Follow Up

I have received a few emails and comments about my Ahhhhh the Grocery Store post and Meal Planning post, so I wanted to follow up now while it is all still fresh in my mind!

 As for the grocery store and meal planning.  I still plan on going to the grocery store once or twice a week.  With Jason working at one, we go visit poppa alot on the weekends plus we have a little market withing walking distance so weather permitting we go there often sometimes just for the free cookie.    Because our kitchen is so small we I'm unable to keep very much back stock, also Augie drinks lactose free milk which is only sold in 1/2 gallon size (at least the GE brand is) so we always need milk and bread.  My whole reasoning for doing one HUGE shop isn't because I dislike the grocery store or it's inconvenient, I started doing this because I found that I saved a lot more when I did one HUGE versus large shops every week.  When I do my HUGE shop ( I hope I'm not annoying you by my HUGE but it's really that big, it took 2 full carts to get it back to my car) anyways when I do this shop I take the time to sort through all of my coupons, I make a detailed list, search the weekly deals.  I probably spend around 2 hrs on prep time, where as when I did it every week, I would make a mini list, throw all of my coupons into an envelope and kind of just wing it.

With my meals I bought everything for the month that wasn't going to go bad within a few days.  Whenever I make chicken soup dishes I always pick up a rotisserie chicken that day, but I usually have Jason bring that home with him from work. 

If you are new to couponing or want to start doing it more I do have a few pointers to make your shopping trip easier.

• Make a list with coupons.  I like to start with a blank list and go through my coupons first, I'm more likely to forget coupon items than I am necessities.  I go through my coupons and check the expiration date, I put down the product if there is a quantity I must get and then I put a star by it, to remind me I have a coupon.
• I take all my coupons in a greeting card size envelope and take a clothespin with me.
• As I go through the grocery store I stop periodically (always in non congested areas) and I clothespin the coupons that I have used to the cart if I haven't used one and know I'm not going to use it I put it in the discard pile.
• Once I get to the register I always make sure to put any of my BOGO coupon items at the very end.   This way it is easy for the cashier to see the price and they don't have to go through 100 items and I don't have to remember the price.
• After I have loaded all of my items I flip through my clothespin stack one more time just to make sure that I have purchased everything and correctly. 

I find that by putting in the organization I don't get flustered, I'm not inconveniencing anyone by being dis-organized and I usually have a much more pleasant experience!!

I know this post has gotten a little long, I appreciate every one's feedback and I hope I remembered to answer all your questions!!