Week 17: How I Saved Over $75

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how to save money on groceries using coupons

Each week I share how I saved money, hoping that some of these frugal ideas could be helpful to you.

Check out the Resources Page for tons of other money saving resources!

If you’ve read other How I Saved posts, feel free to skip down to the deals.

If you’re new, here’s a little background about why I share my savings…

You’d be surprised how much money you can save when you really put your mind to it. It’s the accumulation of lots of small choices and habits that dictate the path your finances take.

The money that you save might seem meaningless in small amounts, but it truly adds up. It leaves more money in your bank account that you can use to pay off debt, save for the future, or do more of what you enjoy.

I absolutely love saving money and wanted to start sharing how I save each week. Not to show off, but to hopefully demonstrate different ways to save and maybe inspire you to want to do the same.

I strive to save on groceries, eating out, clothes, gifts, gasoline, etc. You name it, and I want to save money on it.

My main motivation for saving money is to pay off our mortgage in the next 2-3 years. Every dollar saved is in honor of that goal.

We’ve paid off thousands of dollars in debt over the past couple years. Wouldn’t it feel so awesome to be completely debt free? And get to keep most of your paycheck instead of immediately sending it away to pay bills? I think so.

I thought I’d share how much I save each week by using my favorite savings formula: combining sales and coupons. Or whatever other ways I come up with to be frugal. Hopefully some of these methods can be applied to your life.

You can get caught up and read the rest of the How I Saved posts here

Related: Flat out broke? Try these 5 tips.

Here are my savings for Week 17 – April 23-29

This post may contain affiliate links. You can view my full disclosure policy here.

coupon matchups

Grocery Savings:

This is the easiest way to cut back on spending and save money. Each week, plan your shopping trip(s) based on what’s on sale. Then combine those sales with matching coupons to get the most bang for your buck. I always aim for at least 50% savings.

Related: Use one of these 5 easy meal planning strategies to make the most of your grocery budget.

I use coupon matchup sites to plan my deals. My favorites are Kroger Krazy, Meijer Madness, and Bargains to Bounty. They make it so easy by spelling out exactly what the sale items are, and which coupons to use. Such a couponing time saver!

The absolute best place to print coupons is coupons.com. It’s where I get all my printable coupons.

Here are the deals!

As my April pantry use-up challenge comes to a close, I tried to buy as little as possible this week. However, there were a few coupon deals that I couldn’t pass up!

As mentioned in Week 14, I made the goal to spend $150 or less in groceries in April. The grand total ended up being $142, so I’m happy about that.

I try to do this twice a year, to clear out our freezer and pantry, and to save money. Sometimes all my couponing means we end up a bit…overstocked. : )

Meijer Shopping Trip:

I ran into Meijer for a few things. Thanks to an awesome Ibotta rebate, I profited $1 on some new Heinz mayo. When new products come out, there are usually great coupons and/or Ibotta rebates.

The mayo was on sale for $3.49, and Ibotta has a $4.50 rebate on it.

The Green Mountain coffee pods were on sale for $4.99, and I had a $1.50 off each coupon from a newspaper insert. This made them $3.49 per box.

Meijer had mailed me some coupons, including one for free Pillsbury refrigerator cookie dough, so I picked that up as well.

The ground beef was on sale for $1.99 a pound. I bought a 4 lb package, and preserved it in 1 lb portions using my Foodsaver to store in the freezer. I am trying to plan most of our meals from the freezer this month, but since we were almost completely out meat, I figured I’d buy beef at this rock bottom price.

Related: Read how I save hundreds of dollars on meat using my Foodsaver here.

Amount Saved: $22.99

Amount Spent: $15.08

Percentage Saved: 60%

how to save money on groceries using coupons

Kroger Shopping Trip:

Kroger had their Country Time lemonade mixes on sale for 99 cents, and I had $1 off 2 coupons. This made them 49 cents each. I bought 6 canisters, and used 3 coupons.

Gillette shave gel was on sale for $1.49, and there was a $1 off digital coupon. I paid 49 cents for one.

There was also a digital coupon for a free 4-pack of LaLa yogurt smoothie drinks.

I always make sure to do the survey on the bottom of my Kroger receipts, because that gives me 50 bonus fuel points. You can do a survey once every 7 days, which ends up being 200 extra fuel points a month. That gives me 20 cents off per gallon of gas. I’d say 95% of their receipts have surveys, so be sure to check!

Amount Saved: $21.59

Amount Spent: $3.43

Percentage Saved: 86%

Related: Want some basic grocery savings ideas? Here are 5 ways to save money without using coupons.

how to save money on groceries using coupons

Aldi Shopping Trip:

Aldi is one of the most effortless ways to save money on groceries. You’re going to save 20-50% on most  items there, compared to other stores. You don’t have to wait for sales at Aldi. Some items are a little cheaper during certain seasons, but everything is always affordable.

I buy many staple items there, or whatever else I need/want that I can’t get cheaper elsewhere. For the purpose of these How I Saved posts, I’m going to estimate a 30% savings (and I think that’s being conservative). I am saving money by shopping at Aldi, so it totally counts.

This week I bought applesauce, apples, bread, turkey lunchmeat, and thousand island dressing (to make turkey reuben sandwiches, yum!).

Related: Here are the 70 best things to buy at Aldi.

Amount Spent: $9.35

Amount Saved (assuming 30% savings): $2.80

I use a collapsible shopping basket like this one for my Aldi shopping.

Ibotta Savings: $4.75

For the Heinz mayo and 25 cents of ‘Any Item’ at Meijer.

New to Ibotta? Click here for a $10 welcome bonus! You can cash out your earnings or use them to get a gift card to tons of awesome places like Amazon, iTunes, Nike, Target, Uber, and many more!

how to save money on groceries using coupons

Gasoline Savings: $1.42

I used my 10 cents off a gallon discount at Kroger.

Miscellaneous Savings:

I had a $10 off ten dollars or more coupon for JcPenney. It’s the best coupon that they offer, because you only need to spend $10 to be able to use it.

When I have one of these hot little coupons, I go and try to find something under $15 to buy. I loved the shirt I bought in Week 13, so I got another one in a different color.

It was on sale for $14.99, so I paid $5.29 with tax.

Much of my wardrobe is made up of pieces that I spent $5 or less for, either from JcPenney or thrift stores. And I regularly get compliments on what I’m wearing. You don’t have to spend a lot to look nice!

Amount Saved: $27.01

Amount Spent: $5.29

how to save money on groceries using coupons

 

Grand Total Savings for Week 17: $75.81

(Plus probably $50ish from eating primarily from the freezer and pantry.)

Total Saved Year-to-Date: $1409.03

You can read the rest of the How I Saved posts here.

Don’t forget to check out the Resources Page for tons of other money saving resources!

What are your tricks for saving money? How much did you save this week?

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