The Smart and Savvy Way To Save 40% on Groceries- Couponing for Beginners

The Smart and Savvy Way I Save 40% on my Groceries. (Couponing for beginners.)

I never thought I would be writing this post. Ever.

I really assumed that coupons were nickel and dime stuff that wasn’t worth my time.

But honestly, I have to admit that in the past 6 weeks, I have become a big fan of couponing.

It’s saving me a ton on my grocery bill every week and it’s simple and fun.

I felt that I needed to share what I’ve learned about coupons and couponing. So, here goes.

How it began: I caught an old episode of Extreme Couponing on television and it piqued my curiosity.

*Disclosure: My aim is to recommend products that will truly benefit you. I believe in transparency and want to disclose that I’ve included certain products and links to those products on this page that I will earn an affiliate commission for any purchases you make.

My Goal:

What if I applied these stacking strategies to my own shopping?
And kept it simple and manageable.
What if I created a strategy to use coupons only for the things I buy and Like.
How much could I really save by becoming a savvy, frugal couponer, but not an extreme couponer?
The answer was about 40%!

Things I learned about saving with coupons:

Everything in a supermarket and drugstore goes on sale. There is a cycle of products that changes week to week to entice customers into the store.
In business terms these are “loss leaders.” Items that a store is willing to sell below cost. They know if you come in for an incredible deal on Pringles Potato Chips at .79 a can, then you will stay and buy their other products.
By stacking coupons and sale items, you can save Big on products you are already buying.
By stocking up when items go on sale and have coupons, you never have to pay retail for the items you buy.
Couponing takes much less time than I thought and pays huge dividends. (and it’s really fun)
There are valuable coupons for almost everything. Diapers, razor blades, and all food items.

Why is this happening: Stores like Target and Drugstores like CVS, need to offer deals that entice you to visit their stores.

So, there are more deals than ever before because there is so much competition and overlap in the products they offer.

Bottom Line: It is easy to do, doesn’t take much time, saves me a lot of money, and is really fun.

What’s the big Deal? Well, if you can save $350 each month on a grocery bill, then it’s like creating a side hustle that brings in $448 in pre-tax income.

That would require driving for Uber for 44 hours. Pretty Great. Saving Time and Money!

General Couponing Tips:

“Limit one coupon per purchase” means one coupon per item.

Basically, if you want to purchase 20 items, you must use 20 coupons.

If a manufacturer coupon says “Cannot be combined with any other coupon,” you can still stack a store coupon on it.

“Balance Rewards Points, Extrabucks, and Plenti Points” are drugstore credits that can be used like cash.

Each drugstore calls their in-store credits something different, but they essentially all work the same.

As long as you sign up for each store’s loyalty program, you can start earning these in-store credits and using them with coupons for bigger savings:

CVS – Extrabucks
Walgreens – Balance Rewards Points
Rite Aid – Plenti Points

Find rewards promotions in each store’s weekly Sunday ad.

Or, walk into any of the three major drugstores and find brightly colored tags hanging from the shelves. Typically these tags will say something like “Buy X product, receive $X [or points] in rewards.” When you buy the product in the right quantity, you’ll receive rewards at the register that can be used on a future purchase.

A “Catalina” is a coupon that prints at the register.

Catalinas are register coupons that print out of the little Catalina machine at participating store checkouts (like at Kroger and Safeway).

These coupons are sometimes advertised, or are generated based on a shopper’s behavior.

Additional Resources:

Coupons.com

Many of the printable coupons from Coupons.com have a store suggestion on them, paid for by retailers like Walmart.

You might see the words “Available at…” or “Redeemable at…” but you don’t have to use those coupons at the suggested stores.

You can totally use them at other retailers as long as the coupon says “manufacturer coupon” on it.

The Best Deal Sites for all things Couponing:

Grocery Smarts. com

Krazy Coupon lady

Additional Ways to Save Money:

Get Cash Back at Ebates:

I use Ebates and they give me cash back for nearly all of my purchases.

Ebates gets a commission from stores you shop at and they share the commission with you. Average cash back is about 7%, which is great. Right now, they are offering a Free $10 Gift Card when you join and spend $25. More about Ebates Here.

How Ebates works:

Before you make a purchase, simply visit the Ebates site,
find the store, like Macy’s
You’ll see discount codes (usually between 5%-10%)
and use their link to make a purchase.
They give you cashback for your purchase.
They pay via Paypal.

They have a browser extension that makes it so easy to save. And they’ll give you a $10 Gift Card after you spend $25

Browser extension for Ebates:

Get Paid for Sharing Your Amazon Purchase History

Such an easy way to Earn an extra $36

Shoptracker is operated by The Harris Poll, a well known survey company that measures U.S. public opinion.

In this case, it wants to see what products Amazon users purchase. When you sign up for ShopTracker, it keeps your private information, well, private.

All it wants to see is your Amazon order information, including the order date, product title, category, ISBN number, release date, condition, seller, list price per unit, quantity and other details. In order to get paid, you must download the shoptracker program. Then, every month, you will receive a $3 VISA Gift Card. I did it and it works. More information about ShopTracker here.

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