Lists (Part 2)

Like many places, my town has two types of grocery store: the normal kind and the fancy-shmancy one. Considering that 2 months ago I was buying what little groceries I had from Walmart, both of these places would have been a huge improvement. But I chose to get to know the the fancy one better because the selection seemed better, the food seemed fresher, and it had a cafe area that I could sit at while I finalized my grocery list. This has worked well for me on all but one level - it's coupon prospects sucked. Luckily, Brian is more skilled in couponing than I am, and he agreed to show me why he has always favored the other grocery store.

The reason is, in a word, DOUBLE coupons.

And they seriously rock. All told, we saved about $50 on items that we would have bought anyway. Consider my mind blown.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the grocery list is the best way to protect yourself from expensive impulse buying. Brian took it a step further by going on the store's website and helping me match items on my list with discounts he could get with his bonus card. Then we used the weekly circular to look for extra deals on items we were already buying and other things that we need relatively soon (like aluminum foil - we're not out yet, but it's close enough that a coupon would come in handy). Once we got to the store, it was more about finding things than perusing the aisles, which helped make things go faster. It also helped me say no to the cookies I found....

Honestly, this "in and out" style of shopping isn't really my thing (I like to go aisle by aisle and get inspired) but it was very useful, especially for basic items like milk and cereal. Since Brian is the exact opposite, we decided to make a habit of splitting the shopping between us and the two stores. I really liked how we were able to work together to save money and still come up with a shopping style that makes us both happy.

Please hit the comments section below or email me at nomoretakeout@gmail.com if you have any suggestions for this couponing newbie. I'd love to hear from you!