Teaching financial management classes gives me an opportunity to share money saving ideas with many different people; and, as different as all of the people are, they often ask the same question, “Where do you find all of these great deals?”  There is no one answer.  In fact, these bargains are found in many different places.  Here are just few suggestions.

• Grocery store flyers – every week, the local paper contains an insert that includes the advertisements from the various supermarkets in the area.  These flyers contain not only announcements of sales; but, they also frequently print recipes that use the products that are on sales.
• Mail – since not everyone subscribes to the local paper, the grocery stores also have the flyers delivered every home along with the mail on the day after the flyers are delivered in the newspaper.
• Internet – each of the major grocers in my area also publish their advertising flyers on line.  To find them, just do a web search for [store name] weekly circular.  Additionally, there are many websites that offer coupons at no charge.  A few that I, and others, have found helpful are …

─      www.Couponmom.com

─      www.Coupon-lady.com

─      www.Shopathome.com

─      www.Livingfrugal.com

If you have other websites where you regularly obtain coupons, please submit them so that they can be shared with others.

My friend Carol proudly declared herself to be Coupon Clipping Royalty and claimed the title, “Queen of the Coupon Clippers”.  Two questions immediately come to mind when people start talking about coupons.

1. Can you really save enough money to make taking time to clip them worthwhile?
2. Where do you find all of these “great” savings?

Let’s take the first of these  questions.

Yes, you really can save enough money to make it worth the time it takes to clip the coupons!  Think of it this way … what is the value of your time? 

If you spent 30 minutes clipping coupons and saved just $10 on your grocery shopping expedition, you’d have the equivalent earning of $20 per hour!  Aren’t you worth that kind of money?

If you spent just 30 minutes reviewing the grocery store advertising circulars to see what kinds of sales you could take advantage of before planning your menus for the week, how much could you save?  To find out, I performed a brief experiment.

I picked up the grocery store flyer for a nearby supermarket and created seven dinner menus using only “buy-one-get-one” items.  I tracked the amount of time it took to complete this exercise here are the results:

• 2 chuck roasts – one weighed 2.88 pounds while the other weighed 2.82 pounds.  At $4.99/lb., I got 5.70 pounds of beef for $14.37.  The first one was cut into bite sized pieces and cooked with vegetables to make a beef stew for Monday’s Dinner.  The second one was used to make pot roast for Sunday Dinner.  Total spent:  $14.37  Total Saved:  $14.07
• 2 bags of frozen, boneless/skinless chicken breasts.  Each bag contains a total of 40 ounces of chicken; or, 8 pieces, each weighing approximately 5 ounces.  Four pieces were cut into small pieces and turned into sweet and sour chicken for Tuesday’s Dinner.  Another 4 pieces were baked with some rice, matchstick carrots, and broccoli along with a can of cream of chicken soup to make a casserole for Thursday’s dinner.  Total Spent:  $10.99.  Total Saved $10.99; and, I have the second bag of chicken breasts in the freezer for use next week.
• 2 packages of center cut pork chops.  The first package weighed 1.29 pounds and was baked for Wednesday’s Dinner.  The second package weighed 1.22 pounds was cut into bite sized pieces and simmered in a plum sauce and served with rice (also buy-one-get-one) for Friday’s dinner.  Total spent on the pork:  $6.05.  Total Saved on the pork $5.72.  Total spent for rice:  $2.99 for a 3 pound bag.  Total saved $2.99, and, I have enough rice left in the pantry for several more meals.
• 2 jars of pasta sauce (each 24 ounces) and 2 packages of spaghetti (each 1 pound).  One package of spaghetti and one jar of sauce were cooked for Saturday’s dinner.  The remaining package and jar are in the pantry for use next week.  Total spent for both pasta and sauce:  $5.08  Total saved:  $5.08.
• 2 frozen pepperoni pizzas.  One was baked for dinner on Saturday night and the other is in the freezer for use next week.  Total spent:  $6.99.  Total saved $6.99

Total savings:  $45.84

Time spent:  20 minutes

Per hour “wage” equivalent:  $137.52

I would dare say that most of us, if offered a job that paid $137 per hour, would leap at that opportunity.  This “job” is yours for the taking.  All you have to do is block out a little time to plan the menus and shop the flyers to find the bargains.  You’ll eat well; and, you’ll save money, too!

Coming next:  Where do you find all of those “great” savings?