Okay, I’ve watched Oprah and all of the other shows where moms are sav ing money hand over fist with their groceries. So, thinking that I’m of average intelligence, I thought I could do the same thing. Beginning in March, 2009, I decided to start saving money using coupons and pre-planned shopping. I’m sure there are lots of Hudson Valley moms doing the exact same thing.
Stocking The Arsenal
In order to get started on this new way of shopping I needed two things, coupons and a shopping list.
The shopping list was easy; all I had to do was look around the house to see what we were running low or running out of. The coupons, well, that meant that I had to remember to stop and get a copy of the Poughkeepsie Journal after church so I could cut out the coupons. Honestly, I expected to find more coupons, but I had to take what I could get.
First Grocery Shopping Excursion
As a newbie to the coupon stuff, I decided to try it out on Shop Rite and Stop and Shop. I find that Shop Rite has better prices so if I discovered I needed products that were not on my list, getting them at Shop Rite would most likely be cheaper than Stop and Shop.
Armed with my list and my all to few coupons, I managed to save $12.90 in Shop Rite and $3.90 in Stop and Shop for a total of $16.80 in savings. I actually spent $74.94 on groceries that week.
Second Time Better than the First
Happy, but not too impressed with my savings, I tried it again, but this time I expanded the stores. There are tons of grocery stores in the Hudson Valley so I I went to Stop & Shop, Shop Rite, Wal Mart and BJ’s. I managed to cut out the coupons that came in the mail. I usually throw the flyers and BJ’s Journal away, but now that I’m a coupon shopper, I thought I had better review them to see what I could use.
My second trip was better than the first week. I spent more money, but I also saved more. I ended up spending $155.42 but I saved $48.50. Not too bad for a second trip. I would have saved more if I had remembered that my daughter needed to bring cookies to school. At the last minute I had to run out and buy the cookies and spent too much for them. She wanted the ones from the bakery so I spent a bit more than I would if I had baked them myself. Oh well, a lesson learned.
I think This Hudson Valley Mom is Hooked
This coupon shopping and saving can be addicting. I managed to secure two $3 off my next order coupons from Shop Rite. I think combining one of them with the gallon-sized storage bags that are on sale for $1.59 
each would mean that I could buy two boxes of storage bags for 18 cents. That’s a deal too good to pass up.
Share Your Experience
For you Hudson Valley Moms and Dads out there who are experts at coupon shopping and saving money on groceries, please share your tips and tricks. I’d very much appreciate it.
