Money Saving Madness

Since I plan on being a stay at home mom, part of me feels like it is my duty to be responsible/economical with how I spend our money since we will only have one income. We had one income while Matt was in dental school so we are used to that, but I hope that I will have more time to plan out my grocery trips since I won't be working (I'm sure you stay at home moms are laughing at me). I'm usually pretty good about buying things on sale, shopping around for the best deals, and using coupons. You always hear about those people who can buy $100 worth of groceries for $25, but I could never figure out how they did it. Well, thanks to my friend Carrie, I have figured out a few tricks to save a ton of money at the grocery store. Most of the things I have learned, I found out through these websites (and from Carrie's tips she has posted about her recent shopping trips):

http://www.southernsavers.com/ (now, one of my favorite websites)-this website goes through almost every grocery add and tells you which items you can use coupons with and where to get the coupons. They pretty much do all the hard work for you. All you have to do is read the lists, figure out what you want to purchase (many items are FREE!), collect your coupons, and go shopping

http://www.craftymommymadness/ Lists daily sales and deals

http://www.coupons.com/ This is pretty much self explanatory :)

These websites are just a few I have gotten from Carrie's blog that have been helpful. Here are some more money saving tips I have recently found out that I want to share.

1. Most Publix and Kroger stores double coupons if they are $.50 or less.

2. Most Publix stores will allow you to use a manufacturer's coupon (one you print off the internet), a coupon clipped from the Sunday paper, and a competitor's coupon. I had no idea you could use more than one coupon for the same item! Does anyone know of any other stores that accept competitor's coupons?

3. You can load coupons on your Kroger Plus Card and use a clipped coupon on the same item. When you check out and scan your Plus Card, it will automatically add in the coupons loaded on your card before you pay to reduce the final price. Here are some websites where you can register your Plus Card and download coupons to it:

http://www.cellfire.com/

http://www.shortcuts.com/

http://www.pgesaver.com/ (Proctor and Gamble coupons)

Last night I went to Publix and Kroger and bought a few items, not that I necessarily needed them at this time, but it never hurts to stock up when you can save money and if the shelf life is a long time.

My purchase from Publix:

I spent $6.14 and saved $12.17. I got the Ritz crackers, Wheat Thins, and McCormick grilling spices for FREE! I actually needed the bread and buns, and yes I let myself splurge on bread. You just can't beat Sara Lee. I did have a $.55 off for the loaf of bread and the buns were on sale for $2.50.

My purchase from Kroger:

I spent $11.23 and saved $14.51. I got the dog treats and Weber grilling spices for FREE, the Vaseline lotion for $.25 (it was on sale for $2.50, I had $1.00 coupon on my Plus Card and $1.25 clipped coupon). The BBQ sauce was $.49. The boxes of cereal are the $4+ boxes and the milk was $1.99, so that was the bulk of my bill.

I was very proud of myself with these purchases, and it really didn't take very much work to find these great deals thanks to the websites I listed above. I hope these tips help some of you lower your grocery costs. With the economy these days, I know everyone likes to save money when they can.