My husband may not think so but I am a pretty thrifty shopper. I have a system and a pretty good memory so I usually get the cheapest prices on the things I buy.
You could say that my problem is that I buy organic. The problem part of that is that it can be much more expensive. The great part of it is that I feel so much better about giving my family pesticide free, hormone free, antibiotic free, preservative free, dye free, chemical free and earth friendly products. I have read too many articles and seen too many programs to feel comfortable giving them the mainstream cheap stuff.
So how do I do it? I shop at 6 different stores. Yes, it takes a little time and a little extra gas. I know, I know...the time I could save and the money I could save on the gas, blah, blah. You decide what is right for you. I start at the farthest away store and work my way back so I'm not zigzagging all over the place.
I shop on Wednesday because 3 of the stores have double ad day on Wednesdays. So I get the specials from both weeks and that way if there's a really good sale I can buy it twice. So the night before I check out the ads online and the ads that come in the mail and figure out if I need to go to all 6 stores. I also print coupons from many different websites so I save even more. I get coupon booklets from several of the stores, I clip them from the paper and I sign up for them from websites.
I start out early because one of the stores has day old bakery items on clearance and you have to get there early to get them. Plus it's not as crowded so we can get in and out. I try to do it all in one day because the more I go the more I spend. We are members at Costco so I do buy some things in bulk. Actually not as much as you would think. You have to really check your prices because sometimes it isn't that much of a deal. Plus just because it's organic doesn't mean it's good for you (for example, organic pop tarts are quite tasty but they still are sugar!).
I also know where every clearance area is in my stores. I make sure i go to them each time I shop. I look on the shelves for clearance tags also. if it's organic and I will use it, I buy it. Organic is more and so if it's on sale I will buy it and decent amount of it. One day I found Organic canned Peas for 50 cents so I bought all that was out-15 cans. it was a great deal. I would have been totally happy with that but I got to the cash register and they were 33 cents! At that price you know I would have bought more if the store had them. We ate them and now we haven't had them for a while. But that is okay, something else will become on sale and I'll scoop that up.
When something is a really good deal and I can store it, I do purchase a lot of it. You spend more in the moment but then later it saves you. I also have been freezing a lot of stuff to keep for a while--bread, store bought baked goods, chocolate chips, meats, etc. And we have been eating more fresh food and only what I know we will eat. I'll tell you what--we throw away so much less food. We eat a lot of leftovers and we may eat the same vegetable several times in one week but it's just food. As long as we're full and eat good for you stuff, we're okay.
Here are a few of my favorite places on the web for coupons:
Target - you can only use them there
Heb - you can use the coupons from their website at other stores
Mambo Sprouts-for natural and organic foods
Horizon, Organic Valley, Seventh Generation- you have to sign up for them
Happy Shopping!
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