How to coupon and save BIG..in 30 min. per week

[energygirl]

Yesterday I saved $89 and spent $39......usually I spend around $100 and save $80......and it only takes me 30 min per week to do my couponing... I would love to share with you how....Here is what I do:

It takes me about 15 min. (because I end up with a lot of newspapers from friends)-First, I clip the coupons from the paper (let friends, neighbors, church folks, coworkers or your hubby's coworkers know that you'd love their coupon packets when they are done with them...) I don't save cleaner or makeup ones, but I do all else, because  with sales and coupons I can get a lot of things that I normally wouldn't buy, for free or a few cents (like toothpaste, I don't care about namebrands, but have found I can get colgate free at cvs often, so I save all of those coupons...) or snack stuff, save the ones for things I wouldn't normally buy because it may end up free..so hey, then I'd buy it... then I file them by category, baby/pet, dairy, meat, frozen, personal products, canned, snack, and breakfast.  This it the most time consuming part... I usually do it with the radio or tv on... 

about 2 minutes plus the time it takes for my printer to actually print- I go to www.coupons.com and print off some coupons there (the first time you have to download something on to your computer, but then it's super easy...even walmart takes these coupons....) the program only lets you print off a certain number of copies for each particular coupon..

about 10 minutes or less, since I go to two different store sites, (Meijer has meijer store coupons on their site that can be matched with a manufacturer ones...) Kroger has a way to download coupons from two different places onto my Kroger id card (not a credit card, store loyalty card). I can use a paper coupon with the one I have on the card...and here they double the paper ones, so that makes most things either a total of $1.50 or $2.00 off the price...if it's onsale, often makes it free).  It is definitley worth looking at your local store's websites.

about 3 min.I go to www.thegrocerygame.com (they show me the sales that are not in the ad, as well as the one's from the weekly ad.....so I know every deal before I set foot in the store, and have my coupons pulled and ready before I get there. Saves me tons of time when it comes to actually shopping.  At www.thegrocerygame.com  I look at the list of what I can get for free or near free at the stores I have chosen,matched with coupons.  I checkmark the items I want to save on the screen, then print out my list...which has matched the coupons for me. Then later in the week when I make out my grocery list, I can pull the coupons out of my little box, and I am all set. No sorting coupons at the store, they are already in a stack ready for shopping. (The list on the sight  is color coded, so you can see what is a really good deal, and what is going to be free. I really stock up on the near free and free stuff. I have cupboard space, so if I can get  a box of crackers for 50 cents, I will buy all that I have coupons for....usually between 2 and 5 boxes......since they are 50 cents now instead of the usual $2.50 plus. I will stick them in the pantry, and pull a box out a week, so we don't get sick of them too quick.) You can try thegrocerygame.com for free for one month (that is four weeks of lists) and if you decide to keep up with it, it is only $1.25 a week per store.  It is awesome, and when I started it I was saving $30 at the store, now I save atleast $80. When my daughter was born a month early, (suprise) I had enought groceries, diapers, and tp stocked up that my hubby did not have to make any mad dashes to the store with our other kids in tow! 

lastly......if there are certain things I know I want lots of coupons for (like when the G2 Gatorade coupons for 50cents were out there, and I knew that doubled made the gatorades free at my store, I go to www.thecouponclippers.com and pay a few cents each for them to mail me the coupons. Or I might check ebay for bulk packs of diaper coupons for luvs....when I know there are coupons for $2.50 off per pack out there...(with ebay make sure you don't spend the savings in the bidding.) There is a lady on ebay now selling coupons for $2.00 off one half gallon of silk soymilk, they don't expire, but they are internet coupons which some places don't take. Well walmart here does (it rings in fine, without the cashier having to punch it in) and I bought 20 coupons for 99cents. That means with shipping I paid $3.00 total and saved $40 for my family, as we only drink soy.  I am not trying to sound like a "know-it-all"...just wanted to share my tips, because there are ways to save a lot, and get neat foods for your family, some that you might not normally buy, but since you can get them so cheap or free, and couponing is fun...as long as it isn't a really time consuming thing.......to me anyway. Some folks say couponing "isn't worth their time, since Walmart is cheaper" but with sales and coupons, I am getting a lot of namebrand stuff free, or for a few pennies, which knocks the socks off even the generic prices out there.   (This week alone I got a lot of free stuff, including 4 tubes of toothpaste, 11 propel, and lots of batteries for 99 cents a pack, not to mention a lot of crackers and snacks for less than 50 cents per box...