The Great Coupon Experiment

I spend way too much money on groceries.  To say that my grocery budget is too high would suggest that I actually budget, which I haven't done in over a year.  It's ridiculous.  And we're broke.  We are broke enough that we have actually considered going on food stamps.  I am still considering it, but bureaucracy frightens me and I don't want to take a government handout if I don't absolutely have to.  But we're getting close.

I have been inspired to discipline myself when it comes to grocery shopping.  I want to learn the art of the coupon.

Up until now, I have been a casual couponer.  I will clip them and keep them, refer to them when I make out my lists.  I never go through sales ads before shopping- I always go to the same store anyway.  I figure I don't have the time or the desire to bother with it.  When I get to the store, the store-brand equivalents are cheaper than the name-brand and the coupon requires you buy two or three of an item when I only need one.  So most of the time I wind up abandoning the coupon anyway.  But even with sticking to store-brands for the majority of my food, I still wind up paying on average about $150 every other week, sometimes more.

I feel I should also disclose that I really hate grocery shopping.  I don't know why, but I just really don't like it at all.

Then I saw that show on TLC, Extreme Couponing.  Watching that show made me feel like a fool for spending as much as I do at the store, let alone paying full price for anything!  I know I will probably never get as extreme as the people on that show- I don't have the time or patience to devote to it, and I don't have the space to stockpile.  But I want to save money.  As much of it as possible.  And these people made it seem like a game, like a fun game at that.

So, I am a newbie couponer.

Here is my strategy to start out (as I figure this thing out, and get better at it, I will adjust my strategy as needed):
1.  Buy at least one newspaper every Sunday.
2.  Study (really study) the ads of at least 2 stores to see who has the better sales for that week (because I hate grocery shopping I will only go to one store to take care of everything.  I'll go to the one with better prices on the most items I need) and match up my coupons with the sales going on. 
3.  Only essential items can be purchased without coupons (milk, fresh produce, etc).  All other items must have a coupon.
4.  Build my menus around what is on sale/has a coupon.

Today was a trial run, just to see what would happen.  I stuck to my rules.  But for this trial run, I didn't buy some essentials because I wanted to focus on the coupons (so I am going to have to break part of rule 2 and go to the store again tomorrow to get my produce and meats and things).  My goals were to be in and out of the store in about an hour and spend around $50.  This is what I got:

 

5 frozen pizzas, 2 frozen pastries, 2 frozen vegetables, 1 frozen entree, 2 boxes of pasta, 4 cans of soup, 1 4-pack of yogurt, 6 Lunchables, 2 packs of razors, 3 deodorants, 2 loaves of bread, 2 boxes of cereal, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 1 box of brownie mix, 2 microwavable desserts, 1 6-pack of pudding, 2 boxes of Splenda.  Items without coupons:  pack of Kroger diapers (on sale for $4.99 though!), bag of Kroger pretzels and a jug of Kroger brand apple juice (which is what Iris wanted to bring in to school for snack to share with her class) and 1 2-pack of the toddler Lunchables (because Asher can't be trusted to eat the full size ones without choking and if he sees Iris eat a Lunchable he gets really jealous.  and they were only $1.89).  Not pictured:  a gallon of 2% milk which exploded in my car and had to be returned, full price $2.49

retail:  $126.02

I paid:  $75.67

total savings:  $50.35, or 40%

(I love how Kroger puts all that information right there at the bottom of the receipt!!)

My observations:  

I felt a complete loss of control once my items were on the checkout conveyor belt.  With coupons in hand, putting things in the cart, no problem.  The people on the couponing show say they watch like hawks at checkout and make sure everything is ringing properly and that all the coupons were accurately discounted; me, I had no idea what was going on and had to put my trust completely on my checkout guy (who was kind, patient, and informative)!  I was a bit bummed to have gone over my goal, but happy that it wasn't by much.  I was getting pretty scared as I watched my cart fill up, thinking for sure this was going to blow the budget I had loosely estimated (and based on absolutely nothing)!  It felt weird to be going for all the name-brand stuff and not immediately looking for the store brand for everything.  It was hard to focus and stick to only getting the coupon items.  I usually just buzz through the store and get basically the same things every week.  Using the coupons will help me not only save money, but to try new things, too.  Also, I managed to pull away from the parking lot exactly one hour after I pulled in- a goal met!!

Ok.  I am a believer.  This can work.  I just need to keep up the motivation and find the time to really spend to working on it!  Stay tuned...