Stop Cutting Coupons and Start Saving! – How It Adds Up
Many of us feel overwhelmed by debt and don’t know how to start climbing out of it. For others it’s a misconception that the more money you earn the easier it is to save. My husband and I paid off $20,000 of credit card debt and medical bills in 5 years when our average income was $22,000 a year.
Here is how you can save over $8,000 in just one year cutting a few things from your grocery bill. They are painless, simple and add up over time. If you don’t think that cutting out one bag of potato chips or one soda will make a difference, look at the numbers at the end of a year. If you’re trying to save so you can stay home with your kids, put a down payment on a house, pay off some credit card debt or just have some emergency money, here are 10 ways to do it without depriving yourself . The total annual savings (at the bottom) will amaze you!
When it comes to saving money in your household budget, the little things really add up. Look how much you would save in a year if you cut out just ONE thing:
|
ITEM
|
PRICE
|
HOW OFTEN
|
COST PER YEAR
|
|
1 bag potato chips
|
$2.00/bag
|
1 week
|
$104.00
|
|
1-6 pack soda
|
$2.00
|
1/week
|
$104.00
|
|
1 liter soda
purchased at convenience store |
$1.00
|
1/day
|
$365.00
|
|
Reduce meat
1.5 lbs. |
$2.50/lb.
|
2 nights/week
|
$390.00/year
|
|
$4.00
|
1/day
|
$1460.00
|
|
|
Eating out
for a family of 4: Dinner |
$40.00
|
1/week
|
$2080.00
|
|
Lunch
|
$7.00/person
|
20 days/month
|
$1680.00
|
|
Pizza delivered plus tip
|
$20.00
|
1/ week
|
$1040.00
|
|
1 cup juice/person (daily)
family of 4 |
$10.00/week
|
1/week
|
$520.00
|
|
Fruit leather (Fruit Roll ups)
|
$2.50
|
1/week
|
$130.00
|
|
1 box granola cereal
|
$4.00
|
1/week
|
$208.00
|
| Total if you cut all these out | $8081.00 |
photo by: notionscapital
My downfall is BOGO, Buy one-Get one. I only buy products that I know I will use, but even at that, it can add up. Especially, if I stop in my local grocery store just to cruise their specials when I don’t have a plan.
I have just started with Living on a Dime to save money tonight (Fri, 27 Aug). Seems like I have only one draw-back so far. I’m an American but I live in Tasmania and we don’t use coupons down here, and don’t have a lot of the coupon products either. I do miss some things really bad from the USA but by sheer will power, LOL, I get buy without. Like BACON. The Aussie’s just don’t have the same kind of bacon we do, that is probably my biggest “missing thing”, oh, and Bisquick. Don’t have that down here either. There is a USA Shop down here but it is on the mainland in Melbourne. And also, items are really, really expensive. Just can’t justify the cost no matter how much I miss something. Hey, enough of my whinging, I know that I will be able to use at least 90% of the tips and ideas from Living on a Dime newsletter. I am a US Air Force veteran so I can adapt anything to do anything – doesn’t always workout but sure is fun trying. I’m SOOOO glad I signed up already – thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! workerbev
http://www.livingonadime.com/baking-mix/
Try our Baking Mix recipe and that might help with missing the Bisquik. We have a lot of missionaries who use Dining On A Dime to make things like the baking mix, graham crackers etc. WE are going to be having an e-book sale on it in a few weeks.
No need for you to miss Bisquick. There are a number of good recipes online – you can make your own & save!
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your site. Someone commented on the BOGO (Buy One, Get One “free”) deals we see so much of nowadays. Every time I see an offer like that I remember Rober Heinlein’s famous TANSTAAFL. There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Wish I could get more of my friends to believe in that one.
I love coupons but we have a problem in our area now. I live in rural NE and we dont get store ads. I would just go to the computer and print off coupons that I knew I would be needing. The problem is the stores around here are now rejecting computer printed coupons because they are afraid they are fake. I also have a problem with the coupons are usually for processed foods. Any ideas on what to do to save on the GOOD foods?
Susan, one of my pet peeves is people thinking you can only save money if you use coupons. Years ago I use to be one of these “coupon queens” it worked but it was a lot of work and then like you different things happened which made using coupons almost impossible. Believe it or not I haven’t used many coupons for years and most of the suggestions on savings we post has nothing to do with using coupons at all. I have way too many ideas to be able to write them all in this one post so check out the web site if you can because it is full of things to do other then use coupons.
Also I really hate pushing our products but I specifically wrote our Grocery Savings e course with that one purpose in mind – how to show people you don’t need to use coupons or shop at warehouses to save money. Most people save the price of the e course the first week they use it and then some. I go into lots of detail and different ideas so if you can swing it you might read it.
Like I said I have chapter after chapter of ways to save without using coupons and why at times (I didn’t say no one should use them but at times) it’s best not to use them. if you can’t get the course then check the web site out in different places.
I’m in the same boat as Susan. I discussed the online-coupons with customer service managers of a couple of locally-owned stores and they have started doing more in-store coupons instead. It took a little nerve as I’m a bit shy, but they saw the need and filled it.
I make my grocery list of what I need for the week. There are only 2 grocery stores where I live, so it isn’t difficult to go through their ads and see what items on my list are on sale at either store. I then go through my coupons that I have clipped and on-line deals and put them in an envelope I reuse for each store. Combining sales, BOGO’s, and coupons, I often save more at a store than I actually spend. It takes less than an hour a week. I always carry my coupon box with me, because occasionally you do run into an unadvertised special that is even better if you can use a coupon as well.
One of the things I do at the store to save big is buy dry beans and cook them at home.
Typical can of beans at my local store: .69 cents. One can equals roughly 1 to 1.5 cups of beans in any given can, and it can vary from can to can of the same brand.
One pound bag of dry beans is typically .99 cents. One pound of cooked beans yields 6 to 6.5 cups of beans, or less than .10 for each cup. I cool the cooked beans, put them in freezer bags in one cup servings, flatten them out and freeze them. They fit on their sides in the freezer basket like file folders- I always know which kind of beans I have and when to cook more.
I add beans to almost everything- extra protein and fiber, cheap.
There are some good ideas here. Yes, make your grocery list first, then check through the local sale ads. After that look through your coupons. That way you are not tempted to buy something just because there is a coupon or a sale. I do have 1 suggestion though. You might want to try shopping in the grocery section of your local department store. You might find some good deals there.
Tina, thank you for a great tip!!! My home health aide likes to make up different one dish meals and freeze them. Unfortunately, her “meals” are enough for a small army! This will save me a lot of wasted food….. God bless.
I am going to be a grammy again & am going to babysit this one! But that means I am giving up my PT job to do it so I am looking forward to all the ways to save money! Keep them coming. Thanks!
Congrats to you Karla. I don’t think there is anything more fun then becoming a grandma even again and again.
I received my Dining on a Dime Cookbook on Friday and have not put it down.. keep going over and over it… I can’t wait to try the new receipes…
Thanks again.
Karen
I have to say that once I started using coupons the right way, my grocery bill went from $350/mth to @ $200 for a family of 6 and that includes a trip to McDonalds every now and then. When it’s BOGO, it rings up half price and when you use a coupon that doubles on that, it is almost free or FREE. I got about 30 boxes of pasta free last wk. and my 5 yr old is takin it to donate at school for their food drive. With couponing, I have been able to feed my family for less and GIVE to others.
I was excited to read this article but disappointed when I saw I am already NOT buying the items on your list! I have five children at home, and my biggest problem is trying to afford the important things like fresh vegetables, fruit, etc. It does seem like the foods that are good for you are much more expensive than poor-nutrition items like boxed macaroni and cheese, etc. (I NEVER feed my children boxed macaroni and cheese, I am just making a point!)
When I was a single mother, we had to rely on the food bank, and while that often provided bizarre combinations of items, my children actually had a better diet nutritionally. Lots and LOTS of fresh vegetables were donated, as well as many frozen turkeys and organic foods.
It seems ironic and wrong that it is cheaper to feed your children junk food (and I am referring to packaged foods, not chips) than healthy foods.
This isn’t totally true. We have been brain washed into believing that food which is good for you is expensive. As far as actually nutrients in the food frozen broccoli is just as good for you as fresh. Probably even better. I saw a thing on fruit smoothies this week and everyone thinks fruit smoothies are so great for you and healthy but you may as well eat 2 bags of m &m’s because the sugar content in m & m’s is the same. One bottle of fruit smoothie has the same calories as a big mac.
I even heard once that 75% of people think that organically grown food either has less calories or no calories in it compared to it’s non organic counter part. The calories are the same. What is scary is people think they are eating healthy so they can eat as much as they want causing them to inhale way more calories then they should so then they can’t figure out why they are always struggling with their weight.
I buy healthy things all the time and my grocery bill is very small compared to most and when I had kids at home it was about 1/4 of what normal people spent.
Also in some ways (although I do eat a lot of fresh stuff) in my mind I prefer frozen. I always think how many people have handle this head of broccoli before it got to me and once fresh is picked it immediately starts losing it’s nutrients. Who knows how long it took to get to the store plus it starts to decay as soon as it is picked. Where frozen go from the field to the factory almost immediately and is frozen and packaged.
One thing I have always wondered is why are people living longer and healthier lives now then they did say 100 years ago like my grandparents and great grandparents. People in my age group and my parents age group who were raised on canned and processed everything because it was new, different and convenient are healthier and living longer then any other generation from years past who lived on nothing but organic before pesticides and factory processed foods were invented. Things have to make sense to me and that doesn’t.
I buy everything I can at Aldi, where you can’t use coupons. I am certain I save at least 30% over Cub Foods. It used to be too hard to get to other stores when my kids were little, but now I’m curious if I might save more using coupons at Cub or Target. There are no double coupon days. Anyone who has an Aldi in town have an
opinion?
Thanks,
MK
We buy 80% of our food at Aldi. Milk and Meat I can find reduced or on sale for cheaper at the grocery store but otherwise that’s it for us.
I believe that peoploe live longer now because of pre natal care saves the lives of many babies that previously lowered the longevity levels. I think immunizations and better disease control and medications add to longgevity as well. Howver as we fatten up as a society and acquire diabeties and heart disease; the age of longevity may decline.
That’s pretty much the way we feel. People now have no idea how bad it really was before they had immunizations and the use of pesticides to have a better food supply. We are so fortunate to be living in this time where we don’t have to worry if bugs are going to destroy all our food or if a horrible disease is going to kill our kids.
Years ago, I used coupons alot! I would buy the sunday paper and sit down and spend hours cutting them out of the paper and magazines. Having 4 boys and a girl I finally realized that I was giving up alot of precious time that I could be spending with my family. The time it takes to cut out those coupons could have been used as an outing to the park, a movie, or just reading to my kids. Seems like alot of time wasted to me now….young parents take my advice….there is no coupon worth the time lost with your children.
just found your website am a grandmother raising 4 kids that are picky eaters and dont really like fruits and veggies.i amliving on a fixed income so any helpful tips on ways to safe on grocies or clothes anything would begreat.
I have tried lots of ways to save money. With 10 children, I am always looking for ways. I have even tried Hillbilly Housewife’s rock bottom menu.I found a way to lower my groceries without coupons and eating only beans. I buy only $25 a day for food and shop at Sav-a-lot. I broke my daily groceries into a gallon of milk,about $3, a dozen eggs about $1, fruit$3 worth of whatever is cheap, Frozen veggies$3, salad stuff about $3 ( a lettuce, a dollar of tomatoes, a cucumber, a pepper), $1 of rice or flour or potatoes, $1 of beans, 1 onion,about $6 of meat, so that is either chicken thighs or 2.5 pounds of ground beef. When I need a gallon of oil, I go meatless that day. Cleaners,
health and beauty aids are bought from CVS when they are free or almost free, and I stock up.That’s it. I can feed the 12 of us on $175 a week. Whew! Talk about squeezing water out of a rock!
I shop at Sav a Lot also. They have gone up on their prices too.Last time I went I search the discount buggies. I just went the outside isles around the store. I get my milk at Weigles when I get gas for the week.I buy from a discount store once a year. They sell in bulk,don’t remove items from boxes. They sale dawn and tide concentrated liq in gallon jugs for $7 ea.I get 2 of each for the year,dog,cat,bird feed. I am proud to say that due to being frugal I am able to help others during their illness. Keep up the good work LIVING ON A DIME…
4
I am so happy to find this website. I am trying to save as much money this year as I can, because I know a lot of the extra money we spend is on food that we don’t necessarily think about buying, but ends up in the cart and is not always the healthiest, or best priced for our budget. I know this website is full of valuable ideas and I look forward to reading all the great advice.
Judy
How does a person know what they should really be spending to feed a family of 3 or 4 a week? we all live in different areas on the country where food prices are different.
You really can’t know. That is why I always say I can’t really tell you exact amounts because things in different areas are different. People keep asking us what we spend on things or how much laundry we do etc. and ours will really be different from others. What I usually try to do is give you what we spend but also try to give a general idea or average. You need to do some work then yourself and figure out for you.
This is also why we give guidelines to follow. Anyone anywhere can easily use those guide lines to help with their grocery bill. For example it doesn’t matter where you are if you start regulating portion control with your food, control leftovers and the food which gets tossed (that 1/2 glass of milk, milk left in the cereal bowl or 1/2 eaten sandwich) the chances are most families can cut their grocery bill in almost 1/2.
This are the kind of thing we give you to use and you need to use not exact amounts. Like I said the only reason Tawra gives what they spend each month is because people just keep asking.
I don’t know where to cut back, but I certainly need to, as we just received a large salary cut. We already live pretty frugally for a family of 7 and I shop at Aldi. I know that I will be giving up on organics, but I still want at least the fresh fruit and salads. We don’t eat out but once a month or order in pizza. I look forward to the other tips.
I don’t live in yr area, I hail from washington, but I base my families grocery costs on the recommended amount from the usda and food stamps allocations in our area it is 80 per adult. I made it a goal for a family of three to do 240 when I first started, then cut that back out of necessity when hubby lost his job to 160. Was surprised that when I cut things back to necessities and having all meals either at home or from home that we are doing just fine. I buy fresh fruits and vegies every three to four days some organic some not and keep to the staples w hardly an junk food. I am buying mostly bulk foods now in staple form. Use a site called http://www.thesurvivalmom.com she is a survivalist and has good suggestions on a yeara worth of staple supplies. I also went on a lds site where they give you a list of a years supply for how many people you have in yr family. I know this sounds a little severe, but it really puts into perspective what we really need to get by. We have great meals too. Had spaghetti and garlic bread w a salad last night. Night before, pork roast w baked spuds and veggies. Breakfast eggs and spuds…etc. as a matter of fact I have had an abundance of some apples and potatoes so i dehydrating those. 1 more thing: you’re probably asking why 1 yr? Hubby has lost his job on more than one occassion and when that happens we have to beable to live off of what we have until that changes then all we purchase is bread, milk, eggs which is about 10.00 a week in our area.
Yes Laura all of this is true. I have been trying to teach people this for years that it really doesn’t take as much as you think it does to feed your family the basics. At one point I was feeding my family of four on $15 a week and even though that was a few years back it still was not much compared to what others were spending. When things get really really bad a person finds out what is necessary and what isn’t. That is why I say things aren’t as bad for most as what they think and it could be worse because if things were really super bad I wouldn’t be asked how to save on a vacation or how to save on expensive organic food. They wouldn’t even consider a vacation etc.
Lately we’ve been very limited on what we can spend on groceries, and I’ve not been able to do the shopping most times, so it’s been fix what my DH brings home. I’ve found it’s not that hard to come up with a meal if the basics are there. He also doesn’t complain as much about what I fix since he’s chosen what’s there. (He used to be VERY picky.) We don’t even order in pizza any more, he just picks up a store brand frozen pizza of the type he likes. He doesn’t like leftovers, but I like leftovers for breakfast or lunch, so nothing goes to waste. I’m not able to bake as much as I like, but cake mixes on sale are very handy for quick fixes, as are muffins from scratch. Since our kids are now all grown, it’s usually just the two of us. While they were little, though, a favorite hot lunch was a box of mac and cheese prepared with a can of tuna and frozen peas stirred in to cool it for them.
about 15 years ago the gov. cut back on welfare and everyone jumped in saying they couldn’t live on what they got.
Housing was paid for in most cases so after other expences they had about$200 for groceries.
I sat down looking at the flyers from our 2 grocery stores and made up a menu for a month.
There was turkey, pizza, breakfast, lunches to eat at home or take to school and even snacks.
Mind you the turkey was stretched to make up about 10 different meals and there was quite a bit of pasta. But it was a healthy diet with veg. and fruits.
It came in at $150. and that was in a small town with no options but to get groceries at our rather expensive stores.
turkey was made into soup stock, pot pies, stews and soups. the soup stock ended up being gravy for fries and the pot pies.
hamburger about a lb was made into macaroni and beef, put into the tomatoe sauce for spaghetti sauce, and about 1/2 a lb went into shepherds pie.
cabbage was made into coleslaw and one head can do about 3 dishes.
I sent it to the paper and was told it couldn’t be done since all the things were made from scratch and most of the clients using welfare couldn’t cook.
give me a break food banks say the same thing today.
so make them attend a few cooking classes put on for free by either institution and learn.
trying to feed the masses would certainly be helped by the classes and since when is learning to cook demeaning?
food is food and if you can stretch it so much the better.
Yes Grandma this is a true problem. Many food banks and places like that buy our books to give to these people because they don’t know how to cook or stretch their food dollar. We have even been asked to speak to teach about this but I don’t do too much speaking just because it wears me out so bad.
Jill or Tawra, when did you make that list with the prices?
pop by the litre here is about $2
dinner out runs into $100. and that is without alcohol and refills are free.
pizza delivery is $40 plus tip.
reg. cereal is about $5. a box and granola is $10.
went out one morning last month for breakfast with a friend. I had a bagel and coffee she had bacon eggs and toast with coffee.
$24 total plus a tip. she paid for the meals but I gave a $5. tip.
needless to say I make pancakes/toast/eggs and tea biscuits not all together at home and save a fortune.
also mine taste better. So why eat out. It takes me 5 min to make toast and eggs and serve my husband.
With hydro bills, water bills, taxes and phone and internet costs eating out is as low as low on my budget.
Canadian prices are a lot higher since we have to import so much of the fruits during the entire year that my prices are probably way more than many of you pay but everyone can save on what they eat. Just use some imagination.
I don’t use coupons and I never make beans from scratch.
Yes I think your prices are a little more Grandma. We can still get a 2 liter of pop on sale for $.89 and even name brand with out a coupon for $2.50 for a large box. If you buy off brand or use a coupon you can get it for cheaper still.
On another note to save time and my back I tried the pancakes in the oven.
made them up while the oven was heating poured it into a lipped pan then tossed some blueberries onto it. Put it in the oven and when it had firmed up I put bacon slices that I had cooked the other day. They heated while the pancake cooked.
It didn’t brown as much as we like so next time I will bake it at a bit higher temp or maybe try the broiler setting.
Don said to mark it as a keeper.
It was so nice to sit down instead of standing there flipping pancakes for 15 min.
Whoever came up with this my back thanks you.
I just found your site and am looking forward to taking a closer look. We have an ALDI the next town over that I shop at every week. For a family of 5 in CT, we spend about $125 on average. My husband is picky but my kids are learning to be more appreciative and frugal. It’s funny, my husband will come home and refuse to eat because he’s “not in the mood” for a certain kind of food, yet I’m trying to stretch this budget as far as I can and it seems he’s just defeating the purpose if he goes out and buys fast food because he doesn’t like what I prepared. Frustrating. I feel bad because he works so hard all day and deserves to have a good meal, but I’m working hard to make him one, it just takes some getting used to. Anyone else have that trouble?
I have discovered something at our little grocery store in the past couple of months.
Thursday after 4 in the afternoon which is when I shop the butcher comes out and starts placing discount prices on meat still on the shelf.
Most are for 30% off but some on a good day are 50% off. That is steaks roasts and chicken breasts and thighs.
I usually pick up the steaks and roasts and the chicken thighs.
I don’t buy the cold meats because they go bad so quickly and they are in and out of the cold being sliced and put back that it just isn’t worth the worry.
But if I can get blade steaks which I use for a number of different type meals at that saving I go home happy.
If you can figure out when the butcher does this in your stores it might be worth it to change your grocery day if you can.
All stores are different so go to your store at different times of the day or ask when the butcher marks things down and then try to shop at that time. I also do this with my fruits and veggie department. Mine is best on Thurs. morning but different stores have different times so check yours out. I rarely pay full price for meat but get it for about 50% off.
Oh, I used to clip coupons…then I stopped, because I noticed that I was spending more money on the newspapers to get the coupon circulars, than I was actually saving on product itself..That….and the fact, that most of the stuff I bought (fresh produce, meat etc) never comes with coupons. So I stopped clipping coupons. We make all meals fresh at home and that saves me a lot of money
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 
We don’t eat junk food at all and I don’t even buy the boxed cereals at all. We do have ice cream once in awhile like once a month and we certainly don’t drink pop. My husband and I eat out for breakfast once a mo. or so.
I only buy juices for smoothies that we have once in awhile since we don’t drink milk.
My husband drinks coffee from mcD’s and here and he doesn’t buy gourmet coffee. I don’t drink coffee. The girls don’t get fruit leather or anything like this. I do buy Simply Fruit for peanut butter and jelly for good health…no sugar. We spend about 600.00 a mo. on food and it seems it just isn’t enough for our family of 4. This is 150.00 each.Our girls are 15 and 13 and aren’t big eaters. I also cook by scratch. I don’t cook with canned soup, or even canned vegetables and I make my own taco seasoning and make my own salad dressing but I buy ketchup and mayonaise once in awhile. We don’t eat flour very much meaning pancakes, muffins, etc. and only buy Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread. We live in Oregon on the coast about 6 hrs. from some of the best crops in the nation but kind of remote and the food is expensive here. I just don’t see how I can cut anymore….