HAPPY NEW YEAR! We began our meeting today with great EXCITEMENT as we look forward to the new year as MOPS mommies! We had several different ladies speaking on several topics to help organize our lives including couponing, crock-pot cooking, fitness, and central message centers for our homes. I will be posting our talks on here so people can refer back......to encourage us as moms......and to help those of you who were not able to make it this morning!
First we have Couponing 101. I did this talk myself because couponing is something that I just love, that I have gotten good at over the years, that I have tried at and failed at, and tried at again, and now I have a system. I want to preface this by saying that there are MANY different methods to couponing. This is only one. Feel free to use any ideas that you get here and change them up to make them work for the family God has given you. Do not be overwhelmed! If you have never done this before couponing can be SCARY....but just change a couple of things that you are doing and you wil lstart to save money.....and pay yourself! I consider this part of my job as a stay-at-home mom. I do this all on Sunday afternoons when the kids are sleeping. Then I shop Sunday nights when my husband can watch the kids. So, it is just me, my cart, my basket, my coupons, my list and my ads. Simple huh?
If you would like more information on how I
coupon, feel free to follow my blog at www.bekkielynn.blogspot.com
1. Get a newspaper
a. In order to save the most money, subscribe to the weekends-only version and have it delivered to your home. You will save more money having this delivered than getting it every week at the store. The few dollars that you spend on it will be gained back every single week.
b. Remove the coupon sections from the paper each Sunday, along with ads for the following stores: Sunflower Market, Pro’s Ranch Market, Target, Walgreens, CVS and Kmart
c. Each Monday, your mail carrier should bring you an ad. section that will include ads
for Smiths and Albertsons. Sometimes extra coupon packs are included so remove
those as well.
2. Cut all coupons that you will use. Do not waste time on coupons that your family will not use. (children love to cut coupons if you just tell them which ones!)
a. Find a method of organization for your coupons. For tips on how to make a book like mine, go to: http://bekkielynn.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-organize-coupons.html
b. Organize the coupons right away so you will not be overwhelmed in the future. My large categories include: Dairy, Center Aisles, Meats, Fresh items, Medicines, Pets, Cleaning, Frozen and Misc. (each large category is then broken down into smaller categories for easy access in the store and while making a list)
c. Whatever organization method you use, make sure the coupons are easily seen (such as in a picture album or baseball card album, as opposed to a box), so you can quickly grab the coupons you need, and can also tell quickly when a coupon is about to expire
3. Go through the ads that you have collected for the week and using a dark marker, circle
items in the ads that are GOOD DEALS for the week.
a. Doing this, you will be able to easily compare prices within those stores to get the best deals. Ads are competitive: ie. When Pepsi is on sale in 1 store, it will likely also be on sale in about 3 other stores. You can easily choose the best price per unit.
4. Make an ORGANIZED grocery list. For more detailed information, go to: http://bekkielynn.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-organized-grocery-list.html
a. Divide your list into the sections of the store (same sections as your coupons)
b. Go through the ads and write down the deals on your list including the EXACT item name, the price per unit (ie. $.99/lb), abbreviation of the store this is found at and a symbol as to whether you have a coupon for this item.
i. Example would look like this: Diet pepsi, 12 pack (4/$11- CVS) * (star means coupon)
ii. Make up abbreviations that will save you time and that YOU UNDERSTAND
5. Go through your (now organized) coupon book and pull out any coupons that are expiring,
match your ads for sale items and other items that you know that you need that week. Pull
out those coupons and put them in a separate envelope that you will bring with you to the
store.
a. Write down those coupon items to your master list, making sure to label it with a star, or your symbol
6. Make a meal list for the week, using the ads for inspiration (ie. If ham is on sale, make sure
and use ham as one of the recipes for the week)
a. Go through the recipes for the week and add any other needed ingredients to your
master list
In my opinion, you will save the most time price matching at Wal-mart. I have a Wal-mart
Neighborhood Market near my home, which is comparable in quality to Smiths or Albertsons. But,
now you can do one-stop shopping as Wal-mart will match prices from all competitors in the area.
My Wal-mart will match:
Walgreens (amazing deals on non grocery items)
CVS (always the best deals for milk!- when on sale, buy 4-5 gallons at a time and freeze it!)
Sunflower Market (amazing deals on produce)
Pro’s Ranch Market (also amazing produce deals)
Kmart
Target
Smiths
Albertsons
For detailed information on HOW to price-match, using some organizational strategies I have employed, go to: http://bekkielynn.blogspot.com/2011/11/money-saving-monday-walmart-price.html
For ANOTHER couponing method (that I used to use quite successfully before I decided price-matching was best for our family) go to: http://bekkielynn.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-maximize-coupon-savings.html . This is the method found at www.couponmom.com
*Do not be overwhelmed. Go step by step. In the beginning this method will take you a few
hours a week….but those hours will save you HUNDREDS of dollars each week and then month.
Carve out time each week to get it done. Eventually you will get good at doing your method
of couponing and it will not take as long. When you go to the store using this method, in the
beginning it will also take you longer….so try to go at a time when your hubby or a friend can
watch the kids. Eventually you will be able to take a couple of kids along, but it does complicate
things!
Feel free to comment or email me for questions. I love helping! GOOD LUCK!
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