Tips for Shopping Frugally...

I have recently changed how I shop. I have watched the sale ads and shopped around for the best deals for quite some time, but now I have added coupons and watch blogs before the ad comes out. Shopping with a list is a HUGE helper to my budget! I make sure not to do quick runs to the store for even one ingredient without a list in hand, so that I don't go in for 1 thing and come out with 20. I carry my coupons with me though, just in case there is a deal I didn't know about and I have a coupon for it.

I don't buy things just because I have a coupon, however, if there is a coupon and a sale for an item, making it inexpensive or free, especially if it is something we like or use regularly, I try to stock up. If I don't have enough coupons between our computers, the papers I buy (I buy 4 a week), and any home mailers I get, then I get more from ebay or a coupon clipping service. I try whenever possible to have a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon for items to make things as close to free as possible.

Instead of making a meal plan first...I shop with my list and coupons and then make my list based on what is in my freezer/fridge/pantry. By doing it this way, it saves me from needing something that is not on sale or needing several ingredients for 1 thing I want to cook. It takes a little more discipline, but once you get used to it and have stockpiled ingredients for a few months, you will find that you can cook almost anything you like this way. For instance, if I know we are going to want chili in the near future, I watch sales and get lots of beans and sauce when they are on sale, and then in 3 weeks when I want it, I don't have to go to the store for anything.

Saving on meats/produce/dairy is a little more tricky, but certainly doable. We do a stock up on meats at Sam's club and then watch weekly for a GREAT sale on a meat and if I have a coupon as well, then I stock up on that item even if I don't need it. My Publix will take competitor's coupons, so I use Albertson's coupons on meats where I have to buy 1 item and get 2 free.
For produce, I buy fresh as much as possible, by watching the sale ads and shopping Aldi where it is much cheaper than Publix. There are actually a lot of coupons for cheese and yogurts and recently even milk and eggs. This week I had a coupon for free milk with a $100 purchase (the price before coupons) and the egg farmers gave a coupon yesterday for b1g1 eggs.

Planning is definitely the key to saving the most $$ as well as knowing your stores normal/sale prices. Sometimes they try to sucker you into the store under the guise of a sale when in reality the sale price is much higher than you had paid previously.

Finally, don't feel guilty about using coupons because the store is reimbursed for the coupons and the manufacturer wins because you bought a product you might not have normally bought. I did feel nervous and sometimes an ignorant sales associate will try to make you feel like you are doing something wrong, but as long as you are using the coupons as intended, it is actually a win/win situation.