Although most people would agree that they’d like to save money at the grocery store, the reality is that most busy mothers are challenged to find the time to get to the store, let alone spend hours preparing a shopping list and cutting out coupons. Rather than feel guilty about not saving at all, use these easy strategies to save money on the fly.
1. Use the store’s weekly ad as your guide. Ideally, review the ad from the newspaper or on the grocery store’s website to see what the rock-bottom sale items are and plan meals around those items. If you can’t do that before shopping, simply pick up the ad as soon as you get to the store and take one minute to scan it for the best deals.. Front page items tend to be the best deals.
2. If your store has a discount card, be sure to sign up for one to get automatic savings. Many stores mail members high-value coupons that are for items they buy, or even money off the total order, such as $10 off a $50 order. Those coupons are easy to stick in your wallet along with your cash and credit cards and are real money if they are for your regular store or regular items. If you aren’t getting store coupons in the mail, you probably didn’t take the time to fill out the form initially. Next time you shop take a minute to pick up a new card and fill out the form at the customer service desk.
3. Take five minutes to visit your store’s website to see if it has electronic coupons. Kroger, Safeway, and other chains owned by Kroger and Safeway currently offer these easy coupons. Once you register your store’s discount card on the site, you can select coupon offers you like and the information is loaded on your card. When you buy the item, the coupon value comes off your bill automatically, no clipping required! Once you add them to your card they will be active for a few weeks so you do not have to use them right away. You can also print grocery coupons from most grocery stores’ sites.
4. Be Brand Flexible. While shopping, develop an eagle eye for sales tags. Instead of grabbing the same brand of pasta sauce or cereal that you always buy, compare its price with the best sale priced item on the shelf. If it’s a deal and its quality is comparable, be willing to switch brands. This simple habit can easily save 20% or more off your grocery bill.
5. Challenge yourself to be creative with what you have on hand. Instead of dragging yourself to the store to pick up something for dinner, save yourself the time and decide to be creative with what you already for at least one more day--and resist the temptation to order pizza! Since the average household wastes 15 to 30% of their grocery spending by overbuying, it’s likely that you ingredients you can work with. Eggs can be a frittata or an omelet. Vegetables, bouillon and leftover chicken can be soup. Keep seasoned canned tomatoes and canned black beans in the pantry to be able to make black beans and rice as a quick dinner any night, which is also very healthy! Add broiled tortillas with cheese and make a green salad at a total cost of less than $5 and you’ll have dinner on the table in in less than 30 minutes.
Coupon mom, Stephanie Nelson lives in Atlanta, GA, with her husband, Dave, and their two teenage sons.
If you can’t do that before
I think the 5th one
I use Cutesiebaby.com to find