Call me crazy…call me insane, but I have gotten seriously into grocery shopping using coupons. You know the stereotypes…some penny-pinchers slowly groveling through some mangled pieces of paper tucked away in their wallet. We stand in the checkout line forced to read the headlines of the National Enquirer while they squabble with a clerk over the expiration date of a 35-cent coupon. When finally done they very slowly pull out their checkbook and meticulously enter every iota of information (first having asked the clerk for a pen…and later the current date) forcing me to shift my gaze from the Enquirer to People Magazine. All this to save a buck. Well… that ain’t me. Normally when I leave a check stand people congratulate me on saving 50% or more. It began simply…my wife and I decided to have a kid (need I say more?).

Once the little one had arrived it became immediately apparent that our entire financial picture had shifted (for the purpose of this article I will focus only on groceries). Our grocery bill, for a family of three, had jumped to $500/month. That’s $6000/year! Considering the combined weight of my wife and I is 230lbs (though we do eat well), it seemed a bit much. We had to do something to save money. First, understand that I am the cook and the grocery shopper of the house so it had to be me. Cooking is something I enjoy; shopping…naught!  That is, until I got into coupon shopping.

First I had to change the way I felt about time. I used to believe that something was not worth doing if there was no monetary gain. How many of you out there say, “I make $25.00/hour and it’s not worth it for me to do that”. I realized that saving $50.00 was the same as making $50.00 and it was better to make some money than none at all.

Begin charting out your buying habits. What do you routinely buy for the household? Cereal, fruit juice, pasta? Once armed with this knowledge your goal is to buy goods before you actually need them. Purchase an item when it is at least 50% off through a coupon and store it away. That way you can take full advantage of price savings. If you wait until you actually need an item it will invariably be full priced. When you run out of something you go to your closet or fridge and replace it. Get in the habit of freezing products like bread and meat.

Join the supermarket “clubs”. These offer additional discounts to members, the discounts being clearly marked in the product aisles. Most major chains (Vons, Ralph’s) will double your coupon’s value. A $1.00 coupon is worth $2.00 (although they will not double more than a $1.50 coupon).

It is also important to realize is if an item is marked  “2 for $4.00” or “3 for $5.00” you need buy only one item to get the discount. You will be charged $2.00 (half of $4.00). The stores don’t advertise this. I just went to the store and noticed that Boston Markets frozen dishes were marked down from $4.50 each to “2 for $4.00” with a club card. I bought one at $2.00 and had a one-dollar off coupon, which was doubled. This with the club savings meant I paid nothing for the food even though it had a value of $4.50. Now this will not happen with every product but saving 30% here and 90% there translates into a general savings of 50% or more. I will spend roughly one to one and a half hours at the market and save at least $50.00. Is that worth it? Yep!

Get a coupon organizer that has little slots for different categories i.e. dairy products, meats, cleaning products. You can make your own or buy one that has all the letters in the alphabet. Get what works best for you.

I begin Sunday morning clipping coupons out of the paper. I organize the categories and then load them into my organizer checking the previous coupons for expiration dates (discard them, stores no longer accept expired coupons) and getting a quick idea of what other coupons I have to help speed me thru the aisles. Then off to the market.

I start at one end of the store and go up and down each aisle checking for member discounts and whether or not I have a coupon to go along with it. I buy stuff that I need immediately as well as stuff for the future. As I make purchases I place the coupons in the cart so I don’t need to search for them while I am at the checkout line and irritate people. My last visit I saved 51%. The visit before… 57%. We have a cadre of friends who are all involved in coupon shopping and it has become quite the sport as to who saved the most and how, hence the term “competitive coupon shopping”. Give it a try.

- Kevin O'Connor, Coupon King