are the best deals. Use them first!

6. Clip even the coupons you think you might not use. You never know what you'll need.

7. Buy ahead. Don't wait until you are completely out to run to the grocery store to buys something. Keep it in stock. If you guy out of need, you will always spend more. Keep the staples you always use in your cabinet.

8. Organize your coupons. I'm not much on organization. If you've been to my house, you know what I mean, but coupons expire, so you need to have them in order of when they expire. I put mine in envelopes marked for each month and organize them chronologically. That way I know exactly what is about to expire.

9. Keep it fun!! For me couponing is a game. I like to get the best deals, and with a watchful eye, I can many times get things for practically free. It's invigorating.

Please post any tricks you use to save money. I'm always looking for good ideas!