We are rapidly approaching the load day for coupons. It's the first of the month and the good coupons will go fast. You can print two of each coupon. Resist the urge to print them all; you will just waste paper and keep someone that really might need one that you throw away.
Be polite. This is the most time consuming part of couponing. The rest is a few , and sometimes very few minutes a week. The rewards can be great. I almost always find cereal, pepperoni, yogurt, and sometimes a coupon for pork tenderloins. There are always surprises. Those I print and clip and file. The inserts come in the Sunday paper and one in the mail. Procter and gamble comes in the paper on the first Sunday of the month or sometimes the last of the previous month. It's good for tissue or laundry soap. The toilet paper coupons are a joke but there is usually a coupon for puffs that you can get at the dollar tree.
The coupon themselves are a savings. But, if you can match them up with a sale and/ or a basket coupon you can hit pay dirt. That's when the 58-78 percent savings come in, QFC and Fred Meyers (Kroger) have a free thing every Friday. Sometimes it's garbage that we would never eat, and I pass unless I know someone that can use it. One time it was cat treats and we have a grandcat.
Every little bit helps. We, actually, with coupons and Ibotta and a generous neighbor that shared her vegetable gardens bounty can have a dinner for..........05. No typo here , that's a nickel.
Ibotta is a ap that you can have on your phone or tablet that allows you to get rebates on food items: some specific brand things and some basic necessity items like milk, bread, fresh veggies and cheese.
When you have enough money built up, you can cash it in for a gift card or pay pal will deposit it on your bank account. I, personally, don't want to give anyone my bank account number, I have been compromised too many times. I will opt for a Amazon gift card. I have done it for a year and I'm almost (.70 short ) at 25.00. Hey, that's 25.00 I didn't have yesterday, I don't read Ibotta and base my purchases on it and I don't buy expensive wine or beer . I check it after I shop and post things while we are putting the food away, I also, don't buy a lot of name brand prepared food.
Favado is another app. It tells you what's on sale at a lot of chain stores. It also tells you of there is an Ibotta , or a coupon and directs you to the coupon. Unfortunately, they are not always correct and you have to exercise some due diligence. It's a good start. I file my inserts by month in file folders in a cubby of the computer desk. When they tell me where a coupon I want is, I can pill or quickly. All of this sound like it takes a lot of time, in actuality, it's just a few minutes. But, you can save a lot on your grocery bill. The same food as the next guy, but you pay half as much. This allows you to eat eight dollars a day and only spend four.
Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from a different perspectives.
The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until they goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a weekly basis.
This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week.
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level.
You often are paying 1/2 price for your food. This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget. You spend more time on the
locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen )by
cooking more efficiently.
Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap. My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending
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