Couponese Tip of the Day - Get Rid of Expired Coupons

I know it seems like sacrilege... The idea of not using every coupon we've taken the time to clip- the sad reality is that most of us don't use ALL of our coupons before they expire. Sometimes they're not items we use regularly, or they don't coincide with a good sale price... Or maybe we just didn't have time to get to the store that week. Oh well, that's life.

Since there were no coupons in this past weekend paper, I'm taking some time today to clear out my expired coupons to make room for this week's new ones.

Your expired coupons can still go to good use- military families stationed overseas can sometimes benefit from expired coupons. I believe they can use expired coupons for up to 6 months from the date of expiration. For more information about sending your expired coupons to military families check out Military Money Matters for tips on how to help. As a former Marine Corps wife, I wish I had known more about Couponing back then, it would have helped us tremendously with our ridiculously tight budget. Even so, I remember those years very fondly.

Couponese Weekly Haul

I wanted to post a pic of my grocery haul for this week... I'm doing this to show that with a little planning that you can catch some decent deals.

My grocery budget for a week with a family of 7 is $200. This is my personal budget, not necessarily one I recommend. I am trying to get that down to less than $150/wk. This is my goal, I got pretty close this time.

I like to shop at Kroger, they have the in-store coupons and Kroger plus savings that you get simply by having a store card. I also appreciate the fact that they double coupons up to 50 cents. This means if I have a coupon worth 50 cents, it doubles up to a dollar off that item! Pretty sweet!

Not pictured in this haul were the 6 packages of Perdue chicken breasts, and a 5 lb package of ground beef. I had a Kroger coupon for fresh meats that gave me an additional $1.50 off, and the chicken breasts were buy one get one free! Awesome!

I'm including a pic of my receipt totals. I bought a lot of big ticket items like diapers, paper towels, and TP, as well as meats which are expensive.

This week I was able to spend $159.57, very close to my goal of $150. Plus, I stocked up on big items like diapers.

I also earn fuel points through Kroger which you can use at the Shell. This is another perk with gas prices going up the past week!

Couponese Tip of the Day

A lot of serious couponers are doing so not only to shave money off the weekly grocery bill, but also to create a stockpile of items that they use often. Buying a large amount of something at its lowest price means you can stock up on that product and not have to buy it for awhile.

My biggest stockpile item is laundry detergent. I have 5 children, so laundry is a daily chore. I am not a slave to a particular brand, but I do have a few brands I do buy when they are on sale.

This week there's a great sale on Arm & Hammer Laundry detergent at Kroger. It's $2.99, I have 3 coupons for $1 off one bottle, so I'll get them for $1.99 each. That's a great deal for me.

Couponese Tip of the Day

While school supplies are on sale, it's a good time to stock up on couponing supplies too! Now's a great time to snag a binder, stock up on your coupon sleeves, dividers, scissors, and even sharpie markers.