New Year's Resolution Tips

Tip # 5

This next tip is also somewhat obvious -- use coupons.  I know they can be a pain but you really can save quite a bit of money if you use them.  And, if you combine them with a sale, your savings will really add up.  

Just last week I bought two of the Swanson Flavor Boost boxes and only paid a quarter for each of them.  They were on sale for $1.25 (normally $1.99) and I had 50 cent coupons that doubled at my grocery store.  So, I paid .50 instead of $3.98.  That's a 47% savings.  At another store Lindsay olives were on sale a few weeks ago.  I used my rain check last week along with a coupon and actually got them for free!  That's right. . . you can even get items for free.  They were on sale for .99 and I had a $1 off coupon.

Where do I get coupons?  The majority of them come in my Sunday newspaper.  My mom and mother in law also give me the ones they don't use.  You can ask your coworkers or even neighbors for their extras.  Many times when items go on sale at my grocery store, you get the best price if you buy four of that item.  So, it's nice to have four like coupons. Of course, if you are a small family or an individual,  four of one item may be too much for you (wasting food does not save you money).  Maybe you can split the items with someone else or maybe it's an item that can be frozen for you to use at a future date.

Other places to find coupons include using your computer.  The olive coupon I just told you about came off Lindsay's website.  Yes you can print coupons.  Just make sure your store takes internet coupons.  

Also when you're out shopping be on the lookout for coupons near products.  Many times a grocery store will have some available for you to use.  Just be kind and don't take them all!  They are meant to be shared.

Did you know that you may be able to find a site that tells you where to find specific coupons?  In my area, I have a site that I can look at to tell me in which insert a particular coupon is.  The coupon I used for the Swanson Flavor Boost was listed and told me which Sunday's paper it was in.  In that way, I am not using up all my  time cutting out each individual coupon.  I only cut them out at the time I am actually going to use them.

Do I spend a lot of time making my grocery list every week?  Actually, I don't.  I usually take a morning and make my list, then shop and then I'm done for the week.  But because I do this, I am saving a lot of money.  There are many fixed bills that I can't do too much about, but food is one in which I can.  Compared to the average family, I probably save about $1000 a month and you can see from my weekly menu that we're eating very well.

Use coupons!