Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Healthy eating on a budget- Part 3

Sometimes you see stories "Mom pays $29.46 for over $300 in groceries" who knows if that is true or not. However using coupons wisely can help decrease your food bill.

1. Matching coupons to weekly sales.
Every week the web site www.thegrocerygame.com tips you off to the best sales at your local grocery store and how to maximize those sales with coupons you get from the paper. The site organizes grocery stores' best sales in a spreadsheet and tells you how much you'll save by using your coupons on top of that. A double whammy that can cut your bill in half or better. There is a $5.00 per month cost.

Another resource that is free is http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com. While not as great; it does highlight the "Screaming Deals" state by state.

2. Coupon Trains
Coupon trains are simply a way of exchanging coupons by snail mail. It all starts out with a group of people. Members clip coupons, even ones they might not need. They pack them up and mail them to the next person on the list. That person takes the coupons they need and replaces them with new ones. They ship the stack off to the next person in the group and the cycle repeats.
Looking for coupon train
There are yahoo groups with coupons trains as well as several frugal and saving money message boards have active trains. Check out Coupon train FAQS

Bottom Line: The key to saving with coupons is to only purchase the items you would normally use anyway. You will also find that the store brand may still be the better bargain.

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