Grocery Shopping

So after a few months of buckleing down and shopping the grocery advertisements and using coupons, I am finally falling into a routine that works for me.

Here is what I do:

1. Clip and file coupons. A friend from church brings me her coupons every Wednesday. Occasionally, if it is convenient, I will stop by the store a pick up a copy (or two, if I know there are really good coupons that week).

2. Check moneysavingmom.com daily for tips on good online coupons to print and alerts of good deals at the grocery and drugstores that are in my area. I print out good coupons immediately so that I don't forget to go back and do it.

3. Check the grocery store advertisements. Check Albertsons website on Wednesday (when their new ad comes out). Check Publix and Winn Dixie on Thursday when the grocery lists are updated at couponmom.com.

4. Pair up coupons with sale items. I will pick out coupons that will work with each store's sale items, and put them in a envelope for that grocery store (this really helps when I am shopping with Jewel and Jane!).

5. Make my grocery list. Throughout the week, I jot down items we are out of. Then I list all of the sale items that I plan on picking up.

6. Plan my meals. I roughly sketch out a meal plan for the week with what I have on hand and what I plan on purchasing. It is best to do this BEFORE shopping so that you won't forget a key ingredient.

7. Go grocery shopping! I will usually pick one day to hit two or three stores. Lately, I have just been going every other week. Because the new weekly sale comes out midweek, I can usually figure out if it is worth my time to go shopping. I always know that I can still take advantage of the sales through the next week. I usally go shopping on Friday. This works for me because the advertisements come out Wednesday and Thursday for me stores. That gives me a little time to shop the ads and get my coupons in order. Every other week or so I go to Wal-mart to get the items that seem to NEVER go on sale and that are cheaper at Wal-mart.

**And, yes, that IS my grocery store receipt! You read it right, $85 dollars worth of groceries for 25 bucks! THAT makes all of the clipping and planning worth it!