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Ok - started couponing about 3 weeks ago - have been saving for sure but am trying to get ahead on my grocercies...how long does it actually take to actually notice a difference in your grocery bill.
I have started a small stock pile to get ahead which is great but my bill is still ringing in at about 150.00 a week..
Thanks
LInda
Hello... the best way is to keep looking into this site and seeing the sales people are getting and where. Usually it is best to sit on coupons for awhile until you see an item on sale and then use your coupon. Grab coupons from tearpads, magazines, etc and hold onto them until you see that item for sale. You will reduce your bills but it may take some time. Good luck!!
I'm almost 3 months in and have just realized that I have hit the 'limit' for many items in my stockpile. We are a family of 2, so 12 toothbrushes is now my limit, for example.
Our grocery bill was about $100 per week including personal care items. We are now paying 20-30% less than that. Last week we hit $100 again as we stocked up on some frozen foods. This week we are going to be at a maximum of $30.
I've been couponing and shopping sales for a while and noticed a BIT of a change right away. Wasn't until I came to SC that I really saw what I could get for my money, though. I'm spending about half of what I did two months ago on groceries by meal planning, shopping sales and couponing.
That said, my monthly bill hasn't really gone down yet. I'm spending the same amount I did before- just getting double for my money. Instead of having five or six bags of groceries, I sometimes have twenty! I'm stocking up on diapers/wipes, toilet paper, body wash, deodorant, etc. Starting this month, I'm going to drop my 'stockpile budget' and only stock up on stuff I can get for free or almost free... I want to see how low I can get my bill this month!!!
Short answer- you can definitely see a savings right away! If you want to build a stockpile, maybe give yourself a 'stockpile budget'. Like, "I will spend $100 per week on groceries, and $25 per week to build my stockpile," (or something like that).
Some people start couponing with a stockpile in mind- then go REALLY crazy trying to get as much as they can, as quickly as they can. I know some couponers who've gone CRAZY when they first get started and really blown their budgets. Once the novelty wears off, it's a lot easier to stay on track budget-wise!
i find it can take 3-6 months to establish your stockpile then you pull away a bit and look at what you have amassed and then start filling in the grocery bill gaps (milk/bread/produce/meat)
Only been doing this about a month and a half and my savings goal was 36%. I hit that this weekend but now just need to maintain it. As a bunch of others have stated though Sometimes I'm still spending that 150$ and walking out with double the amount of items.
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I have been couponing for month and a half and the savings are "small" but in the long run it will be great, for example, I'm going on vacation on July and when I get back I will have zero money, and i'm creating my stockpile of basic needs so I don't have to spend on that when I get back, so far I have:
11 laundry detergent (which I won't buy no more unless is free or a GREAT deal - they will last me around one year !) so I will be saving in laundry detergent
5 big packages of toilet paper
8 shaving creams (hubby uses pretty much 1 per month and a half, so saving on that too)
2 new toothbrushes
7 new toothpaste (whic will last a long time)
4 lysol hand soap dispenser (which I can refill with cheap soap)
6 kleenex boxes for the cars - they last in there
5 deodorants - hubby will use 1 per month
6 cotonelle flushable wipes
7 body gel -
So i won't be buying many things for a while once i meet my goal and i will be saving more money :).
takes time and patience, but I had seen results from the begining :)
I agree with TSD- the stockpile pretty much makes or breaks it. Even now, if I were to have an unexpected expense, I could easily just shop dairy/produce and still be good for the week. I spend as much as I do now because I'm building a stockpile and want to get into my 'comfort zone'. Once I'm there, I'll just shop my stockpile and replenish as good sales become available.
I think the trickiest part of couponing isn't finding coupons or matching them to deals- it's learning to distinguish a GREAT deal from an OK deal. For example: Tide usually sells at about seven bucks. If it goes on sale for five-fifty and you have a coupon... that's a good deal. That said, every so often it goes on sale even cheaper (like 4.59). In the beginning, I'd see an okay deal on a product and buy something. Then, that same product would go on sale AGAIN a week or two later and I'd be like, 'Darnit! I have to get more!' If I'd held back during the first sale, I would have had more coupons to use during the second, KWIM?
The more I coupon, the more I become aware of the difference between regular price, sale price and a smokin' hot deal. It's something you really only learn through experience. My goal now is to only stockpile during smokin' hot deals!
It's hard to 'take it easy' in the beginning, though, with all those coupons burning a hole in your pocket. It's taken me a while to realize that I don't have to use a coupon just because I have it. I have found myself practically having anxiety attacks because a coupon is about to expire and I 'have to use it'. I think part of that anxiety is brought on by all the 'prophets of couponing doom' you see around here sometimes. To hear some people tell it, couponing is dying and we have to shop now before it's too late! You really have to learn to ignore those nagging voices or you'll go crazy, seriously. I hold onto a coupon until a really good deal comes along, and if it means the coupon expires... so be it. It's not as though more coupons won't come along shortly!
Just my long, rambling two cents. ;)