Making the exchange
Yesterday, I saved $19 on my grocery bill at Kroger. And it was all because of coupons.
Lots of people don’t use coupons because they think it is a nuisance to clip them, or because it just isn’t worth all of the extra time and planning in the end. But I have grown to be a big coupon user over the years, particularly with the recent plunge in the economy.
A few of my co-workers and I recently started up a little coupon exchange. On Sundays, we go through the coupons from the newspaper and clip out what we want. On Mondays, we bring the leftover coupons to work and tell each other which ones we were interested in. Then, we trade off. And it works out well because while some of them have children, I don’t. And while I have cats, some co-workers don’t. And, of course, everyone has their own preference for name brand food products.
Photo editor Natalee Waters delivered a small stack to me last week with the words, “that’s nine dollars worth of savings!” Indeed, much of my savings at the store yesterday came from the exchange. Three dollars off some contact lens solution, three dollars off some disposable razors, a free tube of Crest, 45 cents off cheese, 25 cents off juice… it all adds up in the end!
If you are looking to save money on the grocery bill, consider a coupon exchange with coworkers, neighbors, church members or other members of your moms’ club. If you find a better way to do it than we have, please pass that on. And if you have other great coupon tips, please share!
May 18, 2009 - 10:47 AM
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Try couponmom.com or thegrocerygame.com. They match sale papers with coupons and help you stockpile to get the best prices.
My Mother-in-law is the ultimate coupon shopper, and she recently saved $57. on what would have been a $110 grocery bill – more than half!! She combined in-store specials (loyalty card discounts), the coupons mailed to her by Kroger, BOGO stuff, and newspaper coupons w/her Sr. Citizen discount and really racked up some savings. She also frequently checks out major manufacturers’ on-line offers, like Kellogg’s, Kraft, etc., for internet coupons. She is “Da Maztah” when it comes to smart shopping; and she does it w/clothes, too! Finds stuff off-season for my son at $.99 to $4.99. She got him 2 pairs of Levi’s jeans for $11.00 ($5.99 ea. plus 10% Sr. disc.) a few weeks ago… Can’t beat that even with a big stick!!
Glad I saw this blog entry. I nearly threw that stack of coupons away!
I go through the coupons every Sunday and take the ones I won’t use to work. I put them in our breakroom for whoever wants them. I love the personalized ones I get from Kroger too, and I really enjoy seeing how much I saved on my sales receipt.
I am a fellow couponer too! I love the grocergame! I just started about two months ago learning how to save with coupons….We have a nice little stockpile and I am able to also give to our food pantry to help out others!Biggest savings I have had so far was I saved $68.00 and spent $59.00! I saved more than I spent and came back with loads of groceries. I appreciate it because we are a family of 5!