Intro to Couponing, Installment Two

My last post was about where to find coupons and how to organize them. Now, I will walk you through my menu planning, list making and coupon cutting process.

First, Make the Menu:

This is not like a restaurant menu. Your family does not get to place their orders every night! I usually just choose 4-5 meals for the week and I don't really choose which meal goes with which night. The goal here is to plan the meals. After making this menu, I look in the refrigerator/pantry/cabinets and write down any ingredients I may need to make those meals. Another equally-effective way to do this is to look at what you have first, then make a menu, then write down the things you need.

Second, Visit the Internet:

I use two websites: www.southernsavers.com and www.couponmom.com. They both have different functions, which I will explain.

Southern Savers--I use this site, which is specific to the Southeast, to compile my list of things that I will be buying from the various stores I frequent. I will visit a maximum of three stores each week. I am sure I could get a ton more for my money if I went to more stores, but I hate going to stores unless they are called "Macy's" or "Hobby Lobby." SS is good because the user can click on the items they want to buy from a store's weekly ad and it shows the coupon matches right below the item. Once the items are chosen, a printable list can be created so the whole weekly ad doesn't have to be shown. The user gets their own personal grocery list. The only thing I don't like about SS is that the B1G1 sales are in their own section and not really separated by the items' locations in the store, so I end up rewriting my list each week.

Third, With Your List of Items NOT from Southern Savers:

Go to www.couponmom.com. You will have to sign up for an account, but this site doesn't send any advertisement emails so no worries about that. On the top toolbar, there is a section labeled "Grocery Coupon Database." Click on that. Once you get to the database, click CTRL-F (Command F on a Mac) and search for the items on your "I need these ingredients to make the dishes on my menu" list. Write down the insert name (I abbreviate: SS, PG & RP) and date next to these items. You are now ready to cut out some coupons!

Fourth, You Now Have Two Lists:

Because (OMG I just started a sentence with the word 'because') I am pretty OCD about things, I combine my list of SS items and my "I need these ingredients to make the dishes on my menu" list into one list according to where they reside in the grocery store. My sections include: grocery, bakery, produce, dairy, meat, frozen and miscellaneous. I do this because it saves me time in the grocery store.

Fifth, Cut Your Coupons:

Pull out all the folders you will be taking coupons from. Then, cut out each coupon you wish to use from each folder's inserts. You are now ready to go to the store!!! DON'T FORGET YOUR COUPONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please let me know if something is unclear or if I have left anything out! Ask me questions!