Frugal Fridays with Amber

Amber’s Top 10 List - Saving Money at the Grocery Store
I thought I would share with everyone what I am doing to save money at the grocery store. Some of these items have been mentioned in previous posts but I thought it might help everyone if you knew what a mom of four could do to save money at the store.
Here are my steps that I take to save money at the grocery store:
1. I clip coupons and use them. I rarely let a coupon expire. I shop at stores that double coupons.
2. I plan my meals a month in advance but do have a sense of flexibility. By knowing what I am planning for a month, it helps me if I see an upcoming ingredient for a meal on a “good” sale or have a coupon that is about to expire.
3. I use/eat what I buy.
4. I use leftovers for lunches, stews, soups, etc.
5. I use a sale tracking site like couponmom.com or grocerygame.com to help me keep track of sales and when to use coupons to get the item at the lowest price. This also helps me know what a good price is for a product/item.
6. Use a grocery list.
7. Keep a running list of items you are running low on and a list of what you already have.
8. Compare name brand vs. store brand.
9. Look for manager's specials in the meat department (and other departments).
10. Get a store loyalty card.

These are my top ten things I do to save money at the grocery store. I hope that you find these tips to be helpful in your journey to becoming frugal.

Two additional resources that I have found to be helpful:
Hot Coupon World is another great resource. This is a huge website with message boards for every store you can imagine where people post deals they’re finding. What I use most is their Coupon Database. Say you want to buy some toilet paper. You go to the coupon database, type-in “toilet paper”, and they give you a list of every coupon that’s out there for toilet paper and where to find it. Some of them are from the paper, some of them are random, and some of them are online printables. Get the coupon, take it to the store with you and save some money on something you were planning to get anyway.
Money Saving Mom is also a great resource. This is just a blog that posts great deals online and at stores, everything from random freebies to coupons. She regularly will list deals at my local stores like Kroger and Walgreens, give you links to printable coupons (most of her deals use online coupons), and show you exactly what you can get. She has several very helpful links on how to get started couponing and shopping. A GREAT place to start.