Saving Money When You Don't Have Time to Clip Coupons
Saving the Money
Many "couponers" are known to search store flyers for sales, and then match coupons to those sales, to maximize their financial savings on groceries. For example, my local grocery store chain prints customer savings on the receipts; my receipt says I have saved over $2000 in the past two months! This savings comes from a combination of sale prices, coupons, and fuel discounts, but it may surprise you to know that only about $650 of that $2000 was from coupons, but over $1000 of it was just from paying attention to sales! Therefore, since clipping coupons is time-consuming, and if you do not have that time, but would like to maximize your savings with your groceries, here is some information for you!
Paying Attention to Sales
I began couponing several years ago, but it wasn't until one or two years ago that I realized I was saving the most money by simply paying attention to the weekly flyers (circulars) at my local grocery store. The more you do this, the more you learn what items frequently go on sale, what items only go on sale once-in-a-while, and how low the price of these items will go at times. To this day, I refuse to pay full-price for a pack of Kraft cheese slices (in my area, its full-price is usually around $5.00, but it will semi-frequently go on-sale for $3-$3.50 per pack).
Items that Frequent go on Sale in Western PA
Item
| Average Sale Price
| Average Full-price
|
|---|---|---|
Hamburger Helper
| $1.00
| $1.50
|
Suddenly Salad
| $1.00
| $2.50
|
Betty Crocker Boxed Potatoes
| $1.00
| $1.50
|
Kraft Cheese Slices
| $3.50
| $3.99-$4.99
|
Fruit Snacks
| $2.00
| $2.50
|
General Mills Cereal
| $2.50
| $2.99-5.49
|
Kellogg's Cereal
| $3.00
| $2.99-4.50
|
Fresh Express Bagged Salad
| $2.50-$3.00
| $3.49
|
Farmers Market Bagged Salad
| $2.00-$3.00
| $3.49
|
Ragu Pasta Sauce
| $2.50
| $3.50
|
Pasta (various brands, including store brand)
| $1.00
| $1.49-$2.49
|
Select Glutino Products
| $3.99
| $4.99-$6.99
|
Tyson Chicken Nuggets
| $5.00
| $6.99
|
Other Tyson Chicken
| $5.99-$6.99
| $7.99
|
Pierogi
| $2.00
| $3.00-$4.00
|
Eggland's Best Eggs (12 count)
| $2.00-$3.00
| $3.99-$4.59
|
Yoplait Yogurt (Singles)
| $.50-.60
| $.70
|
VO5 Shampoo/Conditioner
| $.75-$.79
| $1.00
|
Colgate Toothpaste and/or Toothbrush
| $1.00-$1.50
| $2.49-$4.49
|
Crest Toothpaste
| $1.00-$1.50
| $3.00
|
Deodorant (Various Brands)
| Varies by Size and/or Brand
| Varies by Size and/or Brand
|
Blue Diamond Almond Milk (half-gallon)
| $3.00
| $3.69
|
Silk Almond Milk
| $3.00
| $3.49
|
Oreida Frozen Potatoes
| $3.00
| $3.79
|
Rachel Ray Dog Food
| Varies by item and/or size
| Varies by item and/or size
|
Beyond Dog Food
| Varies by item and/or size
| Varies by item and/or size
|
Mighty Dog Dog Food
| Varied Large Quantity Sales
| $.65
|
Purina Wet Canned Dog Food
| $.85
| $1.00
|
Prices may vary by city and/or state, but here is a list of average full-prices and sale prices for items that frequently go on-sale in Western Pennsylvania (averages are only from my observations, not exact statistics). Some prices are also rounded
Get Started!
If you are now intrigued enough to get started saving money by viewing the weekly flyer (circular) for your local grocery store, hopefully, this information will be useful. You should also know that these circulars are commonly available online (on your local store's website), in Sunday newspapers, and/or at the store. Pick one up (or print one), and plan your trip before you go! If a frequent sale item is not on-sale that week, WAIT to get it! SAVE YOUR MONEY! You'll be proud of yourself!
Savings Poll
Are you ready to start paying more attention to sales, in order to save money?
If you DO have the time to coupon, but are just beginning, read this article!
- Joining the Fad of Couponing
Read about things I have learned since joining the "fad" of couponing in Late June; Some I have learned first-hand, and some I have learned from television programs and Internet videos!
