This month I’ve been working on sharing a method of couponing I’d like to call minimalist couponing. The goal is to place a strong emphasis on saving time and still make a meaningful dent in your grocery budget. So far we’ve talked about simple ways to organize your coupons and why you should still stockpile under this method.
Today I’d like to continue this series by sharing my thoughts on how you could save time on your shopping trips.
Setting your Weekly Menu
You will save money if you did nothing more than make a great shopping plan. After all, impulse purchases can really add up. In trying to do some research, I found several different statistics on impulse shopping, with most sites suggesting that between 20-40% of all grocery purchases are made on impulse. This seems to me a very easy way to start saving money right off the bat!
Ideally, your shopping plan should take into consideration not just the deals you want to get that week, but also what meals you want to make. Here’s one thing that I’ve done that has helped: a put together a family recipe binder.
The thinking behind this was simple. I was getting tired of week after week trying to figure out what to make. So I decided to take the time to write a list of about 20-30 of my family’s favorite meals and assemble some often-cooked recipes in ONE place. While it did take a little bit of time to assemble this, it may be time well spent later when you go to make your weekly menu and shopping lists.
Plan your Menu Based on Seasonal Deals
If you’ve tracked your savings for any length of time, you may well have noticed that a very sizeable portion of your savings comes from buying items on sale. These sales or store promotions often coincide with the seasons.
If it’s early May? I’d be making enchiladas and tacos (Cinco de Mayo promotions). In the summer? More BBQs (summer food promotions). In late fall? I’m more apt to make crockpot chili (canned food promotions).
The idea here is to scan the ads or deal posts for general sales themes for the week, consider your family recipe book, and incorporate a few meals that make the most of the weekly deals to your list.
Incidentally, this has an added benefit when it comes to produce. Buying your produce in season means you’re likely to get a higher nutritional value as well as a price break! (And there’s another thought for you – plan your meals around produce, not just meat!)
Limiting your Trips
One of the primary objections I hear from couponers is this: I just don’t have time to drive to 4-5 stores each week.
Guess what? I don’t either. So let’s talk some options you have for streamlining your shopping.
1. Always start with a list. I’ve worked hard to help you here, too. You may have noticed my new deal posts include a “click & print” feature (check out Albertsons for example). All you have to do is select the items you want to buy, and hit “print my list” when you’re done. Then, gather the coupons as indicated in the posts. You can also download these very stylish shopping forms to build your own lists. My pal Kelly worked with me on designing these for couponers.
Once I have my lists printed and coupons ready to go, I put them in this small organizer that I carry at the store. I have a section for each store I shop at, and helps keep things speedy while shopping and at checkout.
2. Shop ONE day a week. Pick one day each week to do your shopping. I recommend keeping it to 1 or 2 stores. I personally find shopping 2 stores is most helpful for the best savings. I might hit up a store like Albertsons or QFC just for promotional items, and then finish up at a store like WinCo to get the rest of the items I need for my meals that week. Or, you might do a drugstore for some toiletry items and then head to the Farmer’s Market for fresh produce and eggs. Ideally, you will have your lists and coupons clipped and ready and do the shopping in ONE trip.
3. Shop once per month. If you’re even more committed to shopping less, consider shopping once per month. This will require a greater time commitment of planning at the front end of each month, but you will undoubtedly save money by avoiding middle-of-the-week trips and impulse buys. You will also be free of having to shop for anything other than perishables (produce, dairy, etc.) for the remainder of the month.
4. Consider pre-ordering for stockpiling. If you’re getting tired of driving across town only to find the stock has been cleared, I encourage you to call your stores and see if you can pre-order. I was able to do this over the phone before with my local Albertsons. Not only is this a really courteous way to shop, it also saves you time and frustration.
5. Avoid trips for one item or deal. Fellow blogger Melody recently left a fabulous comment on my blog. She said that she often gets burned when she heads to the store for one deal. I would complete agree with her! Try to avoid this, unless the deal is so beneficial to your stockpile that you find it necessary. She also shared this idea: suppose your coupon will yield a freebie at Rite Aid or a $0.50 item at Fred Meyer. Opt for Fred Meyer. You are for more likely to get the stock you need and avoid a fruitless, frustration outing.
6. Stick to the same stores. You can streamline this even further by deciding to stick to the same 1 or 2 stores each week. While you may miss out the deals at other stores, chances are you can learn to become really good about finding the savings at the stores you’ve selected! For instance, you can learn when meat markdowns are made, where the clearance items are stored, who the produce manager is and if you can make an offer on the nearly-rotten bananas for your smoothies. You get the idea.
Final Word: You WILL Miss Deals (but It’s alright!)
This is the part where I remind you that this method may or may not be for everyone. The truth is if you’ve worked to streamline your trips down, you will miss deals. There are deals at lots of stores lots of days of the week.
But if your goal is to value your time saved over money, then you are not going to let your stomach go in knots wondering about the Excedrin sale or Juicy Juice moneymaker deal you missed, OK? Here is what you are doing to remind yourself:
- That you are saving money by avoiding impulse purchases.
- That you are saving money by eliminating smaller, unnecessary shopping trips. (Not to mention gas!)
- That you are saving money by shopping sales.
- That most of all, you are saving your very valuable time!
Next week I will be concluding this series by sharing how to find deals quickly and without losing your mind.
How else have you improved your shopping strategies in an effort to save time?
