Reader Question: How to Determine a Grocery Budget?

This is a question that I get asked quite frequently and I have a few tips that might help you to figure out what a good weekly budget is for your family.  I thought I would also share how our weekly budget works.

The short answer to this question is it depends.  I don’t like blanket budgets because every family is going to be different.  For example I do not have double coupons in my area so my prices are higher than others might pay.  I also have 2 in diapers- so that is an added expense for us each week.  Personally my philosophy is that you just want to live within or below your means. I could certainly spend less but I try to have a varied menu each week.  Also I don’t have any of the great grocery stores like Kroger, Publix and Food Lion that seem to have exceptional sales from week to week.

When we moved to California and I started learning to coupon we had an extremely tight budget.  I made $30 per week work for us including every single thing from diapers to groceries to cleaning supplies.  Let me tell you that was a struggle!  But we both moved here without jobs so we needed to save every penny to avoid dipping into our savings.  Once we were both employed, I increased the budget to $50.  That includes pretty much everything from dog food to toiletries.  The two items I do not include are diapers and formula.  This seems to be a very workable budget for us but I would encourage you to find the range that seems to work for your family.

Here are a few tips to get started:

1. Evaluate how much you currently spend each week. Aim to reduce that by 10% every week without sacrificing too much quality in your menus.  If you are new to couponing this is the easiest way to immediately see a difference in your weekly budget.

2. Pay attention to waste. Before I started my frugal adventure we would go through the fridge every week and toss a ton of food.  Produce that was past its prime, items that expired etc…  Now I aim to stop the waste entirely.  So I always think every week about what we will really eat.  It doesn’t mean I am stingy but I don’t buy 4 pounds of bananas if we can only eat 2 pounds.  I also try to freeze as much as I can.  So this week we had a bag of potatoes that needed to be used.  I went ahead and mashed them up and made a casserole that went into the freezer for a future meal.  If you are regularly throwing away items than you are essentially throwing out your money.  You might try scaling back a little on what you buy or try to come up with creative ideas to use those items up before they expire!

3.  Start menu planning! This alone should help to save quite a bit each week as you are planning ahead for what you might need rather than just buying whatever looks appealing when wandering the grocery aisles.

4. Get creative with recipes! I almost never follow a recipe exactly.  More often than not they require a long list of ingredients. I try to omit or substitute as many items as I can.  For example, if a recipe calls for Provolone cheese and you have Mozzarella on hand- can you substitute that ingredient?  On my menu this week I wanted to try a homemade pizza recipe with Butternut Squash and Pine Nuts.  Those two ingredients would have killed my budget so instead I found great deals on fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes.  Our family had a nice roasted tomato and mozzarella pizza instead.  Just as good for a fraction of the price.

5. Be honest with yourself. I would really encourage you to be honest about how much time you have and are willing to spend from week to week.  If you can spare one hour per week to prepare and organize coupons I would think you can really get your budget down.  You will likely need to spend a little extra time at the store as well if you are using coupons, but in the end you will save yourself from making extra runs to the store to grab those last minute ingredients anyway.  If you simply can’t spare that time, or you don’t want to invest the time, you can still reduce what you spend by buying low and stocking up.  See my vlog about this HERE.  You will likely wind up spending more than what a couponer might spend- but every little bit counts so even just a small difference in your budget can really add up over time.

And now for you!  What tips do you have for finding a workable budget?

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List of Free Item Coupons Available

When I first started couponing I learned that you can actually call or email a variety of companies and request coupons from them!  More often than not, they will send you coupons.

I used to call a handful of companies a day and sometimes I would get $10 or so in free product coupons and sometimes just .25 off one item.  One of my favorites to call is Huggies- you can call them about every 6 months and they will usually send you $3 off coupons.  I once got a $5 off coupon from them.  I would just look for items we really liked that I already had on hand and I would call the phone number on the back.  You can also just look up companies online and send them emails.

Reader Melinda had some luck recently doing this- and Mama Cheaps found a huge list of companies that will send out coupons if you request them!

See the list by clicking below- many of these are Organic and pretty expensive items.  If you decide to try emailing let us know how it goes!

Read more

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5 Lessons I Learned Using Coupons

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I know a lot of you are just getting started using coupons and I thought I would share a few things I have learned.  For those of you that have more experience please feel free to share your tips as well!

1.  Start slow. Just like with anything new there is a tendency to want to hit every store for every deal every week.  I would strongly recommend starting slow.  You might start off with one drugstore at first and do one or two very simple transactions.  Once you get comfortable with that store you can start doing more complicated transactions or branch off to other stores.  You will also want to get a feel for each of your local stores and their policies on coupons.  I have a wonderful Target and a wonderful CVS in my area, so I try to do as much of my shopping there as I can.  Likewise, I happen to have a Walgreens that is very anti-coupons so I almost never shop there as a result.

2. Read the fine print. Many drugstore deals in particular have limits on the quantity you can buy.  Typically the limit is 1- especially on deals that involve ECBs, rebates or Register Rewards.  You will want to be sure to check your local ad for any limits before you plan your trips.   Be sure you carefully read the beginners drugstore series for Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS HERE before your first shopping trip.  I have been doing the drugstore game for a few years and I still make mistakes all the time.

3. All deals will come around again.  I promise the chances of seeing an incredible deal come back around are extremely high.  If you miss out on free Colgate this week- I just bet it will come back around next month!  I usually only go to the drugstores once every few weeks to roll my ECBs or Register Rewards.  Your time is an important factor to consider when couponing.  When I first started I made myself crazy running all over to get every deal every week.

4. Moderation is a good thing. This is just my personal opinion and your situation might be very different from mine.  If you live in a rural area and it is 45 minutes to the nearest store or you have a very large family than I would encourage you to find the balance that works for your situation.  It is easy to get a little carried away with coupons.  I see people that have 20 newspaper subscriptions or that purchase hundreds and hundreds of coupons for specific deals.  I would encourage you to really consider what you need.  For drugstore items, I usually keep 3-6 items on hand because most products we simply don’t go through that quickly.  I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this and that is ok!  Just keep in mind that you will have to manage everything you buy.  So if you buy 46 boxes of free cereal and you only go through 1 box a month, that is a ton of product that you have to store and manage.

5. Have fun!  Hopefully using coupons will become fun and fairly seamless.  Once you start to get the hang of it I hope that it gets easier and easier to do.  I have discussed my price book in the past and I have a certain price I try to pay for certain items.  I usually try to look at the big picture.  If an item hits my buy price one week and I simply don’t have time to get to the store, I will happily pay a little more the following week or I just make it work without that item until it goes on sale again.

I also have the same philosophy for stores.  If I know a store is going to give me a hard time I just don’t shop there.  My regular grocery store is a great example, I drive out of my way to a friendly Safeway store rather than go to the one right by my house.  I would rather spend a few extra minutes in the car than get treated badly and wind up angry, embarrassed and upset at a store that is not going to treat me well.  I would encourage you to do the same!  When I first started there were countless times I was near tears when leaving a store because I was treated so badly.  Now that I am a little more experienced I have no idea why I put myself through all that.

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Great Article to Read on Couponing!

There is a great article HERE on couponers if you have a moment to read it today!

This is exactly the way I look at couponing- I figure out how much I get paid per hour.  We used to spend $600/month on groceries (for just 2 people) and now we spend $200/month for groceries (for 4 people and a dog).  It takes me about 2-3 hours a week between cutting, planning and the actual shopping trip (this would be way less time if I had better grocery stores to choose from!  I usually go to a few stores every week to make my budget work.)

So I figure 10 hours or so per month to save $400 which is about $40 an hour.

According to the Wall Street Journal I actually got a a raise to $86 per hour.  Yeah me!

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The MFA Price Book: Grocery Stores

This is part 3 of the price book series. As I mentioned before, I don’t usually like to discuss the prices I will pay for certain items because it really depends on where you live and where you shop. I live in a very high cost of living area and I do not have double coupons in any of my stores. So my prices are likely much higher than yours are! This is just to give you a very rough idea of what I consider a good price for certain staple items. I do not have a formal system of tracking prices- I just sort of remember them in my head. When a sale rolls around or coupons get me to the prices listed, I usually buy enough to last until the next sale. Typically I use 6 weeks as a rule of thumb for the next sale cycle, but again you will want to simply watch the ads in your area and see what works for you.

All prices reflect name brand products. I have found I get name brand items for much less than the generic version by using coupons and shopping the sales.

CHEESE: (Basic Cheddar or Mozzarella) $5.49 for 2 lbs (.17/oz)

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD: .99/loaf

EGGS: .99/dozen (usually I can get 18 for that price)

PASTA: .49 (I try to pay .25 or less)

BUTTER: $.99-1.50 (this is for quality butter like Challenge)

BANANAS: .39/lb

COFFEE: I usually pay $5.50-5.99 for a 29 oz tub. I like a specific brand or I could probably get a better deal.  I do splurge on Tassimo disks but that is not in our grocery budget.

5 LB FLOUR: $1.99 is the highest I will pay.  I try to get closer to $.99-1.49.

PASTA SAUCE: .49-.99 (again with double coupons you can likely get a much better deal!)

5 LB SUGAR: $1.49 or less

CRACKERS: .49 or less

CEREAL: I just reduced my buy price to .25 a box.  I will occasionally pay a little more for Organic products or something new I want to try.  Also I find Cheerios I have to pay a little more for.  I will spend  up to .70 per box.

OATMEAL: .49-.99 for instant oats

PEANUT BUTTER: .49-.99

JELLY: .99 (I will pay a little more to get a high quality product)

FROZEN PIZZA: $2.50 or less for a large pizza

CANNED VEGGIES: .25 is what I aim for but I will pay .50

CANNED SOUP: We don’t eat a lot of canned soup- I try to stock up on cooking soups for .50 or less a can

So those are just a few basics.  You can see my drugstore prices HERE and meat stock up prices HERE.  Just leave a comment below if there are other specific products that you are interested in!

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Earn Money Online.

This is the 4th installment of Earn Money Online- with yet another survey company highlighted.

This time I wanted to tell you about Mindfield Internet Panel.  This is a company that will send out online surveys and will compensate you for your time in completely the survey.  The nice thing about Mindfield is that you can cash out your earnings as low as $5- so you don’t have to wait for ages for a check.  Plus they mail it out within a week of when you request it.

I just signed up for Mindfield and I received a survey within 2 days.  I did not qualify for the survey but it only took a second for me to find that out.  I didn’t have to fill out a long questionnaire to find out I didn’t qualify.

Also, even if you don’t qualify you are entered into a monthly sweepstakes just for filling out the qualification survey.

So all in all this seems like an easy company and I really like how quickly they pay out.  This is a great way to take a few minutes from your day and try to earn a little extra money.

Don’t forget you will want to set up a separate email account for these survey offers so you can keep everything straight.  Mindfield is totally and completely free to join.

Head up HERE to see the other companies I already talked about.

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Earn Money Online

Inbox Dollars is another company that you can earn a little extra income from.   You get paid for opening emails and you just need to open and check a box and you get paid .02-.10 each.  So the money isn’t massive but you get $5 just for signing up and if you are watching TV or talking on the phone why not make a little extra money at the same time by clicking on emails?!

You can also take surveys that pay from $.35-$4.00 so those can add up as well then you can cash out at $30.  You can earn points from other means as well- like playing games- so maybe this is one that you can get your husband to participate in!

I have heard that it takes awhile to earn money from Inbox Dollars but on the other hand it is extremely simple to do.  I would for sure send this to a separate email account as you can expect to see a few emails from them everyday.  They also send out the occasional product review request where you get to test a product and take a survey about what you thought of it.

Click HERE to get started.

Thanks Ashley!

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The MFA Price Book: Drugstore Items!

I get asked for this all the time and I am always reluctant to post.  Here is my disclaimer: your prices will really vary according to your situation.  For example, I prefer better quality hair care products so I will pay a little more.  If you have a large family, you might also need to pay a little more just to have an adequate quantity on hand.  Also I have access to CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens so I can choose from the best deals at each store every week. The prices indicated are for moderately priced drug store brands. I have found I can get better quality products for far less than I would pay for generic- so each of these prices is for a name brand item.

Toothpaste: Free-.25
Toothpaste is free after coupons at most drugstores with coupons almost every week. I prefer to pay 0 total for it and usually have 3 or 4 on hand, I have found that is plenty to get me through to the next sale.  I am a fan of Rembrandt and if I can get that for $1 or less I will buy it.

Floss: Free
These are also often free with coupons. I find floss a little harder to come by so I buy several when they are free.

Mouthwash: .99
I have found mouthwash free at the drugstores but I will pay up to .99 for a good brand.

Shampoo/Conditioner: Free- $3.00
You can also find deals for hair care products such as Herbal Essences, Garnier, Pantene and other drug store brands for free after coupons pretty regularly. I will pay up to $3 for a higher quality product like Nexxus but you should be able to get brands like John Freida for .99 or less.

Shaving Cream: .50 or less
These deals are also a little harder to come by, so I typically buy several when I can get cans for less than .50.

Razors: Free
I prefer to pay nothing for razors. Fusion razors in particular are free quite frequently at the drugstores- especially when the $4 coupons are out. I am particular about razors and prefer the better quality ones so I will spend $1 or so on higher quality disposables from time to time (like Bic Comfort 3).

Body Wash: Free- $1
I have a large supply of name brand body wash for free. I also like to try new products so I will spend up to .99 for products like Nivea.

Laundry Soap: $1.50/ 32 loads
This one I also find a little trickier to score but if you have double coupons at your grocery store it might be a little easier. I try to pay $1 for 32 loads of lower end laundry soap or $1.50 for better soaps such as All, Arm & Hammer, Gain etc.. That works out to basically .05 per load.

Toilet Paper: .25 per roll
This is a tough one to get. I try to pay only .25 per roll for a quality double roll of TP. I usually wind up trying to get the price of TP down by using store coupons (such as a $5/25 CVS coupon) since it is really difficult to get good deals.

Toothbrushes: Free- .99
Again I try to just get these free but I am pretty religious about changing our toothbrushes every 90 days so this one can be tricky too. I will pay up to .99 for a good quality toothbrush or a fun toothbrush that will make my toddler happier to brush her teeth.

Body Lotion: Free- $1
I also use a lot of body lotion and I will pay up to $1 for a better quality product (like Jergen’s or Vaseline).

Face Wash: Free- $1
This is also a harder deal to come across but fortunately these tend to last quite awhile. I have a large supply of products like Clean and Clear, St Ives etc.. that were all less than $1.

Moisturizer/ Sun Screen: Varies
I try to pay less than $2 for a good product and I tend to stock up when the price is great. For example, I bought 4 Aveeno sunscreen earlier this year for just a few dollars after rebate at Rite Aid. That will last for most of the year. I love to try good quality products so I will pay a few dollars for something really good.

Deodorant: Free
Again deodorant is often free at the drugstores so I pretty much pay nothing for it. It is another product that you don’t go through that quickly so I usually have 3-4 on hand for me and a few for my husband and that gets me through until a good sale.

Baby Products: Free-$1
These include detanglers, baby wash/shampoo, lotion etc.. I typically use Aveeno, Johnson and Johnson and Huggies and I frequently find deals with coupons making these products less than $1. For some reason these are the products that I have a ridiculous amount of because we go through this stuff like crazy.

Diapers: $4 Jumbo packs
If I can get a pack for less than $4 I will typically buy them. I usually only use Luvs, Pampers or Huggies and I don’t like to spend a lot to get that price. For example if Walgreens has Huggies for $10 and there is a $4 Register Reward and $2 coupon, I probably won’t go after the deal unless there are a lot of other items I want to buy that week. I don’t like spending a lot out of pocket and then dealing with a lot of register rewards etc.. I personally pay a little more for the convenience and I use diapers.com for the most part. I have 2 in diapers and I don’t like chasing deals every single week to keep enough on hand.

Baby wipes: .99/tub
For those that got in on the amazing Target deal you probably paid far less than this. But before that deal I used to always buy when the price was less than .02 per wipe. (So 72 ct wipes would be $1.44)

Dish Soap: Free-.49
For some reason I have quite a few dish soaps that I got for free so right now I only buy when it is free. I can usually get Dawn Hand Renewal free at CVS every few weeks. Otherwise for a small dish soap, I think .49 or so is a good price.

Cosmetics: Varies
I have a ton of makeup from brands like L’Oreal, Revlon and Cover Girl that was all free with coupons or rebates. The drugstores have clearance sales all the time that can make for virtually free products if you have coupons. I also LOVE high quality products so I will spend a few dollars to get the higher end brands like Prescriptives.

I don’t have a formal price book I just have these prices in my head.  I have already posted meat stock up prices HERE and will work on a Grocery Store price book for next week.  Please leave a comment if there are specific products you are curious about and I will try to cover all of them!

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Reader Question: Differences in Newspaper Insert Coupons?

Reader Melinda just sent in a question and I seem to be getting similar questions several times a week so I wanted to address it for everyone.

Newspaper insert coupons vary according to region.  Sometimes that means in Chicago they get a $1 coupon for x product and in Los Angeles the coupon for the same product is only .25.  It can also mean that Chicago gets the $1 coupon and Phoenix doesn’t get the coupon at all.  There is no way to predict what coupons you will get (or even what coupons I will get).  I see advance copies of inserts that I share with you weekly HERE.  Those are from specific areas of the country and the chances that your coupon inserts will be identical are very slim.  There are usually some variations and the coupon previews are just to give you an idea of what is to come.

For the most part a larger newspaper is going to have the most coupons.  I can’t tell you what coupons will come in your local paper.  The best thing to do is simply check it out yourself.  I would recommend buying whatever newspapers are available to you and just compare which one seems to have the most inserts or the best coupons.  If you live in a small town you might compare your local paper to a neighboring city and just see which one is better.  A city 10 minutes away from you can have totally different coupons than the paper you normally buy- so you really just need to look carefully for a week or two and then decide which paper you want to buy or subscribe to.

Also, if you intend to buy multiple copies of a newspaper to get a specific coupon you always want to check the paper first to be sure your area actually got it.  Just thumb through the paper at the newsstand and see if the coupon is included before you purchase a stack of newspapers.

If I reference a coupon or you see a store circular that indicates a coupon is coming and you can not find it in your inserts that means your area did not get the coupon.  Other areas of the country did get it.

Also some areas of the country do not get the RedPlum inserts.  RedPlum has elected to mail people the coupons rather than have them included in the newspaper.  The Philadelphia area is an example as RedPlum has decided to stop including the inserts in the paper and they will mail them to you instead.  The advantage is that you get a free copy of the insert and the disadvantage is that you only get one copy.

You can go right over HERE to RedPlum and enter your zip code.  It will tell you if the inserts are available in your area and which newspaper they will come in.

In general, there is no resource for printing the coupons online that are included in the weekly newspaper with the exception of the occasional overlap.

I hope that clears up some of your questions!

I am slowly updating all of my beginners resources so I’d love to know what other aspects of using coupons are confusing to you.  Just leave a comment and I will try to clarify things!

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vlog: Coupon Organization

I thought I would take things from the beginning and I wanted to show new couponers my system for organizing coupons.  You can watch the vlog to see exactly how I do it.  I also have included ideas for other ways you can organize them below.

Coupon Wallet HERE or HERE.  This is pretty compact and I use mine to hold the stray coupons that I collect throughout the week.  This would likely be too small to carry all your coupons.  This would also be a handy way to sort all your coupons before you head to the store.

The most popular method and the way to keep the most coupons with you would be the binder system.  There is a binder HERE that comes with an expanding file for $19.  You can also make your own with the zipper binder HERE and the trading card inserts HERE.

This is my system- I just use a makeup pouch with colored envelopes inside.  This system works really well for me and I would recommend looking for a pouch with sturdy sides.

You can also try a larger expanding file like this- I would think this would fit nicely at the front of a shopping cart.

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