Don't Try Saving Money Without One of These

Saving money isn't easy.  There are many distractions in stores like fresh cooked donuts, or a nice roast sale, or even a bag of Cheetos in the Penny Pincher book!  Staying focused on saving money for your family is hard.  That's why I suggest you do not even attempt to try to save money with someone to help you.  Who is your support person?  Do you have one?  Let's talk about where to find one and what types of things you can do if you become someone else's saving money support person.

1.  A support person maybe just someone who you talk to regularly that asks you how your savings plan is going.  This person might not be a saver themselves. Yet it's someone who can remind you of your overall savings goal.  Are you saving to pay off a loan?  Or are you saving for a vacation?  Whatever the goal, this person should know all about your motivations and will help remind you of the big picture.

2.  Your savings partner can be a very active coupon user.  It's best to trade coupons with someone who doesn't buy all the same foods you buy.  This person may live on your street, or work in your office.  Maybe it's another parent from your child's school.  This person gives you coupons they do not want, and you reciprocate.  It's a great way to cut coupon gathering time and costs.

3.  Another type of savings support is having someone who helps you to keep track of your actual savings.  Saving your receipts is a good way to review your progress and seeing the actual dollars add up.  This person may also be in your Ibotta Teammate list.  That person provides a little motivation to keep seeing all the deals and tally up your monthly and annual savings with you.

4.  We often talk about what is saved when we buy groceries, but you need support at home to save as you consume groceries.  Your family is a big support network.  Sit them down and talk about how you can all help out by eating leftovers, packing snacks for the road, and not wasting half opened items.  This area of savings takes help.  If you are trying to to it all yourself you are going to be very tired and frustrated!  Have a sit down at the kitchen table and get everyone on board.  Maybe the kids need a goal too.  For example, if you don't find a half consumed bottle of tea all week, you kids get to go to the movies.

One of the most frustrating things about being the saver in the family, is feeling like you are alone.  You are not!  There are so many savers in the County Market world, and you can connect with all of us.  Use our Facebook page to share tips and successes of your savings adventure.


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All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

WANT Shopping VS NEED Shopping

Saving money with coupons is easy. So easy, that it is widely accepted as a way to quickly cut some money out of your budget when you need a quick cut back.  Coupons and curbed grocery shopping is the number one tip on many lists of ways to save money immediately.  Few people see the long term use of coupons and grocery smarts as the way to long term savings success.

Long term coupon shopping can effect the way you shop for everything.  As you gather your coupons weekly, look at the sales and start to become aware of price cycles you will find that your impulse buying is naturally curbed.  You no longer NEED to buy groceries today, because you have several things on hand to cover your meals for the next few days.  You do not NEED to pay full price on coffee or your favorite soft drink because you already have one on the shelf that you saved money on when you bought it.  You do not NEED to pick up snacks or convenience food because it's something you are always on the lookout for and you recognize a good price and an advertised price.

WANT still exists.  Sometimes I want to prepare a food I'm craving, and I WANT it now!  Usually I have most of the ingredients and only need a couple thing.  One or two items of WANT per week is not going to blow your weekly or annual budget.  The other 90 to 120 items you buy are all either coupon steals, or sale deals.  So you are saving money on each and every one of those items.  The WANT will only add a couple dollars to your cart total.

It's the long term curbing of the NEED's that will yield the highest savings.  In my home, I keep the grocery budget.  Anytime I am way under on that budget I find lots of ways to spend my surplus on my kid, or family.  Many times, I save that grocery surplus for trips.  I keep a little passbook savings account at a local bank to put deposits.  This gives me a chance to really see the savings.  Once, we went to Disney on 18 months of coupon savings.  We didn't hold back on that trip!  Most recently, I took our grocery savings from last spring and we travelled to Niagara Falls.  Travel is my thing.  I love vacations and seeing new places.  I allow my NEEDs and WANTs to pay for my travels.

My grocery savings have changed the way I buy just about everything.  Back in my 20's, if I wanted a
new computer, I just picked it out, plopped it on a credit card and bought it.  Now I wait.  I look for a sale of the exact item I want.  I don't get temped to buy a box of cereal, when I really want a jar of pickles.  I'm more discriminating as a buyer.  I look for long term use of products and value more than immediate gratification.  For example, I buy clothes that are wearable in multiple seasons, and skip that winter coat that only looks good a couple times per year. This comes from my experience of buying shelf stable goods that are used in multiple recipes, and skipping the sauce or flavoring that is only good in one recipe.

Of course, I look for sales on household items more now.  There was a time when decorating the house was driven by the latest home trend.  Now I decide exactly the look I want, and realize that sales cycles do repeat.  Just like at County Market, I will see my favorites on sale sometime within a four month window.  Patience will reward me with huge discounts.  Why buy that cool lamp today when I can save 50% on it if I just wait a few weeks? Then there's always that question of do I NEED a new lamp or WANT a new lamp?

Saving money this week, or this month is fast.  You can see the savings very quickly, but they are not huge dollars.  It's when you add up the weeks, and months to see that over all in one average year you can save up to $2000 for your family with little effort.  It really shifts the way you will shop for everything.


Come visit at County Market Coupon News on Facebook

Visit County Market Coupon News Cookin w Coupons's profile on Pinterest

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!

Don't Make This Savings Mistake

Some shoppers simply don't want to coupon shop.  They don't have access to a smartphone, or a reliable newspaper insert service.  There are many reasons most people do not coupon shop. I've heard just about every excuse possible over the past 9 years.  Only about 6% of all shoppers are bargain driven coupons.  The other folks, would rather do something else to save money.  Coupons are something they don't want to do.  The good news is that they can still save a lot of money, thousands of dollars, by avoiding this one shopping mistake.

Don't buy just one item.  That's the biggest mistake shoppers make.  They see an item on sale, and they pick up one item and put it in their cart.  No one brags about saving $.30 at the grocery store.  No one loads up their next 401K deposit with $.30 at a time. It's the dollars, and hundreds that people want to save. Buying multiple items compounds your savings.

Let's say this week at County Market there are 130 items on sale.  You guessed it, there actually are 130 items on sale weekly at County Market!  Every week there are sale items, web specials, and clearance items all on sale.  Now let's say that 30 are brands and products you buy regularly. What if you picked up ONLY sale items this week while you shopped?  Now let's say that you figured out that you need 8 of most of them to be 6 month supply.  Now you're putting 48 sale items in your cart and saving $72 on the goods.  Now we are talking about a small chunk of money.

Let's take this scenerio a bit further.  Now let's say that each week when you shop, you actually save $72 from purchasing sale items, and placing those savings in your cabinets to fill you up over a 6 month period. Each week, you save money, and rotate your inventory.  You suddenly find that you have a surplus of shelf stable pantry foods, purchased at a low price, and you have money left over in your budget to do other things. In six months time, you are "Caught Up" in the sales/savings cycle and regularly have a lower budget.

An average shopper can become a sales shopper and save $3744 per year.  This is for an average family of 4.  Now think about all the things you can do with your extra $3744 this year.





Come visit at County Market Coupon News on Facebook

Visit County Market Coupon News Cookin w Coupons's profile on Pinterest

All internet coupon print limits are subjective. At the time of this email coupons were available for print. If the daily or weekly print limit has been reached, the coupon will be automatically pulled from the websites. You can try to print again tomorrow. All coupons listed are not available in our stores. We list them so you can order or find them to save you money. Check with clipping services, trade boards, or ebay to find coupons not in your store. It is our intent to help you find as many savings opportunities as possible. Enjoy!