Extreme Couponing by Frugal Kitty

If I am going to be successful in saving money I am going to have to figure out ways to cut costs, without resorting to living on bread and water. What better way to save money at the grocery store then by using coupons? Now I have to admit, I am terrible at using coupons; far to lazy to spend hours searching for coupons and 90% of the time I am more likely to forget my coupons, leaving them on the kitchen counter when I go shopping.

Have you ever watched one of those Extreme Couponing shows on TLC? I have to admit, some of the episodes are very impressive; a shopper buying hundreds of dollars worth of groceries for a few dollars. In some cases, the store actually owes the shopper money! But some things to keep in mind before you think you too can buy a months worth of groceries for $5.00:

• The shoppers on these shows have been planning for this particular trip (The one being filmed) for months, saving their very best coupons for this trip.

• They spend HOURS dumpster diving for Sunday Morning Newspaper coupon inserts, or time on the internet searching for coupons. Then they spend additional time cutting, sorting and filing said coupons. Most admit they spend up to 40 hours a week on this.

• You need to have a grocery store in your area that doubles or even triples the value of coupons. Most don't. Where I live the grocery stores normally double manufacture coupons up to .50 cents, but if a coupon is over .50 it is face value only. This is why you will find many coupons for .55 off on two items. So you are actually only saving .27 per item. 

• Have you watched what the shoppers are actually buying? 50 toothbrushes, 100 boxes of Kleenex. Most common are bottles and bottles of liquid soap, or bodywash.

• The shopper has called the store manager ahead of time, to ensure that large qualities of the items they are buying are in stock.

• On these shopping trips they will spend hours in the store (Who has that kind of time?)

• For many its more about the thrill of the deal, rather than saving money on the day to day items.

 
So for us normal people using some coupons, and finding items that you were normally buy on sale are good bets for saving money. My favorite grocery store does several things I really like; once a month they send me coupons based on my purchase habits, and I earn points for every dollar I spend. For $100 I spend I earn 100 points, and every 100 points = .10 off a gallon of gas, up to 25 gallons.

Today I had some excellent coupons. About 2 weeks ago I had been sent weekly coupons that included $4 off if I spent over $40, and a free 1.5 quart of ice cream. I also had some good coupons on pet food and supplies (We have 4 cats and a dog), as well as a few others. This time I remembered my coupons and off I went.

Now I did spend about an hour at the grocery store, but I am rather pleased with my savings. I had $14.06 in coupons, and I saved another $53.10 in Bonus Buys (Items on sale). My bill started at $210.54, but after savings I spent $148.73. I also earned 157 points towards gas (That's .15 per gallon), BUT I had a coupon for an extra 200 points, so I actually earned .35 off per gallon. My car takes about 15 gallons, so I will save on my next fill up $5.25. It doesn't sound like much, but $5.25 savings in gas, and $67.16 at the store (All on stuff I needed and will use) adds up to $72.41. Almost enough to pay by garbage collection for 3-months. Its a start.