Saved $104 on Mondays shopping trip! Yay! This just helps remind myself why its worth the few hours a week I spend on this. I got my Dillons coupons in the mail last week and stacked them with ecoupons and the Sunday paper coupons for some super good deals! My free items included Pediasure toddler shakes (savings of $10! my fav deal of the week), Dove body wash and deodorant, Dole fruit parfaits, Del monte fruit cups, Razors (my 2nd fav deal) Axe showe gel and Lipton tea bags. The item I got for super cheap (most under $1) included: Red Baron pizza, Kraft Homestyle mac and cheese, Hamburger helper, muffins, Pace salsa, cream cheese, sour cream, Kraft shredded cheese, Gerber toddler meals yogart and snacks, lays potato chips, pasta, and frozen veggies. And then I got tons of items for about half off such as cat food, toddler formula, coke, Crackers, trash bags, toilet paper, pretzels, dish soap, and baby lotion... (way too much to list all!)
Dillons also had a great sale going on chicken breasts and ground turkey (no coupons though).
Of course I also had to get milk, eggs, and lots of produce without savings, but It still helps to know that I saved so much money on other stuff.
The trick for me is not to just buy a bunch of crap to save money. I only buy stuff I need or use. You can always frind great deals on freezer food or boxed meals but we usually dont eat this stuff. So I don't buy just because there is a coupon in the paper. This trip I did buy some that was a super good deal (paid about .50 per frozen pizza) because its perfect for my husband to take to work and keep there for meals if he didnt bring anything else.
Also moms: we know baby food is super expensive but there is ALWAYS coupons for this stuff! It took me 10 months to figure this out but once I did I saved a ton off our grocery bill. If youre shopping for babies or toddlers check for coupons...it is worth your time!
Wow...that sounds greet! You even answered some of my questions I was going to ask you. I was concerned after looking into this more that those who save money bought things they really didn't need...that's not what I want to do. So you made me feel better when you said that you dont buy something just because it's a good deal.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple other questions if you dont mind...
How often do you go grocery shopping? I try for one BIG trip a month and then go back for things like produce, milk and bread. I was thing of breaking that up into every two weeks, but not sure yet.
How do you get dillons to mail you coupons?
And last... How do you organize all your coupons?
Thanks for all your information :)
I go grocery shopping every week. I do my big trips every other week. I was trying a big trip once a month, but it was getting to be too much to keep track of when I started using more coupons. Not only was my coupon stack out of control, but they I was missing out on stuff because it was expiring.
ReplyDeleteYou should get a few coupons in the mail from Dillons just by having a plus card (make sure that they have your address right if you are not getting any). You can also sign up on their website and I think you get a few more that way, but by far most of my Dillons coupons comes from having their Mastercard (see below post). They track your spending and purchasing with this so they send you customized coupons based on items you purchase and how much you spend. A lot of months it will just be a certain dollar amount off your total of ANY purchase (except RX). And then every quarter they send you Dillons "checks" to use at their stores. I usually get about $40-80 just in a store "check" every 3 mo. This saves me a ton. I just make sure I pay off the balance every month so I don't pay any interest.
As far as organizing I could use some help myself. Right now I'm just clipping the coupons I will/might use and separate them into two folders: one of stuff I will definitely use and the other with stuff I might use. And try to keep them in date order (this I mix up a lot). Then when the Dillons ad or new ecoupons come out I compare and stack them with my coupon stash for the best deal. This will take some time to acquire. When I first started this I was not saving $100 per trip...It takes a good 3 mo to get a good stash going. So be patient, if you stick with it it will start to pay off!