saving BIG on your grocery bill: part 2

Last week I shared my basic tips on how to cut down your weekly spend on groceries. Did you try anything out? Are you hooked? More importantly, are you ready for more?

This week I'll share some advanced moves on grocery store savings. I'll be the first to admit that I don't do all of these every week. The "part one" stuff I can do week in and week out, but some of the tips below take a bit more time and commitment. Sprinkled in with the basics, though, they will really shoot up your savings.

Let's jump in.

1. Shopping Multiple Stores

This is not shocking information. It stands to reason that shopping multiple stores will save you money based on what sales they have each week and what their everyday prices are for a particular item. You can make yourself crazy (and blow a ton of time) driving around town for the best deal. My advice? Pick just 2 or 3 stores that you frequent; don't try and hit them all. Also, this doesn't mean you have to hit both stores every week.

Like I mentioned last week, my go-to store is Tom Thumb. My second store is Target. They often have pretty great deals on groceries. The only trick is to not meander the store and throw $200 worth of stuff I don't need into the cart! It's a process. Also, they offer coupons in the newspaper, coupons via text, coupons online, and extra deals through their Cartwheel App (see item #9). Phew.

Each Sunday, I pull out the Target ad because it's awesome to check out what deals they have this week. If I see something that looks like a great deal, I'll check and see if Tom Thumb has it on sale as well. Notice I said great deal. I'm not going to make a second trip to save $1. Why? Because the store is 4 miles away, which will cost me an extra $0.90 in gas round trip. Yep, I did the math. When you put a pencil to it, in my little car, each mile costs me $0.11. To make it worth my while, I need to be saving multiple dollars. It needs to be a great deal. Or I need to be heading to Target anyway.

Target is the only place I buy diapers. Some people have great luck with amazonmom.com or diapers.com, so those are good places to try as well. They don't let you use coupons, though. What I love about Target is that about once a month they offer a gift card ($5, $10, or $20 depending on the deal) when you buy 2 boxes of diapers. They also will put them on sale those weeks. Then you can add Target coupons (from the paper and the ones they send in the mail), plus manufacturer coupons, plus my 5% Target Red Card savings, and I usually save 30-40% on diapers. BOOM.

2. Price List

To maximize your savings, you need to know how much the items you regularly buy cost. Sometimes stores advertise sales, when in fact, it's just the everyday price. Track the items you buy over and over again (and if you shop multiple stores, track the price at each store) so you can evaluate if you're getting a great deal. I just add to my list a little at a time each week.

I use the Paperless App for this. BONUS - I also use this app for my grocery list AND I keep all of my favorite recipes in here. There's a lite version you can try for free. The full version is $1.99. Well worth it.

3. The Drugstore Game

This is different from (but related to) shopping multiple stores. Drugstores tend to offer more incentives than a grocery store to shop. My drugstore of choice is CVS. They have fantastic deals on toiletries and makeup. What really sweetens the pot is they offer "Extra Care Bucks" when you shop. 

This week, for example, I walked in, scanned my member card at their coupon vending machine (YES! This is a real thing) and it spit out 5 coupons. One is for $3 off of $10 of razors or razor blades. If you've ever paid attention, razor blades are expeeeeeeeeeeeensive. They just keep adding blades, which keeps adding dollars. My plan will be to combine this $3 off with a sale and a manufacturer coupon. If I play this right, I'll get my razor blade refills for 50%-70% off. BOOM. And when I ring up, I'll get even more Extra Bucks rewards. Sometimes you even get straight up savings like $5 off. No catch. Just $5 off your next purchase. It's awesome. It takes extra planning, but the savings will really start to snowball.

4. Multiple coupons

Last week I briefly mentioned using multiple coupons to build your stash. This is another great way to save BIG. When an item goes on a really good sale, you want to buy as many of them as possible to maximize your savings. Since you cannot photocopy or print multiple coupons, you'll have to find other ways of getting your hands on them.

I get my coupons in the Sunday paper. Many of those coupons are also available electronically through my Tom Thumb app. There's 2 copies. Some are also available online at coupons.com. There's 3 copies. And my sweet friend Dawn will send me her extra coupons after she's clipped the ones she needs. There's 4. Thanks to the wild success of the Extreme Couponing show on TLC, most stores now have a limit to the number of identical coupons you can use per visit. For my store, it's 4. It would behoove you to know this policy before you try to buy 145 yogurts. Also, don't buy 145 yogurts. You'll die if you eat that much. True story.

Some people advocate dumpster diving for coupons. That's not for me. I'd much prefer to borrow and share with friends than get all gross. But the choice is yours.

For example, I buy laundry detergent exactly once a year, and I buy a lot of it, and I wait for an epic deal. That happened a couple of weeks ago.  Here's what I did:

• Tide laundry detergent is normally $9.99 x 6 = $59.94
• Target had them on sale that day for $8.99. New total of $53.94
• Target had an amazing coupon in the paper: save $20 when you spend $50 on qualifying home cleaning items. Now we're down to $33.94
• Target allowed other coupons to be added to this deal. I had 3 Target coupons to save $1 for every 2 Tide items purchased. New total of $30.94.
• I had 2 manufacturers coupons to save $2 on 2 items, and 1 manufacturer coupon to save $1.50 on 2 items. Another $3.5 in savings. New total of $27.44. 
• I used my Target Red Card, which saved another 5%. Final total of $26.07 (instead of $59.94)!
• Each detergent cost me $4.34 instead of $9.99. Or to look at it another way, they were 57% off.
• Then I did a happy dance.

5. Organizing your coupons

So now you have a couponing network and have hundreds of coupons. Congratulations. Now you need to get them in order so you don't lose your mind. There's 3 main methods I've found:

1. Storing the fliers - basically, just flip through them, and store them, unclipped, until you need them. PRO - saves time cutting. CON - unless you have an eidetic memory, you'll forget what you have and fumble around while you're at the grocery store looking for what you need.
2. Coupon box - or what I like to call, you're mom's coupon style. Clip the ones you need and put them in a box. You can class up the box by adding index card dividers. It'll be just like studying for the SATs with your flashcards. PRO - it's fast. CON - you can't see all of your coupons at once.
3. Coupon binder - you will be able to tell by the rapid decrease in the amount of sarcasm that this is my method of choice. Yes, you look silly walking around the store with a binder. But NOBODY will make fun of you after they see your grocery bill drop from $170 to $100 right before their eyes. Today, the checkout guy shook my hand. He was 17 and was completely impressed. 17 year olds aren't impressed by anything as far as I can tell, so I took it as a compliment. I like this method because everything is organized, and I can see all of my coupons at once. It's also easier to see the expiration dates so you don't miss out on a good deal.

Here's my beautiful neon pink binder. 

Here's how to make one for yo-self:

• You'll need a binder with a zipper (Trapper Keeper style. Holler for the 90s, y'all). THIS IS CRITICAL. If you do not heed my warning, you will drop your binder and coupons will scatter like broken glass, and you will cry like a little girl in the store.
• Then grab index dividers. I bought this set from Staples with 31 sections. I organized them by the order in which I navigate the store. Deli, Produce, Meat, Pasta/Rice, etc. Next week I'll post a free printable table of contents/index page for your binder. I just didn't get to it this week. Spring break. You know how it goes.
• Then buy yourself a bunch of baseball card clear sheet protectors, and a few full sized ones. Most coupons will fit in the baseball ones, but sometimes the coupons are big and I'm lazy so I put them in the full sized ones. You'll need at least 31 sheets to start (I'm good at math).

6. Squeeze the most out of your store. 

This is about small things that you can do that add up over time. It's not glamorous, but every bit helps. A few tips:

• Price matching - find out if your store will match advertised prices of their competition. If they will, you can save yourself a trip. Score.
• Discount on reuseable bags - it sounds silly, but some stores will give you 5¢ off per bag. You do this every week for a year, it will add up.
• Target Red Card - I finally did this in February and can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Target will just give you 5% off for using their debit card that just connects to your bank account. It's not a new credit card (they do have that as well). If I would have done this when they first started offering it, we would have saved hundreds by now.
• Know what days to shop - some stores will discount produce on certain days, or discount their fresh bread at a certain time the next morning after it was baked. My store does $5 Fridays, which means that select items that are usually $6-10 will be $5. So, I do my grocery shopping exclusively on Fridays unless some other major life event (like Spring Break) keeps me from doing so. A couple of weeks ago I got $9.49 of paper towels for $4 because of the Friday special + coupon. 

7. Saving on meat

Let's face it. Meat is pricey. It can easily be 25%-40% of your grocery bill. I have a couple of strategies for cutting this down:

• Eat less meat. Duh. If you don't eat meat every day, you'll spend less. Check out Pinterest for meatless recipes. Have a weekly soup and grilled cheese night or pasta with non-meat sauce night. Just doing this a couple of times a week will make a difference.
• Buy meat in bulk when it's on sale and freeze it. My store offers bulk discounts on ground beef if you buy 3 or more pounds. Each week there are also a few things that go on sale. Buy more than you need when it goes on sale and freeze it. When I thaw it, I usually use it in a crock pot recipe or something that gets a sauce. I'm not typically doing this with a steak or something that's noticeably better fresh.
• Manager specials - most stores will deeply discount meat the day or two before the "sell by" date. Buy it, freeze it, and follow the steps above. You can save 30% - 75% by doing this.

8. Don't throw anything out. Ever. 

This isn't exactly a grocery store tip, but it will save you money. Eat your leftovers. ALL OF THEM. This is a relatively new rule in our house. I finally got fed up with how much food we were throwing away. So now, we use up all the food before grocery shopping day. Even if the ingredient doesn't totally make sense, and even if we are sick of eating it. 

My best tip - chop and freeze extra fruits and veggies before they go bad. This always happens to us with celery. Every recipe just calls for one or two stalks, but you have to buy the whole blasted plant. I take what I need, chop and freeze the rest. Then it's ready to add to soups, crock pot meals, etc.

9. Money saving apps

This is the one everyone was waiting for, so I saved it to the end. Suckers. Here's a screenshot of my favorite shopping apps. And yes, my phone wallpaper is a waffle in the shape of Texas. I'm not ashamed.

• Shop Savvy - with this bad boy you can scan a barcode of an item at the store, and it will show you what that item costs at other stores. It will help you decide if it's a good deal, or if it's worth a trip to another store.
• Tom Thumb - I think I've talked this one to death. Pick your store, see if they have an app, use the app.
• CVS - for the drugstore game. I think Wallgreens has one too.
• Target - you can view the weekly add and specials here. They do daily deals as well for online shopping.
• Cartwheel - As if Target didn't offer enough coupons and discounts, this app allows you to add extra members only deals to your smart phone. Present it at checkout for more savings.
• Coupons.com - you can print coupons from your phone, shop discounts online, or add them to your member card.
• Starbucks - You can load your gift cards on here and purchase coffee by scanning the bar code on your phone. Once you're registered, you get free birthday coffee and free refills on basic coffee. Yum.
• Checkout 51 - this is pretty awesome. See the screenshot below. They just give you straight up cash for buying select products. Sometimes they are brand specific, but sometimes not. A couple of weeks ago, it was eggs. Buy eggs, we'll give you 50¢. Before that, it was carrots. This week, it's any frozen pizza. It's a nice way to get some savings on items that normally don't offer coupons, like produce and dairy. You just take a photo of your receipt through the app and within 24 hours, they will review and approve and the money gets added to your account. Once it gets to a certain amount ($4 I think?), you can cash out.
• Retail Me Not - this isn't really for groceries, but worth mentioning that if you're shopping in store or online for clothes, electronics, or pretty much anything, you should check with them for coupon codes. I don't buy a single thing online without looking here first. At least half the time, I luck out.

10. Follow couponing bloggers

When all else fails, let someone else do the dirty work. The two best sites I've found for couponing are  Money Saving Mom and Krazy Coupon Lady. They troll over the weekly ads, match up the best coupons with weekly deals, and tell you when and where to buy stuff. So easy. I rely on this for the Drugstore Game, because it's just too darn much work for me to do on my own. I follow Money Saving Mom on Facebook to get the news in my feed (KCL posted a bit too much for my taste, so I narrowed it down to one).

OK. There you have it. I have bestowed my money saving wisdom to you all. As promised, I'll post a coupon index printable in the next week for your saving pleasure. Please share if you do any of these above and let me know how it works. Also, post a comment if you have any great suggestions that I didn't mention.