Provident Shopping

After I posted my coupon-obsession to the blog, you'll never guess who I ran into at the grocery store with a beautifully organized binder full of coupons!  Kristen Pierce was very proud of her recent free BBQ sauce, and Brian was more than happy to show off his collection:

Heather Schroeder is our Provident Living leader, and she has some great tips and encouragement for us:

"Pinching your pennies has never been easier! I am learning so many different ways to save money on my food bill and build a food storage that my family will actually eat. This weekend I tried 3 different ways of shopping to see how much I could save for the things that my family will need now and in the future. Each took a little different preparation but all 3 trips were great savings for my family.  It was thrilling to walk out of the store with brand name merchandise at rock bottom prices.

Trip #1 Safeway and Rite Aid

I spent about 1/2 hour reviewing the ad, searching online to compare prices to ensure I purchased the items that were only at their lowest price, and find any corresponding coupons available.  Rite-Aid has great deals for hygiene products and using their online coupon site riteaid.adperk.com I was able to double my coupons.  For Safeway I utilized coupons.com and used the coupons that corresponded with their ad. 
Total amount spent: $44.73
Total saved: $70.96!!
Trip #2 Walmart

For the first time I took advantage of their price matching policy.  I am sure many of you already do this, but I did not realize how great they were at matching anything and just about every competitor offering. I also used coupons found online through using grocerysmarts.com for the items that were in the Albertsons ad I wanted Walmart to match.

Total amount spent: $8.94
Total amount saved: $17.82!!
Trip #3 Costco

By far the easiest way to shop but not nearly as thrilling. Costco is the $100 store.  I cannot walk out of there without spending at least $100.  This time I only focused on non-food products and baby products, and bought the merchandise that were in their coupons.  Buying in bulk plus using their coupons saved a bundle.

I am excited to share the many online tools that I am using and hope that we can all collaborate and spread the word on the great deals we find each week [just go to the Provident Living Page and add a comment].  This week I am off to Rite-Aid to get items for free and even make a profit on an item!"