How do you get such good deals?

So we have established that we as couponers try and stock up on items we use when we find them at the lowest price possible, right? And our goal is to not pay retail for anything and ultimately shop from out pantry as much as possible. But, how?

Each week (usually) retail stores release their store ads.  We take the items that are on sale and match them up with coupons to make them cheap or even free. In my experience, I cannot simply make every meal from my pantry because you can’t stock up on perishables, duh! So, each week I stock up on whatever killer deals are going on (i.e. spaghetti sauce, laundry detergent, etc. ) for my stockpile and I try to make the rest of my meals from what is on sale that week. The other day Safeway had zucchini on sale for $.39/lb and they are usually $2.99/lb so I grilled up some zucchini to go with our steak, and made baked zucchini fries with our turkey burgers. Make sense? Or sometimes when I plan our meals out, I scope out my pantry (well, in my case, the shelves in my garage) and see what I can come whip up and my shopping list only reflects what I’m lacking. Usually I only have to pick up fresh veggies, fruits, milk, and occasionally bread! Wahooo to that!

Still haven’t answered how we do it, right???

Well, for every item (look for sale items usually) you can use a manufacture coupon AND a store coupon (if available at the time) AND a double coupon (if your store has those, usually Albertsons and Safeway offer these)…

For example:  Say Wheat Thins are on sale at Safeway for $2.50. You found a manufacture coupon in your Sunday paper last weekend for $1.00 off a box of Wheat Thins. So your deal will look like this:

Wheat Thins $2.50/ box

Use $1.00 off manufacture coupon

Final Price: $1.50/ box

Sweet? Right? No, still not a good enough price for me, but hey, it’s better than paying full price right?

The deal gets even better when you find a store coupon in the ad at the front of the store. Then your deal would look like this:

Wheat Thins $2.50/ box

Use $1.00 off manufacture coupon

Use $.50 off Safeway coupon

Final Price: $1.00/ box

Much better. BUT, if my local store DOUBLES manufacture coupons (as long as they don’t read DO NOT DOUBLE) up to $.50. Recall that my manufacture coupon is for $1.00 off, but they only double up to $.50 So my deal would look like this:

Wheat Thins $2.50/ box

Use $1.00 off manufacture coupon

Use $.50 off Safeway coupon

Use $.50 Safeway Double

Final Price: $.50/ box

Now, THAT is my stock up price. Is this making sense?

It sounds really complicated but once you get the hang of it becomes second nature, and FUN FUN FUN!

Stay tuned to find out where I find my coupons!