4 Tips to Help You Get OUT of a Coupon Rut

Are You STUCK in a COUPON Rut?

Are you bored with deals?  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t.  So I’ll be honest & forthright &  admit I am.   In fact, all of us on the blog ARE.. really, we REALLY are. It gets tedious and even more so now that it’s harder to hit those AMAZIN! Deals.  Printable coupons have failed to WOW me the last few months. And with the $.99 store being cheaper than ANY other store without even having to clip, that’s where I have been lurking around the most.

Right now it’s hot in Arizona.. when it’s 115 +, and you have kids, the last thing you feel like doing is dragging them out. That in itself makes it really hard to want to GO anywhere, unless of course it’s a REALLY *HOT* deal, but they have been far and FEW between.

I think we all miss those days of free stuff but now we have to adjust how we look at shopping, and perhaps change up our methods to saving.  Its really easy to get discouraged, I do …..but we also have to look at the big picture!

Okay so we aren’t saving 75% or more on our groceries but we ARE saving and that’s what at the end of the day we all need.  We all need to save money.

Are you loyal to one store?  I use to be but then I started shopping at two different ones to make up for the hole left by the death of double coupons.  

So if you WANT to get out of that rut, you have a few options at your disposal — you can continue to be stuck in the rut.. and go back to paying a little more for food, or you can be willing to change a few areas, in order to save.

Be Willing to Change

Right now only Basha’s doubles coupons here in Arizona.  Are you willing to try shopping there?  Are you close to one?  It might be worth it to you or not but you should look at our weekly match ups.  If not, focus on the BEST deals there and get your other pantry staples at a different store.

I rekindled my love of Target.  Why?  Because I can on a good deal stack multiple offers.  I love it when I can use a Target Coupon,  a Manufacturer coupon and a Cartwheel offer. 

The point is .. no matter how you feel about these apps, if you need to save on grocery purchases, you need to be flexible and go with the changing flow of couponing.

Have you read this article? It might help you decide what store would work best. Or these may too:

• 10 Ways to Save at Safeway
• 10 Ways to Save at Fry’s
• 11 Ways to Save at Bashas

At the most,  study these, & they will help you get a quick look over of what each store does ~ are fuel rewards important? Then shopping at Fry’s OR Safeway may be the best option. Don’t care about Fuel Rewards and prefer rock bottom prices? Then WinCo is the best option… not close to WinCo? Then head to Walmart… or just price match and call it a day. Albertsons has great meat deals, if you shop with Zaycon (online) you can forego any meat deal anywhere else & pick up in bulk at amazing prices.

Though just remember that if you price match, each Walmart can vary SO greatly in it’s willingness to price to other local stores — and let me tell you, there is NOTHING like spending 2 hours in a store with 4 kids to get to the register & be told “We aren’t price matching Food City today”. That … certainly doesn’t play well in my book.  Perhaps that’s why I haven’t been going there lately.

Did you see that a few months ago we did a comparison shop at Fry’s Versus Walmart? Sure, it was NOT apples to apples (and it was NOT meant to be!).. we had so many of you mention it wasn’t a legitimate comparison. Ironically… that was the intent . …we know that. We did that on purpose.  What it DOES do is show you the importance of stacking a SALE with a coupon (Fry’s) versus shopping the everyday low prices at Walmart.

Be Willing to Embrace Technology

I’m not saying go get a new smartphone but 9 out of 10 of us have one so its time to have it earn its keep.  There are dozens of saving apps out there, including the ones for each store like CartWheel, Safeway’s Just4U and Fry’s Savings App.  Now it take some creativity to score the freebies but we still can when we sometimes stack a sale item with a manufacturer coupon and a savings application.  Too hard for you? It’s really very easy. I find that it’s easier than clipping.

We have to find the one that works best for us and what we buy.  Which ones are my favorite?

See our last article for a round up of the Savings apps you can use.

Be Ready to Spend Some Time Doing your Homework

Make sure you have a stock up price on your essentials, that you know what is in your pantry and in your freezer so you buy what you need.  

We have a great pantry list for you HERE… you should ALWAYS want to know what’s in your pantry. Why go and buy things you don’t need if you already have a TON of things in your stockpile? 

We ALSO have SO many articles to reference to help you… from saving on bread to produce, beef, shopping without coupons and even saving WITHOUT double coupons… 

• 5 Tips for Using Cash Back Apps
• 8 Steps to Help you Save Money without Using Coupons
• How to Build a Stockpile to Save Money
• Clip Less, Save More | Easy Alternatives to Saving Money
• Are you Spending More with Apps that are Designed to Help you Save?!
• 5 Tips to Using Cash Back Apps
• Tips to Help you Save Money on Produce
• How to Find a Good Deal on Bread {+ Save Lots of $$$$}
• 5 Tips for Saving on Salad Items + Easy Summer Salad Recipes
• Saving Money on Beef + Easy Crock Pot Recipes
• How to Save Money without Double Coupons

Be Open to Shopping Online

I am an Amazon Mom with Prime.  I will grab deals on items I will always buy but have a hard time finding deals on the shelves when I do go to the store.  If you have a certain amount of things on subscribe and save you can get 15% … then add FREE 2nd day shipping and I’m SOLD.  Amazon is great because I can shop in my Pajamas and not put kids in the car. 

Amazon Prime keeps my lunchbox rotation FULL. I am ALWAYS finding deals on Stacy’s Pita chips, Larabars, Annie’s Snacks & more — I almost always post those deals, AND I buy myself. If it’s cheap, it goes into the “this is good for lunch boxes” cabinet — that way, when we DO have a rut for deals, I have snacks to pull out.

A new site that I have fallen in love with lately is Boxed.com, have you checked it out?  Some of the prices are crazy good and they have offers of free shipping or a discount on your 1st order… use code KEC8O to get $15 off your first order AND FREE shipping == WIN WIN.  See our last order HERE.