I’ve always clipped coupons, and used them whenever I bought something, and would save between $20-$30 each trip with the store deals. Then, a family friend told me about this “Extreme Couponing.” At first, I was skeptical. We don’t eat foods from boxes, rarely from cans, and mostly meat, dairy and produce. I didn’t think we would save very much for the time I felt I had to put into prep work for the trip. But, I’ll try anything once.
August was the 1st month that I participated. I went to southern savers and followed Kroger and learned about CVSing. The 1st ½ of the month I only went to Kroger, and the 2nd half, I took the time to look at the Marsh and Meijer ads on my own to come up with my own deals. I avoided Target because I can’t go into the store without spending way too much money. Also, with the new laptop, we don’t have a printer with ink that we can hook up. So, next month, I’ll start printing coupons as well.
With store deals, coupons, and CVS deals, I cut my grocery bill by 23%! Yes, I cut out almost a quarter of my grocery bill. Not to mention I had already be using coupons! And, I only did 2 major grocery shopping trips. So, I ended up saving time spent meal planning and at the dreaded grocery store. Plus, we are still on our diet, and eat fruits and veges with almost every meal.
How? I only bought meats if they were less than $1.50/lb. No, they aren’t the cuts of meat we are used to, but we work with it. Chicken drumsticks for $1/lb. Cook, take the skin off, and shred. Easy chicken for almost any dish. Chicken breasts with ribs. My new favorite cut. We even buy the no hormones, cage free chicken for $1.19/lb! I was able to get 2 huge steaks for $5 that lasted us 2 meals. We are eating a lot more chicken and turkey, and a lot less pork and beef, which is actually what the Dr. suggested for Dan. I bought fruit and veges only if they were on special, plus I compared sales for each store, and not trusting their ad for it to be on sale. Ex: Kroger blueberries were $4/2 pints where Meijer was 3 pints/$5. Meijer wins hands down.
For cleaning/hygiene/can products, I only buy if they are on sale and I have a coupon, and then I stock up as much as I can. I’ve never been one to stock, but if taco kits are on sale, with coupons, buy as many as you can, because they keep. Plus, tacos are such an easy meal when you just don’t feel like being creative. This also cuts down on those stops at the grocery store to get one item, where you leave spending $20.
CVS was a whole exciting deal. I never thought much of the extra care bucks or their in-store coupons. I’m very skeptical and felt like they were just trying to get me to buy extras. Not true! By combining coupons with CVS deals, using extra care bucks, and in-store coupons I was able to get:
For $22! Plus, I got $4 back in Extra Care Bucks for my next trip! I saved over $40 with the extra care bucks.
I am very excited to go grocery shopping and can’t wait for my Sunday coupons. I look forward to my shopping trips every 2 weeks, and I can’t wait for next Tuesday when I get to see how much I can save! I’m just going to save more once I start printing coupons (and take advantage of the copier at work so I can really stock up!)
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