I have to confess that for a while, I eschewed coupon cutting and matching sales at the grocery store. Sure, I would use a coupon here and there or buy something when it was on sale, but I had fallen away from really doing the best preparation that I could.
Fortunately, I have been really making the time lately to do all of that coupon cutting, and the savings has been amazing. Instead of paying about $150 a week on groceries, we are now spending around $60 and still eating well. I am doing a lot more cooking from scratch and freezer cooking, since stocking up on bargains in perishable foods often require a bit more prep in order to prevent the bargains from going bad, but it has all been worth it.
One of the things that has made the match up process a lot easier is browsing the savings blogs and forums. This helps as I can see what other people have found. Sometimes if I make my list late in the week, all of the match ups have already been done for me! Other times I might have insight into a bargain that no one else has found, and it feels good to be able to share the find with others.
I’m not doing too much out of the ordinary as far as finding coupons. I do buy the Sunday paper, although I’m going to take advantage of a great home delivery deal. I occasionally get coupons from the neighbor, and I often print coupons online. That is pretty much it. I shop mainly at one store, once a week. I plan out meals as far as making sure that I use up whatever needs to be used up, and sometimes I even have to pull something out of the freezer at the last minute or have pancakes for breakfast (which thrills the kids to no end), but it is all going pretty well.