the best yet.....

tonight i went to homeland armed with big bertha. since this next weekend is labor day, they have a pretty good sale ad this week. i made my list of items on sale i wanted to look at. i gathered the appropriate coupons. thanks to websites/bloggers like simplesavingsavvy.net and the couponprincess.net they do all the hard work for you. i also really like thefrugalfind.com and i always check her site, but she is not local so her sale ads could be different than the local blogger. however, they all find the sale ads, list the items on sale, list the coupons to use, and let you know how much you will end up paying for it. these two bloggers are local to the oklahoma city area, so they really know our sale ads.

i went to homeland with my coupons organized and my list made. i had my daughter with me. we were both a little giddy from getting to eat kimbobs tonight, so we were having a good time in the store. this week there was a special coupon in the distinctly oklahoma magazine. it was a coupon for $6 off any $30 purchase at homeland, country mart, or united supermarkets. i took this coupon with me too.

i did all my shopping. in case you didn't know, homeland will double any coupons up to $1. that means a coupon that says .50 off turns into $1 off. a coupon that says $1 off will take $2 off. however, they will only double the first coupon. any other coupons that are the same can only be redeemed at face value. here's the trick - you buy your items in two transactions. i always have two transactions. i purchase basically the same items, but in separate transactions so they double all my coupons.

in the beginning when i started all this couponing, the end of my receipt would state, "you saved 40% (or 50%) off." the more i couponed and got the hang of it, the more my average would go up. now i routinely save 80% off my grocery bill. don't forget to take into account though that homeland does mark up their groceries. however, if you use the sale ad with coupons you will get brand name stuff cheaper than generic or what you would find at walmart.

anyhow, here's a picture of everything that i purchased tonight at homeland.

2 - best life butter spread
1 - kikkoman teryaki sauce
3 - cans of libby peas
2 - 15 ct. chinet plates
2 - chinet beverage napkins
1 - 1/2 gallon of blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream
3 - wisk laundry detergent (32 loads)
2 - boxes of wheat thins
4 - gain liquid dish detergent
2 - packages of ball park hot dogs
2 - packages of kraft singles (16 slices) - a free tub to hold the cheese came free when you purchased two kraft singles.
1 - jimmy dean sausage roll
1 - boneless beef ribs
1 - green pepper
4 - packs of orbit gum
2 - packages of friskies cat food

on my first transaction, after all my coupons, homeland owed me .24. that's right - they owed me .24. of course they cannot pay me money, so we called it even. i saved 104% off my grocery bill. here's a picture of the receipt.

on the second transaction, which was the larger of the two, i only owed .15!!!! i saved 103% off my grocery bill. here's the picture of that receipt.

this is not typical for me. as i said before, i usually only save about 80% off. however, you can do this too. you can be saving more money than you are now by just utilizing the sale ads, money saving bloggers, and coupons, coupons, coupons! you do not have to buy generic. you do not have shop at walmart (unless you like to). you can find coupons for the things you use/purchase. you don't have to pay an arm and a leg. you do not have to buy things you don't want to (of course if you get them for free there are plenty of people you can donate it to who would be willing to take it - God will put someone in your path that you can bless). if you have any questions you can email me or you can leave a comment and i'll try to help. i am not an "expert" on this like some of the money saving bloggers, but this is something i enjoy doing. it's something i'm getting better at. it's a way i can help out in our household. even if you don't end up being the obsessive couponer that i am, i am sure that any amount of money you can save your family will help.