So I jumped on the couponing band wagon, and I think its time to jump off. I had a friend in Utah who did it and taught me the ins and outs of how to use coupons and get great deals. What really inspired me was her food storage room! It was incredible! Plus, she had gotten really sick and they had been living off their storage for the past year, because she never felt like going to the grocery store. She said she spent pennies on the dollar for everything in there and often times got things completely free. I was all excited about it after talking to her. She made it look so easy.
So we started getting the Sunday paper and I started saving the coupons. Every Sunday I would flip through them and MAYBE pick out one or two coupons that we would actually use. It was a little depressing at first, but I kept with it thinking that this must just be a "bad week" for coupons. The following week was always the same thing. My problem is that most of the things that go on really good sales are things that we don't eat, like Fruit Roll-ups, or Lucky Charms, or Hamburger Helper or Dorito's. (don't get me wrong, Dave still loves his Dorito's and occasionally we'll get them, but not often enough that I am looking for coupons to save us money cause he habit is getting expensive ha ha). Its all the processed things that only actually cost 10 cents a bag that go on such great sales, cause they can afford it.
So what about the good food? Do we ever get a break on that? As far as I have seen, No. Does anyone out there coupon? Am I doing it all wrong? Or am I missing an important step? Do the coupons I am looking for only come around every blue moon? If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears! Now that Dave is in school, I'm definitely willing to do the work if it will really save us food money every month!
Ok I am a big couponer. I agree that most of the time the things that you get for pennies or free are highly processed items. So when they are that cheap, I usually buy them so we can have quick easy things on hand for road trips, parties, or playdates. But the best thing about couponing for me has been figuring out exactly what a good deal is. I now know how much I will and will not spend on grapes, potatoes, cereal, bread, chicken, apples, cheese, etc. So when I am looking through an ad or on a website I may or may not be using a coupon but I do know a good deal when I see one.
ReplyDeleteDo you use any websites? The one I use is www.grocerysmarts.com and it rates the good deals from 3 stars- 5 stars but I don't know if they do it for Vegas or not.
Also, if you want to save a BUTT LOAD of money on toiletries- deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, tampons, generic makeup, shampoo, tissues, DIAPERS, shaving cream, razors, etc. then you need to learn to shop at Rite Aid. You can buy these things for pennies or get them for free or even better MAKE MONEY on them. I do it weekly. I am not as big at couponing at the grocery store as I was but I rarely miss a week at Rite Aid. Go to www.slavetosave.blogspot.com if you are interested and she will give you an example of how it works. (look under Rite Aid deals posts) This will probably not be applicable to a LV store though. (hmmm I hope they have them in Vegas). If it makes no sense to you, email me and I can explain. You will save hundreds.
melissacampbell10@hotmail.com