Grocery Smarts

I have had a few requests on getting info. about this grocery shopping with coupons. Here is what you do-

1. Subscribe to the Sunday newspaper (this is where you'll find your coupon packets). The class I went to suggested one paper per person in your family, so you can stock up. However, I am only doing two papers. This set me back a while, I was trying to determine if it would be worth it. But just in my first week I have probably saved what my four month subscription was worth.

2. Grab just the coupon packs out and recycle the rest of the newspaper (unless you really want to read through two papers).

3. With a marker I mark the date of the coupon packet (Careful, sometimes the date is not the day you get it. Always check the binding/label part).

4. Then I file it away in a little plastic file box with hanging folders. I file them by name of the packet, then by date. The picture is packet: RED PLUM 12-14-08

5. Then on Wed. morning or whenever I go shopping (the new ads appear on the website either late Tues. or early Wed.) I get my lists from the website: grocerysmarts.com. You need a passport number, since I don't know any other state (you might have to call someone) use Utah if you want to check it out: g84cso.

6. Once on the website go to the middle section where it says "Select Your Store". I click on "All In One".

7. Now it forms a list of every item on sale at the store, then it takes in account the coupons you have filed, then it gives you the bottom line of what you pay.

8. If you click "Start" at the top it makes everything gray, then you simply click on the store name (it will un-highlight it for you) then click on all the items from that store you will actually use. I personally, only click on things that are 4 or 5 star items (those are the best deals).

9. Once I have quickly scanned through the stores and un-highlighted all my items I press the "shrink" button up by the "start" button and it shrinks all the items I've highlighted into a neat list, I print it out, find my coupons, and I'm off to the store.

10. The longest part is going through the files and clipping out the coupons, but it still doesn't take that long, because the "coupon index" after the sale price is listed tells you exactly where to go to look for it. For example it might look something like this: Beech-Nut Jars, any $1.50/8 (1-31-09) SS-10/26. Which means it's a coupon for: Beech-Nut Jars of baby food, then it tells you what the coupon is: $1.50 off of 8, then the parentheses is the exp. date of the coupon, then the next part means it's the Smart Source coupon packet from Oct. 26. Easy Easy. Since I don't have coupons back that far I called my neighbor who is doing this but doesn't have a baby and took her coupons.

This is hard to explain on the blog, but hopefully you get the main jist. If you have a problem running around to different stores supposedly you can take the actual ad from the store you want, go to Wal-Mart, ad match then give them your coupons. I haven't tried it, so I don't know if it works. Anyway, there you go.

Albertsons is usually the store with the most deals, for example, this week they have cereal for a dollar, Lean Cuisines for .88, and yogurt for Free and none of these things you need a coupon from the paper for (only coupons that you print online from a given link). Cool. I just love how organized the website is to make it simple. Plus, it's free, just the cost of newspapers.