Checking credit card statements, we spend ~770 a month at grocery stores, about ~110 per person. Direct coupon savings work out to ~140 a week(20 per person), the rest is shopping the sales.
That’s well under the average for food at home among urban families with 6 or more members in 2004, as studied by the USDA in their most recent report on Food Spending in American Households. The average expenditure for households with a similar number of members was 937 per month in 2004 dollars(~1074 in today’s dollars). Adding in other demographics, white, higher income, etc. and most households which are really like mine spend a lot more, according to the report. I know among our friends that we’re one of the families that controls our food costs the most rigorously. When some friends recently fell on hard times we invited people over to shop our pantry, deep freeze, and supply closet. We also put together gift baskets with toiletries and cleaners for people. We wouldn’t have felt confident doing that if we weren’t sure we had gotten good deals on those things. We may not have had cash to hand out, but since we stretch our budget very well we were able to give hundreds of dollars in food and household items to friends who needed them without taking a dollar for dollar hit to our cash flow.
We save from $150 to $200 every month since we started doing coupons and watching for the sales. Helps that we have a double couponing store chain here. Average monthly grocery bill before our couponing was in the $400 range, now it varies between $200 to $250. Takes some work, and we really pay attention to the weekly sales. Many items come out either free or mere cents.
Without double coupons, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal, but we would still coupon. In fact, I don’t think we will ever go back to not using coupons.
One chain here also gives gas coupons for shopping their store. Can use up to three at a time at their own gas marts. I’ve gotten 50 cent back per gallon, but usually get about 20 cents back per gallon.
I’m just surprised you guys hit sales with coupons. Every coupon I’ve seen says “Not valid with any other offer.” I always took that to mean that you couldn’t use it with items on sale, since you were already getting an “offer.” This may change my families buying habits.
But not too much, as we don’t have any of the big grocery chains and rarely see coupons in our paper for the ones we do have. How many of y’all’s coupons are provided by the manufacturer?
Plus, the prices y’all spend sound quite high, anyways. $110 per person per month? That’s often two weeks for this family of four. And we tend to eat too much quite often.
Something I have found out is that you can actually google the coupon insert schedule for the 3 big coupon distributors: P&G, Red Plum, and Smart Source.
That way you don’t have to buy a paper the weeks that there are no major coupon inserts.
The big stores have started implementing sales as store coupons, that way only people who use their loyalty card can get the sales prices. If you run a loyalty card it will take off a bunch of “store coupons” to get you down to the sales price. Without a loyalty card you get full retail. In either case, you can combine a store coupon/sale and a manufacturer’s coupon no problem.
With regards to overall spend, I looked at it some more and I think I’m misreading the numbers. When I go into the USDA report tables I see the 937 for a household of 6+ is an annual per capita number, not a monthly per household number like I thought. Adjusted for inflation that works out to ~85 per month for each member of the household. Our average of 110 is ~25 more, or ~29% over average. We may need to re-assess some of our spending habits. A good idea at any time really. Oddly enough, a family of four was showing as having a per capita yearly spend of 1194 in 2004(1369 in 2010 dollars), which works out to ~114 per month.
One thing that was cool this week: one of my coupons ($1 off 10 Dannon yogurts - which I love) also had a notice on the page pointing out that Harris Teeter had Dannon on sale: 10/$4. So with the coupon, it ends up being 10/$3 - or $0.30 each. Which is pretty significant since I eat a yogurt every morning for breakfast.
The $1 coupon was good at any retail store, though - so if I could have found it cheaper anywhere else, I would have gone there.
I did the same thing, except that because I have a Harris Teeter VIC card I was able to take advantage of an eVic special of 10 Dannon yogurts for $3 plus having a $1 off coupon, so I ended up paying only twenty cents apiece.
Plus, the checker gave me a 5% senior discount on my entire purchase, and because I bought 4 containers of Crystal Lite (which were on a buy one, get one free sale) I got a coupon good for $3 off a future purchase at Harris Teeter.
so you are now going to become my coupon buddy? pretty, pretty please??
I am stopping by Harris Teeter tonight. I don’t get a senior discount yet - but since we both like Dannon yogurt, I demand you let me know if that happens again.
I have store cards for all the places I shop because of the special deals you can get. I’ve heard all the arguments about how they allow the stores to collect info on your shopping habits, but if it means that the store hands me extra coupons I don’t mind. I also used a Harris Teeter coupon I’d gotten on a previous trip to get $1 off a four-pack of Dannon Activia, which was on sale for $2.50. And because I had a eVic card I was also able to get a carton of 18 eggs which were on sale for $1.99 for $1.57. I always check the eVic specials for anything I might want to use; the special price is good for only one of the item, but every little bit helps.
And the senior discount was a bit of a surprise; Harris Teeter gives 5% off to shoppers over 60 on Thursdays, but I’m only 57. Maybe the checker just assumed I qualified (which means the gray in my beard is good for something after all) because she didn’t ask for proof of my age. I know I had to register at Kroger, which gives a discount to shoppers over 55 on Tuesdays, and now just showing my card there gets me the discount.
Store cards can really rack up the savings if you know what to look for. For example, today we stopped by Bevmo for beer and rum. Bacardi Silver 750ml went for $16.98. But the 1.5 l bottle of the same rum was on sale for $14.99 if you had a Bevmo card. Twice the booze for $2 less. We also managed to save over $30 on the grocery bill, because the Vons Card gave deep discounts on garbage bags and shampoo.
Note to anyone who is worried about people collecting your personal information when you sign up for a loyalty card - when you sign up for the card, you get an activated card on the spot. Just tell the cashier or customer service person you’ll “fill it out later”. Then toss the form, keep using the card. That’s what I and other privacy freak friends have done, both at the grocery store and at drug stores, like CVS. I love getting coupons for the latest soy chips at the register, but I’ll be damned if they have my name and address along with it.
On expired coupons - Bed Bath & Beyond’s registers automatically take them if they’re not too old, like 2-3 months. 9/10 times, the cashier doesn’t check the expiration before using them.
melodyharmonius, that coupon schedule insert link is awesome. Thanks!
If they will take a piece of paper instead of real money for something, that’s fine with me. We don’t buy stuff we don’t really want, even if it is free.
We also charge our food on a credit card that pays us up to 5% cash back.
Just thought I’d share the somewhat frustrating but ultimately very successful trip I just took to Walgreens.
Aforementioned contact lens solution coupon was $3; I got one from the paper I bought and from my future mother in law’s. Walgreens had an in-circular coupon for $5 off each dual-pack of solution, limit 3. I bought 4 dual-packs of solution on 2 separate register receipts, each with an in-circular and a sunday paper coupon. Original price $15 for each dual pack. So I saved $16 in solution alone. Then I got my mom some hair color, $7 each, originally 10. Bought 2, got a raincheck for 3. Saved $6 today, will save $9 in the future. 16 + 6 + 9 is $31 total. Not bad!
Originally I was charged $17 instead of $15 as the initial price for the solution. When you use coupons and in store sales, you really have to careful that you’re being rung up for the correct amount. Sales clerks are often furious at having to stop and check the price in the store; sometimes they refuse, in which case you have to find a store manager. It’s always a hassle for you and for them, but it is your money. In my case, it was $8, $2 difference per bottle. Be sure to check and see if the store has a policy for getting the first item that scans incorrectly for free; while Walgreens often has mismatched pricing, they don’t have a policy, but my local grocery store does.
Obviously you have to speak up to get it. Years ago I got an expensive batch of nuts for free; I remember the very angry store manager signing off on that one.
I don’t clip coupons much any more but I used to. I’d also comparison shop the circulars and it wasn’t unusual for me to go to 3 different stores to take advantage of the sales. The biggest advantage to all that was that then I had more of a grip on what things usually cost so I’d know whether or not an advertised price was actually a value. These days I mostly do unprocessed foods and generic brands so I don’t pay as much attention as I used to.
I find the odd coupon that would convince me to buy something I need from an alternative brand in magazines. But most I get are from Tesco’s clubcard and they are of the sort that let you save only if you buy a lot more of what I usually purchase. They do send out plain old money off vouchers which are of course always used.
i should also mention, I do mystery shops for local grocery stores etc - I just did a mystery shop this weekend. I had to go in, observe a product display, buy 2 of the bagels on it (they cost $0.89 each) and then submit a copy of the receipt along with answering about 15 questions about what I observed. In exchange, I got paid $10.
Mystery shopping can be tricky - you have to learn to pick and choose the assignments, and you have to make sure the company is reputable. Also, the payments aren’t instant - usually you get paid 30-60 days after the shop has been successfully submitted. But I’ve been doing this for a while, and since I usually only pick shops I wouldn’t mind doing anyway - it works out as a nice little bit of “found money” a couple of weeks down the road.
I clip coupons, and generally save $5-$15 a trip. I typically spend about $150 a trip. I rarely buy brands I’ve never used. I stock up on stuff that won’t expire, and shop the “about to expire” meat bin. I package bulk meat up in portions to freeze when I get home.
I love my loyalty card! Kroger mails me coupons on stuff I buy all the time. Like bacon, deli cheese, coffee - all house brands which is what I buy. Sometimes it’s kind of spooky, but these are great coupons! I wonder how they make money off of printing individual sets of coupons?
