As more and more groceries are being subjected to the grocery shrink ray–that is manufacturers are putting less and less product in what looks like the same size package, we are paying more money for less groceries. For example, a ten-pack of granola bars may have recently been reduced to an eight-pack, all for the same price or sometimes for a higher price. Package shrinkage is becoming so widespread now, it is almost a joke. Many of my old recipes won’t work anymore because they might have called for a 15 ounce can of something and that something only comes … Continue reading →

Buying meat in bulk can save you money in the per pound cost. It can also save money with fewer trips to the store and fewer reasons to eat out. Having bulk ground meat in the freezer, for example, means that you can quickly whip up filling meals without much fuss, even on busy nights. If you have a crockpot, you won’t even need to thaw it out first. Make sure that you separate the meat into meal size portions and wrap it well before freezing to avoid freezer burn, which is harmless but may affect taste and texture. There … Continue reading →

Is is okay to take the peelie coupons off of the packages at the grocery store if you aren’t buying the item right then and there? People have all sorts of opinions on this one. What are Peelies? Peelies is the name for coupons that can be peeled right off of the packages of grocery store products and used instantly on that purchase. They off are in bright colors, such as yellow, to attract your attention, and bold words that say “Use Now” or “Instant Savings.” They are meant to entice you to buy the product by giving you the … Continue reading →

Even though I know food prices are rising rapidly, I still almost about fell over when I saw that a favorite box of snack mix had risen to $5.99! I left the snack mix on the shelf. This was the same day that we stopped for three slices of pizza, no drinks, at a cost of more than $9. Ouch. I won’t be doing that again any time soon. It doesn’t look like food prices will be going down or even stabilizing any time soon. This means that we have to adapt and find ways to fight this food inflation … Continue reading →

Consumer Reports released a survey Tuesday that lists consumers favorite grocery stores. Let us just say that Wal-Mart is not going to be too happy. The results were compiled from more than 24,000 responses across the nation. Wegmans, Trader Joes and Publix came in as the country’s favorite grocery stores, while Wal-mart, Pathmark and Shaw’s were the least favorite. Ratings on the grocery stores included service, cleanliness and prices. Readers also got a chance to complain about their least favorite things about the stores. One top complaint was that there aren’t enough check out lines. Clutter aisles, and sale items … Continue reading →

When your coupons are organized, you’ll naturally save more. There is no more buying something and then finding the coupon later, forgetting you even had a coupon or missing out on getting items for free because you didn’t have a coupon to do a store match up. Here is how to keep your coupons organized. There are several methods for keeping coupons organized and readily available. Filing Whole Inserts Filing away whole inserts is probably the easiest way to organize coupons. You keep the Sunday inserts in tact and then file them by date. There are several websites out there … Continue reading →

Have you ever been embarrassed when someone finds out that you use coupons? I used to be very proud of the fact that I put in the effort to save money. I would, ahem, brag about my savings, or at least show them to others in my enthusiastic efforts to get them to convert to couponing. Now lately, though, I tend to be a little embarrassed. For one, there has been a lot of bad press about couponers, thanks to the extreme couponing show. There has been a lot of lumping every couponer into “crazy.” Not all of use have … Continue reading →

With the tightening of coupon policies, you may have seen that many stores are no longer honoring overages. What you may not know is that in some cases, stores are actually profiting from these overages. What is Coupon Overage? A coupon overage occurs when the savings of a coupon exceeds the price of an item. So for example, if you have a valuable $3 coupon for an item and the item goes on sale for $2.79, the overage would be $0.21 or $3 minus $2.79. It used to be that stores would automatically apply that extra money to the rest … Continue reading →

For all of us who wonder why we can’t use Extreme Couponing to buy a thousand dollars worth of groceries for three cents, why we don’t have our own bunkers full of free toilet paper and enough condiments to paint a mural on the side of the Empire State Building, we can take heart. There is more controversy that suggests that these impossible savings really are impossible. Don’t get me wrong, of course. Coupons can be an amazing way to save money. I use them myself. An average coupon user can save 30 percent off of groceries. Dedicated couponers can … Continue reading →

The act of shopping from a surplus will help you save money on groceries. When you shop from a deficit, you will always pay more money. Here is some information that will help explain the practice of shopping from a surplus and how you can do it to lower your grocery bill. Imagine a typical grocery shopping week. You sit down and make your list, or maybe you just hot the store knowing what it is you need. Chances are your list contains ingredients that you know you will need for that week. You are in the mood for hamburgers, … Continue reading →