Cheapo's Q & A

Yesterday, a question was posed to me:

"What would be your biggest piece of advice about saving money?"

You know, that was a tough question to answer. I like to combine MANY money saving tactics to get the most bang for my buck. But, after a second of thinking, I had to say COUPONS.

Seemed like my answer surprised her, because she responded with, "Really?"

Within our few minutes of chatting, I learned that she, too, was a frugal queen. She shopped clearance bins, discounted meat and at Aldi - which are all wonderful places to save some money. She went on to tell me, "I find that we really don't eat the types of foods that coupons are for." EEEKKK

Read THIS.

Nowadays, coupons aren't just for processed foods and new-on-the-market items (though there ARE coupons for those products.) Many will give you discounts on eggs, cheese, meats, fruits and cereal. And let's not stop at food...no one should EVER pay full price for cleaning supplies, pet foods, toiletries or laundry detergent. By using coupons for those items alone, you will save bundles.

Let's take a look at my last two shopping trips to Kroger.
(which, by the way, I am now trying my best to now stay around $50 weekly)

Also, remember, I participate in "Stock Up Shopping" - so what you see here isn't only what we are eating during the week.

Total: $116.10
- Sales: $19.26
If I ONLY shopped using store sales, my cash total would have been: $96.84
But, by using $43.60 in coupons...my total ended up as:
$53.24

See how using those coupons (Sunday coupons, internet printables and digital) helped me to save even MORE?

Let's take a look at this week.

Total: $132.59
- Sales: $41.40
If I ONLY shopped using store sales, my cash total would have been: $91.19
But, by using $38.87 in coupons...my total ended up as:
$52.32

So, yes...couponing is my biggest piece of money saving advice. You may not even go to the extreme that I do...but what if you only saved $10 per week on your grocery bill? That's $40.00 per month!

What could YOU do with an extra forty dollars?

**By the way - Kroger has been running this awesome deal on the All Laundry Detergent - $2.99. The Oxi type is included, and there have been $2.00 coupons in recent Sunday papers, making these only $.99 per bottle. The sale is STILL going on. I believe I have now bought six - because I can never have too much laundry soap. Ever. Even if you don't have that particular coupon, you can print one HERE for $1.00 off, which still makes it a great deal. It's even an HE formula. **