I like to have a Summer project, a habit of mine that my mom gave me when I was just a little kiddo. This Summer I decided to take on couponing to try and save on our grocery budget. I bought lots and lots of papers, clipped till I had blisters on my fingers, and organized my binder till my eyes went batty. I also worked daily on a large spreadsheet full of my shopping lists, and savings. I decided I would track everything for three months, and see just how much I saved.
I think I picked the wrong months to try and save… Grocery prices are on the rise almost weekly here, and my numbers just were not where I wanted them to be. I don’t want to get grumpy about my project though, so I am devising a brand new plan. Over the next three months I am shying away from the coupons, and focusing on frugal meals, more from scratch cooking, and more generic brand shopping.
I love numbers, so you know I will be crunching them. I want to find out which really saves my family the most on the grocery budget, coupons or frugal shopping.
Which do you think will win? Will coupons reign supreme, or will frugality and lots of home cooking win out in the end?
I didn’t go as in depth with my coupons as you did, nor was I diligently tracking but I found that just price matching and shopping sales saved me just as much as clipping coupons. We don’t use enough of the items that you get coupons for…now if they gave coupons for flour, butter or milk then maybe it would be different. I also learned that stockpiling doesn’t work for us.
As the grocery prices have steadily increased here too I have been searching and searching – frugal meals have been part of my solution and I am making more and more from scratch.
I think frugal homemade meals will win. Looking forward to hearing the results of your experiment!
I use coupons mostly for pet food, shampoo, makeup, toothpaste, Office supplies, etc.
I save a lot of money by shopping at Dollar Tree or 99 cent only for some food like cereals, soups, pasta, sauces, and snacks. Especially snacks and cereals! I save at least 2/3 of the grocery store cost that way.
I like to cook ahead for the week to save money. For example, I’ll cook 2 baked chickens, a pan of meatloaf, and some pasta dishes like spaghetti or lasagna and have them in the fridge ready to heat serve for the week, I just add salad or some vegetables, sometimes rice or bread,and a dessert and it makes for some easy and frugal meals. With 2 baked chickens I can make lunches and dinners both. I don’t buy lunch meat.
Good luck!