Frontier Mom Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 I just have to try something to get our food budget paired down some. I ran into two friends from church this week and they both are BIG coupon users. I signed up for Grocery Game and am following my two closest stores, Food Lion and Harris Teeter. From what they told me, HT is the big one because they offer double and triple coupons sometimes. I also googled "Organizing Coupons" and it took me to the Thrifty Mom Blog. I am setting mine up like hers because it is very visual and I have dropped my whole box of coupons in the middle of the store too many times. Now what? Can anyone give me more advice or suggestions too help me on this coupon adventure? I bought 4 papers yesterday and cut out all the coupons. Have to get them organized now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalom22 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Be sure to visit the message board on GG. There you will find lots of great help and ideas. Welcome to the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Be sure to visit the message board on GG. There you will find lots of great help and ideas. Welcome to the game. :iagree: The message board is great for tips on non-list stores, storage options, and cooking healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 http://www.southernsavers.com and couponmom.com I got the trial membership to grocery game, but ended up canceling it and just using Southern Savers + Coupon Mom for the same info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 www.southernsavers.com and couponmom.com I got the trial membership to grocery game, but ended up canceling it and just using Southern Savers + Coupon Mom for the same info. I agree. This is what I did and I am probably doing even better with these. I also just searched and found tons of coupon deals. http://dealseekingmom.com/ is a great one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 I cancelled my GG membership because Southern Savers does almost the same thing for free. I love Southern Savers and Deal Seeking Mom. In just a month I have cut our grocery budget in half and our fridge/freezer/pantry is FULL! The best thing I did was find a couponing class to go to in my area. It helped me ALOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 http://www.southernsavers.com and couponmom.com I got the trial membership to grocery game, but ended up canceling it and just using Southern Savers + Coupon Mom for the same info. Wow, thanks. Can you explain your method to me? I am seeing the weekly flyers with deals and coupons out for items. I can't quite get a handle on the Coupon Mom site. How does it fit in? Also, do you just go through the flyers and make your list or do you stockpile the things that are really good buys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Also, do you just go through the flyers and make your list or do you stockpile the things that are really good buys? I stockpile things that are a really good deal. Most things tell you to stockpile what you would use in 3 months. For some things I will stockpile more if it is a really good deal and has a long exp. date. I am fairly lucky because I do have some savings in the bank that if I find a really good deal - I can spend an extra $30 or so to stock up on it. I have been in a place where I only had X amount of dollars to spend total and that makes it not as easy to stock up. For instance - I just bought $30 worth of syrup a few weeks back. If I had to take that $30 out of my complete grocery money for the week - we would be eating a whole lot of syrup and nothing else. My friends keep asking me how I do this. For me - 90% of my coupons are printed ones. I have 3 laptops. That allows me to print about 6 coupons per item (2 for each laptop). Sometimes a laptop acts crazy and I can't print, etc. I also buy coupons from ebay for things I know I will want a lot of and use before the exp. date. This is cheaper than buying a ton of papers. I get one paper from my mom. These two things have been the key for me saving a lot. I seriously started couponing again in January. I hit a really great Kroger sale and then a really great Publix sale in Jan/Feb. I spent a little more at that time, but now I am easily only spending $100 to $200 this month and probably next because I am so stocked up. But - I still look for deals and continue to stock up because I think it has become an illness for me! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Most people I know that seriously coupon don't cut up every flier. Some they file whole so they can match the coupon to the flier as it is listed on GG and Couponmom. I stopped using GG and switched to Couponmom.com and blogs. The main reason I stopped GG was that our grocery ads come out on Wednesdays here and she didn't post her list until the following Sunday. My shopping day and time is Saturday or Thursday. The blogs listed are good. I also keep up with BeCentsAble http://becentsable.blogspot.com/ and The Grocery Gathering http://www.becentsable.net/Default.aspx?pageId=331689 she does. CommonSensewithMoney is another favorite: http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/ mysavings.com is another favorite. The main page is freebies you can request, but if you go to the forum, there are all kinds of links to coupons and deals. www.sundaycouponpreview.com will give you previews of what to expect in the coupons on Sunday and which coupon fliers you will receive each week. I also have taken time to subscribe to the blogs. It is just so much easier to keep up with them, and the savings they can highlight, if I receive emails. I never seem to make it back to blogs,even if I have them bookmarked. Plus the emails seem to make it easier to scan the new information posted. I have set up an email account thru hotmail just for my couponing and savings stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted April 12, 2010 Author Share Posted April 12, 2010 Thanks for explaining. I am looking forward to my little adventure and I can't wait to start seeing some savings!! I have been watching the tutorials at southernsavers.com and I am getting a good idea of how to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Wow, thanks. Can you explain your method to me? I am seeing the weekly flyers with deals and coupons out for items. I can't quite get a handle on the Coupon Mom site. How does it fit in? Also, do you just go through the flyers and make your list or do you stockpile the things that are really good buys? Couponmom is different at first. You need to find the stores listed within your state. I like that she does WalMart for our area. Once you find your store, you will pull up a list of items that match coupons. Coupons are listed by where you can find them, and for some items she may have more than one coupon possiblity listed. Usually though she lists the highest coupon available only. As you go thru the list, it will tell you what percentage off that item will be with the coupon she has listed. I just check the items that are 50% or more and then have the list narrowed down to see which items are a great deal or very needed for our home. (you can print the list as well after you reduce it). I love that her lists usually come out the same day that the ads come out. A huge help for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Couponmom is different at first. You need to find the stores listed within your state. I like that she does WalMart for our area. Once you find your store, you will pull up a list of items that match coupons. Coupons are listed by where you can find them, and for some items she may have more than one coupon possiblity listed. Usually though she lists the highest coupon available only. As you go thru the list, it will tell you what percentage off that item will be with the coupon she has listed. I just check the items that are 50% or more and then have the list narrowed down to see which items are a great deal or very needed for our home. (you can print the list as well after you reduce it). I love that her lists usually come out the same day that the ads come out. A huge help for me. Oh, thank you. I guess I haven't poked around there enough. I kept getting printable coupon pop-ups. I didn't get the hang of it. I will definitely go and look up my local stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 If you have a Publix in your area I Heart Publix is an awesome site. I also use southern Savers, and I check Hot Coupon World for things I need that aren't on sale at my local stores. HCW has a coupon database that you can search for specific items - the other sites I use only list coupons that match up with the weekly sales ads or really good deals. I shop those as much as possible, but sometimes I just have to have something that isn't on sale and I try to save money on that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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