Quote:
Originally Posted by NHfrugal
Buying $200.00 and paying $20.00 after Qs is RARE. Trips like that can take months to plan.
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I have to say, I disagree! I often come home from trips where I've saved 90-97%, and I certainly don't spend a lot of time planning those trips. I just take my coupon binder to the store (a store that doubles/triples fairly often) and walk the aisles, matching up to get freebies (the longer you do this, the easier it will be because you'll know your stores' prices and you won't have to see what you can get for free--you'll have it memorized).
To be fair, those savings percentages usually include things we got for free or for pennies but would not have normally bought otherwise...like those Febreze Noticeables this week at CVS. They are free after coupons and ECBs, so I got 8 of them in order to roll my ECBs. I HATE those things (and all air fresheners), but they're nice to donate because other people like them. So when I calculate my savings, I'm including roughly $50 in merchandise that I got for free but that I would not have paid for otherwise. That does skew the numbers higher sometimes.
And it's not every trip that's 90% savings, of course. But even on my weekly trips for milk/produce/meat (things we don't typically have many Qs for), I easily save 40% and often more like 60% just by shopping the sales and taking advantage of store promotions (like getting 10% off the next week if you spend a certain amount the previous week). For example, we buy the fresh fruit that's on a good sale each week. Like if grapes are $0.99/lb, we buy them. The next week, when grapes are back up to $2.49/lb, we skip them and buy whatever else is on sale.
The key to huge percentages is having many, many coupons and a store that doubles (preferably up to $1 or at least $0.99). Buying two papers a week won't do it. When there's a coupon that will make a staple free (like pasta), you have to have a lot of them. A couple months back, there were Barilla pasta Qs. I got something like 30 boxes of spaghetti and 20 boxes of the Piccolini for free! I donated a lot and then put the rest in my stockpile. I haven't bought pasta again since then, and I won't need to for another couple months at least. I did the same with Capri Suns...One of my stores had the 5-pack of Kraft Mac & Cheese on sale for only $3, which is super-cheap for around here. Then each box had a peelie Q for a free box of Capri Suns, so I went ahead and bought 6 5-packs at a fantastic price and got 6 free boxes of Capri Suns. We're going to buy both items anyway, so we might as well buy up when the price is right. Then you're not stuck paying more the next week when you run out.
Don't expect huge percentages right away; it takes time and depends on whether your stores double/triple. The more you do this, the more intuitive it will get. Stick with it! Any amount saved is good, and it will only get better.