Screamin Coupons- All of Our Readers who Sign Up Through Us Get a $5 Sign Up Credit!

Planning My Meals this week

Thursday, February 19, 2009 | | 0 comments
Here are the dinner's I plan on making this week with the items I have on hand and bought on sale.

Grands Chicken and Biscuits Casserole
This recipe calls for 2 cans of chicken pot pie Progresso soup and a container of Grands Biscuits. All three of those item I was able to buy on sale this week

Grands Chicken Chile Bake
Last week I was able to pick up chicken on Albertson's feed a family of four special and this week I bought Grands Biscuits on sale. The rest of the ingredients I have on hand from a left over Superbowl party recipe I did.

Chicken Soup and Grands Biscuits
For this recipe I have Progresso Chicken noodle soup and the biscuits. The only other two ingredients it calls for are an egg and chicken broth. Most of us have those items on hand too!

Macaroni Grill Pasta Kit
This only calls for oil and 2 chicken breasts. Both of those I have on hand. I plan on adding the last bag of salad I purchased from last week and a box of rice a roni from 3 weeks ago.

Grands Corn Dogs
My boys will love these. I have tons of hot dogs left over from Jaxson's birthday party and of course Grand's biscuits again. The only other ingredients you need are ketchup and mustard.

Grands Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
So easy! I have all the ingredients on hand, biscuits, cheese (bought some 4 weeks ago and froze some), and oil. I will serve it with Progresso Minestrone soup I bought on sale this week!

Pepperoni Stuffed Biscuits
These look so yummy. I have spaghetti sauce I bough on sale last week, biscuits from this week, mozzarella cheese in the freezer , green peppers in the freezer and I am going to use some ground beef I have in my freezer instead of pepperoni and I plan on omitting the pesto basil.

Mexican Bubble Pizza
This looks so good, but I don't have all the right ingredients, but if you did it sure looks yummy.

As I was shopping a lady next to me was feeding a family of 11 and made the comment that for free biscuits her kids could eat them with peanut butter and jelly. I loved that comment because we should be planning are meals around the things we are buying otherwise what good is all this extra food to us. I hope this helps some of you have an easier time planning meals around the items we are buying on sale!

Show and Tell

Well I didn't end up stealing, but I came close! Here is what I walked away with!
7 Betty Crocker Frostings
9 Betty Crocker Cookie mix
11 Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie mix
4 Cheerio snack mix bags
40 Pillsbury Biscuits
20 Fruit Gushers/Fruit Snacks/Fruit Roll Ups
4 Pillsbury Crescent rolls
3 Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Bars
13 Betty Crocker Warm delights
1 Bold Party Chex mix
5 Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls
2 Macaroni Grill Pastas
4 Ready Made Pillsbury Cookies
1 Box Toaster Strudels
3 Chex Mix bars
10 cans Progresso soups
2 Bags of Chips
2 packages beef jerky
____________________
144 Items
I spent $54.84 (I need to remember to calculate a few dollars in for tax!)
I saved $357.21
I saved 86.7% on my grocery bill!

How to Start

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 | | 7 comments
How to Get Started

Getting the Coupons
To make this system work you need to have one set of coupons per a person in your family. The coupons inserts are found in Sundays newspapers. For our family that means I receive four Sunday papers. I know that sounds like a lot, but to be able to buy in bulk you’ll want them. I personally tried using the system without the coupons and I wasn’t nearly as successful after ordering a newspaper subscription. I highly reccomend 1 paper per person in your home, even babies. Grocery Smarts has negotiaed with the papers to get us a good deal on papers, so if you are interested I can place an order for you so you can start getting the paper quickly and save big! I highly recommend one per a person in your family, even babies.

Organizing the Coupons
Once you get your coupons the best way to organize them is in a hanging file. I date every ad that comes in with Sundays date, file them in the appropriate file and don’t even look at them until the Grocery Smarts website tells me which ones to cut out.

Using the Coupons
When I found out I had to use coupons to make this system work I was skeptical because I had used coupons in the past and had no success saving money. I remember I had a coupon for .50 cents of one Betty Crocker frosting. The normal price was 1.67, so that made it 1.17. The store brand right next to it was only .89, so I obviously purchased the store brand. Well, after I started using this system here is what happened a few months later. Betty Crocker Frosting was on sale for .67 and I used the same .50 cents of one coupon. That would make the frosting .17 cents compared to the store brands .89 cents. Imagine if you had a coupon for every person in your house. For me that meant 4 cans of name brand frosting for .68. Pretty cool!

Store ads change weekly and new items go on sale. The object is to use your coupons when those items go on sale. Grocery Smarts is a FREE website with no registration or logins needed that will tell you exactly which items go on sale when and when to use our coupons. Grocery Smarts lists the items on sale that week and rates them between 1-5 stars. They also list the normal and sale price and which coupons to use that week so you get the maximum amount of savings possible. This website does all the work for you and its FREE!

Shopping
The next step is going to buy your products. A lot of people are hesitant to use coupons thinking it will make checkout difficult and slow, but that is not the case. You send your items through the check stand and then you hand the checker your pile of coupons. You don’t need to place the coupons separately with the item your purchasing. The checker will SCAN in the coupons. They do not need to manually type anything in anymore. The process takes an extra 30 seconds. Usually the people behind you are curios any way and ask how you save so much money. Share your secret with them!

Show and Tell
This is my favorite part of the entire process. I bring in the loads of groceries I purchased and ask my family, “how much do you think this costs?”. They are always so far off! I then organize it, take a picture and share my savings with everyone. I would love for you all to e-mail me with your savings so I can feature you on my web page!

Putting it Away
After I check out my loot I begin putting the items away. The last few months have been incredible to watch. I recently cut my budget to $50 a week from the usual $150 and my pantry shelves have been filling up so fast I keep thinking I will need more room soon! I feel so confident in know I am building food storage and preparing my family for the worst case scenario. The best part is I am able to build a food storage with less money than I was spending weekly without putting items away for storage!

Tracking Your Savings
To me the system wasn’t worth it unless I knew I was truly saving money. I began tracking my savings in an excel document and couldn’t believe how much I was saving weekly, monthly and yearly. Take a few minutes after you put away your groceries and write down how much you saved.

A fun and exciting process
This system truly changed my life. As soon as I started receiving my coupons I started seeing the savings. At first it was hard to say my budget was only $50 a week because I was having a hard time planning a menu around only sale items, but eventually I had so many meals sitting in my pantry and freezer the possibilities became endless. This system is for anyone who wants to save money. It easy to follow and a lot of fun. It will save you money and help build your food storage.

Autism Resources

Sunday, February 15, 2009 | | 2 comments
My son was diagnosed with Autism at the beginning of 2010. At first it was completely overwhelming. All that was handed to me was a tissue and a stack of papers that read "Start Here". After crying and feeling sorry for myself, I decided I was going to do everything I could to help my son. I immediately began immersing myself into learning what Autism was and what options my son and our family had. This section of the blog is where I will share with you what resources I have found helpful.
My son and I are still embarking on this scary journey together, so this list will be updated often.

Advertise

Thank you for your interest in advertising with Couponing for Autism and Healthy Families.

Couponing for Autism and Healthy Families has a monthly average of 22,000 visitors and 30,000 page views.

Advertising Options

Advertising Spot in our Sponsors Section

  • 30 Days- $25
  • 60 Days- $45

Host A Giveaway

Giveaways are a great way to increase traffic to any business or website. When you sponsor a giveaway, we send our readers to your site in order to receive an entry into the giveaway. If any business is interested in sponsoring a giveaway of a product or service, they must first contact us with what product or service they are offering. If we believe it keeps in theme and would appeal to our audience we will contact you with a date we would run your giveaway. All giveaways must be valued at $30 or more.

The cost to host a giveaway is $20 unless your giveaway is apart of a product review.

Payment

All payments for advertising are accepted through pay pal.

Contact

We look forward to working with you. You can send all inquires about advertising to couponingforautism@gmail.com

Newspaper Deals for the Coupons


Alright if you haven't already figured out to get Shop and Tells like we are, you need a Sunday newspaper for every person in your home. Everything else you need to make this work is FREE.

Through Grocery Smarts we are able to offer you the LOWEST price on a subscription to Sundays only paper possible! It is super inexpensive to order multiple copies of just Sundays paper which is the only day you get coupons in the paper.
We do not work for the papers, but have just worked out a deal with them to be able to sell the papers at the best available rate.

There is nothing else you need to get started on saving big like this. Grocery Smarts lists are FREE, the classes are FREE and so is our blog.

Because there are so many newspapers in the state of Utah and each area has different options it would be confusing to post all the prices here, but the paper will end up costing you less than $1.00 and you know you are getting the best rate possible and also supporting the lists and website your are already using each week.
By getting a paper subscription there are 8 benefits
  • You don't have to get out of bed at 7am to run down to the gas station to make sure you'll get your papers
  • If you get your paper at the gas station and the inserts are missing, most times it because someone took them, there is nothing to do. It's sad but a reality.
  • The newspaper companies are not subject to giving the same coupons to the gas station as they are to subscribers.
  • If an insert is ever missing out of a paper (it happened to me for the first time last week) and you are a subscriber, just call the paper and let them know. Monday they brought me my missing RPs.
  • When you go on vacation you can put your subscription on hold so you aren’t missing any coupons
  • It helps keep Grocery Smarts lists and classes stay FREE
  • It's cheaper to get a subscription than it is to buy the papers individually each week.Through Grocery Smarts we can get you the paper for less than a $1.00.
  • It helps the newspapers stay a float in a struggling economy

To start delivery of your papers right away e-mail us at couponingforautism@gmail.com. We place our orders on Fridays! Be sure to tell us where you live and if you are currently a subscriber to a paper.


* Note-You cannot call the newspaper yourself and request this deal. You will need to e-mail us so we can help you get your order placed

Coupon 101

10 Steps to Becoming a Coupon Pro
Are you ready to buy all your families’ groceries, household, and personal care items (including diapers) all for about $200 for a family of four even five- while building massive food storage at the same time? Do you want to shop at only on grocery store without having to chase down GREAT deals? Do you still want to eat healthy, have a well balanced diet and have ease in meal planning? Then keep reading about how to make grocery smarts work for you! There is no clipping and filing individual coupons and you get to use the FREE website that does all the work for you!

How much would you guess is the average box of cereal?

Most people guess around $3.00. For less than the average price of a box of cereal, we were able to purchase this box of cereal, plus all these groceries!


Cereal .25
Goldfish .35
Brownie Mix .68
Progresso Soup FREE
Toothbrush .10
Dawn Dish Soap .15
Honey Nut Cheerios Snack Mix .35
BBQ Sauce .18
Garnier Fructis Hair Gel FREE
Ranch Dressing FREE
Fruit Snacks .50
Cookie Mix .17
Frosting .12
Total $2.85




People read through that list and think there is no way that grocery stores give away things for FREE. It doesn’t quite work like magic, but what will happen is the grocery store will put Kraft dressing on sale for $1.50 and in the newspaper there will be a manufactures coupon for $1.50 off any Kraft dressing. If you use the coupon that week it makes it FREE.

There are also a couple things to point out about these groceries for $3.00.
  • First is that occasionally people will notice that they wouldn’t use anything on that list in their home and that’s okay! These are just the things we use in our homes, so these are the items we have purchased in the past, however every single item in the grocery store goes on sale like this. Whether you are lactose intolerant, on a diet, or all organic this can work for you too!
  • Second is that we recommend getting one newspaper per person in your home. This lets you buy things in bulk and build up food storage. Both of us get one set of newspapers per person in our home. This means that we purchased 4 of everything here and only spent $12.04! Yeah for a inexpensive way to build up food storage!
  • Third is that you won't be spending HOURS clipping out coupons for a binder. We will only clip out what coupons we plan on using that week. Did you know that only about 50% off coupons are actually used? Why clip out the other 50% if we aren't even going to use them!

Step #1 Getting and Organizing the Coupons

You have probably already figured out that to start saving like people are in Shop and Tell posts you need to combine sale items with manufactures coupons. The only day of the week the manufactures coupons come in the paper are on Sundays. The only place to get them is in Sunday’s paper. We taught a class where a girl raised her hand and said we were wrong and that she bought hers on e-bay. We asked her how much she was paying for them. She quickly responded $3.00 plus shipping and handling. We then told her news she wasn't excited about. "The newspapers are only 2.00 at the local newspaper stands on Sunday and most weeks they have multiple inserts in them." We all laughed. The awesome news is that Grocery Smarts can get you an even better deal than that on papers too!

At our home each week I receive 4 Sunday papers, one per person in my home. People always ask, "What in the world are you going to do with all that extra paper." We have neighbors who enjoy getting a free paper from me, one lady told us she uses it as compost in her garden, but my favorite thing to do is donate them to the local elementary schools recycling bins. They get paid for the paper by the pound so we dump our papers there every other month or so. After I bring the papers in from my driveway on Sunday all I do is pull out the coupon inserts. The coupon insert schedule is over on the right hand side of this blog. You can see from Jan-Dec exactly what coupons you will get what weeks.

There are 3 main types of inserts;

1) Proctor and Gamble (P&G)- These coupons come once a month. They are Proctor and Gambles own coupons; Pampers, Mr. clean, Herbal Essence, etc.
2) Smart Source (SS)
3)Red Plum (RP)
SS and RP are just companies that print the coupons. One week you might see Tree Top applesauce coupons in SS and the next month in RP. There is no rhyme or reason to them. They just print the coupons.

Coupons come weekly, except on holidays. On Holiday weekends no coupons are sent out. This is why. Newspaper companies do not like to pay employees overtime to sit and stuff coupons in the paper, so what they do is make up for it by doubling the coupons up either the week before or after. Cool huh! Another thing, occasionally the papers are human and make mistakes and forget an insert. When you are a subscriber all you do is call the paper and let them know you were missing an insert and they will deliver it to you.

After I pull out all 4 sets of coupons I take them and with a sharpie marker, just mark Sunday's date on the inserts. Super easy huh! No clipping or filing away by category!

My picture shows RP inserts from 5/3, 5/10 and 5/17.
Then I file them away in my hanging file!



My files are listed like this:



SS Feb
SS March
SS April
SS May
SS June
RP Feb
RP March
RP April
RP May
RP June
P&G Feb
P&G March
P&G April
P&G May
P&G June

(If you blow up the picture you can see that I have other folders in the back. I just use those to help me organize other coupons I find in the stores, mail or on the ground! My husband calls me a coupon magnet! It really is true too. I find coupons in parking lots, peoples cars, at the store, on products themselves, online; you name it I have found a coupon there. Those folders just help me keep all the EXTRA coupons I find organized.) I also use to just have ONE folder for SS, RP, and P&G, but they got so big it was hard to take inserts in and out, so by having them divided up by month too it helped me pull them out fast and locate them quickly.
To find out how to get MORE coupons like I have in my file folder click here.

(I can't believe my expensive camera couldn't get a nicer picture than this!)
Occasionally mother companies will send out additional insert such as General Mill’s or Kellogg’s that are specific to their products. I just make an additional file for inserts like those.
Last thing-The last coupon in the booklet doesn't expire until about 5 months. So after you have been getting around 5 months worth of papers, plan on putting one in, and taking one out! In fact we even tell you when it is time to throw away coupons every Friday in our post called “Tidy Up Friday
After I file them away on Sunday I sit back and do NOTHING! So easy huh! No binders, scissors, or even baseball card holders. A system like this makes coupons easy, quick and manageable for busy families!


Step 2- Maximizing and Using Coupons the Right Way

When I found out I had to use coupons to make this system work I was skeptical because I had used coupons in the past and had no success saving money. I remember I had a coupon for .50 cents of one Betty Crocker frosting. The normal price was 1.67, so that made it 1.17. The store brand right next to it was only .89, so I obviously purchased the store brand. Well, after I started using this system here is what happened a few months later. Betty Crocker Frosting was on sale for .67 and I used the same .50 cents of one coupon. That would make the frosting .17 cents compared to the store brands .89 cents. Imagine if you had a coupon for every person in your house. For me that meant 4 cans of name brand frosting for .68. Pretty cool! All you are going to be doing is combining coupons with items on sale at the grocery store.

Every single item in the grocery store goes on sale every 3-4 months or quarterly. If you knew that you went through one box of Electrosal tablets every month, wouldn’t it make sense to buy 3-4 boxes when they went on sale? That way you never pay retail price again! Well let’s make this an even sweeter deal! Let’s combine it with a coupon. If Electrosal tablets are normally $5.89 and they go on sale for $2.99 that would make a great deal, but now let’s combine it with a coupon! Use your coupon from Sunday’s paper for $2.50 off any box of Electrosal tablets. That makes each box .49. I have one coupon per person in my home so that would mean I would buy 4 boxes for 2 dollars. Maximize those coupons. We like to tell people it really is all about timing. It wouldn’t have made a difference to go to the store and use my $2.50 off coupons when Electrosal was $5.89. That didn’t save me a ton, but by waiting until it goes on sale for $2.99 and using my coupons that becomes a STEAL. It also wouldn’t have done me any good to have only one coupon for Electrosal tablets. If I had done this I would have bought one box for .49 and then the next couple months I would have had to pay full price when I purchased my dish washing tablets. At that point the coupon isn’t worth your time or money. When you wait for an item to go on sale and you have multiple coupons it makes the process worth your time and money.

Store ads change weekly and new items go on sale. The object is to use your coupons when those items go on sale. There are occasions when you may absolutely need something and it isn’t on sale. Get ready for another post tomorrow on how to handle these situations!

Step #3 The $50 Budget

My family of 4 is able to spend $50 a week easily on everything we need to eat healthy and still build up food storage. I think a family of 5 and maybe even 6 could use this budget. I have two boys in diapers and one using formula, so I imagine people that aren't in that situation could spend less.

During my first 3-4 months of using coupons I was in my "stock up phase."
I spent $50 for my pantry type items (aisles 1-17).
Then I took an additional $10-$20 for fresh food items (milk, eggs, cheese, bread, fruits, and vegetables). Typically my fresh food items were the things that I needed to make my meals "realistic" or even healthy. In the summer time your budget could possibly be even less if you planted a garden or if you canned a lot from your garden for the winter time. To read out past posts about preserving foods click here.

After my stock-up phase it was so easy to spend only $50 for EVERYTHING.
$30 goes to replacing what I have used in my pantry whether its food, cleaning supplies or cosmetic items.
$20 goes to buying the fresh food items and whatever I need to make healthy meals for my family.
If you’re new to She Shops Smart your probably thinking there is no way you could spend $50 on stock-up items. You would use all that food in one week. Well, think about it this way, when Kraft dressing goes on sale for $1.50 and your coupon is good for $1.50 off 1 that makes it FREE. If you had one coupon for every person in your home, in my case 4, that means I end up with 4 free bottles of Kraft dressing. That will easily last me until it goes on sale again in 3-4 months. Or what if Capri Suns ended up costing you .50 and you could buy 8 boxes of them. You are spending way less and building up food storage all at the same time. Next time things go on sale for those rock bottom prices you will just continue to replace what you have used.
It seriously works like magic too. I remember being on my last zip lock bag and thinking I hope they go on sale soon, and sure enough they went on sale that very next week!
I honestly could spend $30-$40 a week, but I am trying so hard to build up my long term food storage that I spend the entire $50 budget. I hope that in a few months I have my food storage and I can cut my budget to even less than $50.

How to Budget in Diapers:
The most frequent question I get is about getting diapers for less. I have a few tips:

1) WALGREENS and RITEAID when they offer RR deals and rebate checks on their diapers
2) Using a coupon, even for only $1.50, is better than no coupon at all.
3) Know your prices. Decide that by the highest price per diaper you would pay.
4) Compare the price per diaper to the Costco comparison here to see which has the better price. 5) Honestly, a lot of weeks when I buy diapers I am just using a measly $1.50/1 coupon, but I figure I am under $50 and still building food storage, so no matter what I paid full price for its okay, because the most important thing to me is to be under $50.

Be Flexible:
One other thing I like to keep in mind when I say $50 is that you need to stay flexible. Some weeks you might see that a TON of what you use is on sale. BUY it if you know you are going to need it. Don't not buy it because you'll spend over $50. The next week only spend $40 instead of $50, or if you need to spend $100 in one week and take the next week off. In the long run if you don't buy it you will spend more on it in the future when it is not on sale do it. When all is said and done at the end of the month as long as you stayed in your budget who cares if you spend $100 one week, none the next, $25 in week 3 and $75 during week 4.

Step #4 Planning out your Shopping Trip and Meal Plan

Once a week new items go on sale at the grocery store. They are advertised in their weekly circulars that come in your mail, typically on Tuesdays. Sometime during that week log on to the grocery smarts lists and plan a trip to the store.
Grocery Smarts is a FREE website with no registration or log ins needed that will tell you exactly which items go on sale when and when to use our coupons. Grocery Smarts lists the items on sale that week and rates them between 1-5 stars. They list the sale price and which coupons to use that week so you get the maximum amount of savings possible. This website does all the work for you and its FREE!

Here are the states we currently have lists for:

Arizona
Eastern Washington
Idaho
Nevada-Las Vegas
Southern California
What if your state doesn’t have a passport?
If your state isn’t listed above, we are working hard to get it up and running, but in the meantime, don’t let that stop you from saving BIG on your groceries. You just won’t have the luxury of having all the work done for you. You can compare the lists and see if any of them are similar to your area. If they are that would be GREAT, if not just pull out your weekly ads, see what is on sale and match up any coupons you can!

Every week the lists are updated with the current sale items, prices, and what coupons to use to get items at rock bottom prices, or even FREE. Every week since I have been using grocery smarts, something has been FREE. Here are some of the stores that She Shops Smart readers in Utah normally shop at and their sale dates:


Albertsons-Wednesday-Tuesday (check for your stores hours)
Smiths- Wednesday-Tuesday (check for your stores hours)
Macey's- Wednesday-Tuesday (check for your stores hours)
Associated Foods- Some run Wednesday-Tuesday, others run Monday-Saturday (check with your store to be certain)
Walgreens- Sunday-Saturday (check for your stores hours)



To check out the sales a couple days early look for our Preview posts on the blog. This way you can plan ahead and clip your coupons out before the sale starts.
People ask me; does this mean we have to shop weekly? NO! If items that you would use in the next few months are on sale then you should go shopping. If nothing you would use is on sale, then don’t go. During my first 3-4 months, or stock up phase, I did try to go weekly, but now that my pantry is fully stocked I only go every couple weeks.

When you log on to your state’s list plan your shopping trip out. I use the list, I like to say religiously. I stick to my plan and don't let the signs at the store lure me into buying things that aren't really on sale. A lot of times I will have people call me and say, "You forgot to put this 3 tombstone pizzas, get 2 free deal that is advertised in the circular on the list!” I just remind people that just because it's being advertised in the ad, doesn't mean it’s a great deal! They are called "eye catchers" and they are there to get you in the store and buy their products. Don't let that happen to you!!!

After I go through and look at the list and I print off any online coupons I might need.

Online Coupons
So now you are super excited to get going, but be patient. When you log on to look at this week shopping lists you will see things for FREE, but you may not be able to get them because you don’t have coupons from past weeks. That’s okay; you can still save some using online coupons. After 3-4 weeks of receiving your coupons in the newspaper you will be able to buy almost every item you want to on the list. Until then you still want to save to take advantage of online coupons. After you have your coupons from the paper you will probably use less IP (internet printables). We personally only use IP’s if it makes an item FREE. Other than that we have found the coupons in the newspaper more valuable. The first of every month is when the IP’s reset. Coupons Group; A, B C and Singles can be found on the lists. If there is an online coupon that coordinates with an item on sale it will be on the list. You do not have to search for your own online coupons.
Here are some tips about online or Internet printable coupons:

  • Internet Printables are abbreviated, IP's
  • Manufactures set limits on the amounts of coupons printed. When the limit is reached they pull their coupons off. That means occasionally you will go the print a coupon and it will be gone unless you printed it off at the beginning.
  • This is even more important toward the end of a month. Coupons group A-C are reset at the first of the month, so on the FIRST, when the coupons reset, they started out at zero.
  • Sometimes manufactures will reset their coupons after the limit is reached, but don't count on it. Just consider yourself lucky if they do.
  • Some people have problems printing IPS. I wish I could help out in that area, but I am not tech savvy enough. I have heard that switching browsers can help. Example: On Internet Explorer and they won't print try Fire Fox or vice versa. Another great resource is pinching your pennies. They have an entire forum to troubleshooting your IPS. Some questions to commonly asked IP questions answered:
  • Where are online coupons located? All over! You can see over the the left hand side of this there are online coupons, group A-Singles . You can also find coupons on manufactures websites, you can receive them via-email and sometimes websites will give them to you after you join their mailing lists or take a survey for them. When the Grocery Smarts lists are up you will see links that take you to online coupons. The best parts about those lists are that if there are coupons online, they are on the lists. You will never have to search for coupons for items on the list yourself! Grocery Smarts lists do all the work for you.
  • "Are IP'S worth it? It seems like a lot of paper and ink to be wasting." My answer is it depends. I think after you have a couple months worth of newspaper coupons its hit and miss. I only print ones of that make things close to FREE or if it is something I really like or know I will need. You'll never catch me printing of cereal coupons or toothpaste coupons. That is because I have DOZENS of them from my newspaper.
  • Now, if you are staring out and only have a few coupons from the paper on the list then I definitely recommend using IPS to maximize your savings. My sister in law started out and only had a weeks worth of coupons, but wanted to start saving right away, so she maximized her coupons by using IPS. She told me her husband was frustrated by all the paper in ink she was using, but after she shopped she had saved over $50. That paper and ink WAY over paid for itself. IP'S are a great way of subsidizing newspaper coupons, but not a great substitute! Newspaper coupons will benefit you way more in the long end.
  • "How long do IP'S last". IP’s have expiration dates on them the same way other coupons do. Most times they expire WAY faster than the ones in the paper. That's why I only print the ones off from the list that week. Otherwise they tend to expire before I have a chance to use them.
  • "Can we print them off in black and white?" It depends on your store. Some stores will take black and white, some will not. Be sure to ask if you are planning on trying black and white. There reason behind that is they are trying to protect themselves from illegal photocopied coupons.
  • Do all stores take IP's and the answer is no. Not all stores do take IPS. I do know that Albertsons, Associated Foods (as of Aug. 1st) and Smiths DO! My suggestion with other stores is to call ahead and ask if you are planning on using them on your shopping trip.
  • Also don't forget the two IP's per HOUSEHOLD rule!
After I print off my Ip's I print off my list of items to buy. Then I go through and figure out how many of each item I am going to buy. I normally buy as many items as I can with my coupons. For example, if Captain Crunch cereal is on sale for $1.67 and my coupon is for $1.50 of any box I could buy 4 at .17 cents a piece, because I get 4 Sunday papers. If Darigold yogurt goes on sale for .50 and the coupon is for $1/2, then I would be able to buy 8 Darigold yogurts, because my 4 coupons each buy me two yogurts for free.

I also go through and figure out what else might need for my meal plan that week and add it to my "other items I need" section at the bottom of the list.

Meal Planning with Ease
When you log on to your lists you will see in the coupon index column it will sale N/A or not available for some items. This just means that there can be 4-5 star items that don’t need coupons. Typically it ends up being your produce, meats and other fresh food items. By incorporating those items into your menu plans you will save $100’s of dollars! Every week we do a post called Meal Planning. We will provide 6 breakfast, 6 lunch and 6 dinner ideas. Every item that is included in the meal plan is on sale at one store that week. Every Thursday we also choose an item that is on a great sale that week and we will give you some recipes that incorporate that ingredient into your meals. To see some of our past posts click here.
After I plan out what I am buying, how much of each product I am buying, and the other things I might need for meal planning that week I just quickly jot down my expected amount I am going to spend. I like to do that, so then when I am checking out, if the bill is way off I will know to ask if something didn't ring up the right way.
And the last thing I do is cut out the newspaper manufactures coupons from my hanging file. The coupon location tells you exactly where to find your coupons. Here is an example; the Captain Crunch cereal coupon for $1.50 of a box is located in RP 5/15. So I would know to go to my file, find Red Plums insert from May 15 and cut out the $1.50 off Captain Crunch cereal. I would repeat the process until all 4 coupons were cut out from my 4 inserts.

Now my list is ready, my online coupons are printed and my newspaper coupons are cut and ready to go! I put all my coupons and list in my sleeve and that is all I take with me to the grocery store.



Step #5 Shopping and Checking Out

The next step is going to buy your products. People tend to be weary that grocery stores will frown on coupon usage, but absolutely NOT. In fact they encourage it. Nobody is loosing anything by shopping this way. The grocery stores are reimbursed for the face value of coupons plus .8 cents! So, we actually make them some money by using our coupons at their store.
A lot of people are hesitant to use coupons thinking it will make checkout difficult and slow, but that is not the case either. You send your items through the check stand and then you hand the checker your pile of coupons. You don’t need to place the coupons separately with the item you’re purchasing. The checker will SCAN in the coupons. They do not need to manually type anything in anymore. The process takes an extra 30 seconds. Usually the people behind you are curious any way and ask how you save so much money. It’s not uncommon to even be clapped at. Feel free to share your secret with them!

What if you get there and the item you wanted to buy wasn’t in stock?
You have 4 different options to choose from:

A) Price matchThe most common store to price match at is Walmart. You need to be sure you have the ad with you in case they ask to see the price you are matching. Walmart will match qualifying competitor’s stores ads. When you are price matching you have to make sure it is the exact brand, size and quantity that the product in the ad is for. You may also price match a name brand product to a WF or GV brand product as long as it is the same size. You can also use a coupon with an item you are price matching.The only thing you can not price match is a % off item, a BOGO or B1G1 item and other promotions such as spend $25 get $10 OYNSO.This is also a great option for someone who likes to use the "all in one" grocery smarts list. Instead of going from store to store head to your Walmart and get it all in one stop!Target has also started price matching. It is a fairly new decision they have made, so I am unsure of all the details, but I would assume that their rules would be similar to that of Walmarts. Be sure to call and ask your store if you have questions about price matching.

B) Prepay/ Special Order If you know that you want an item and it isn't on the shelf talk to a manager about special ordering the item you would like to purchase. You can also ask if you can prepay for the item (especially for an item that you want and you know there is a catalina that goes with it) and pick it up when it comes in. I myself have never tried either of these tips, but because I use tip #3 the most, but it's worth a try.


C) Shop on the days when you know your store restocks Most grocery stores sales start on Wednesday mornings. That means when you get there at 6am everything would be there. I myself don't even think about getting out of bed until 9am, so this was an awful idea for me. Most weeks I do my shopping on Wednesday evenings and get everything on my list. If I can't make it on Wednesday I know my store stocks there shelves again on Saturdays. So, I would try to make it that day. Every store stocks at different times, so never hesitate to ask your store when they do. Let them know you are looking for a certain item and that you would like to purchase it when it is on sale and ask them when during that week they plan on getting more in.

D) Get a Rain check If an item is out and you are willing to just wait until the next week to pick it up, request a rain check. A rain check holds the sale price for 30 days. If an item is still not in stock in 30 days, you can request another rain check. Before you request a rain check be sure to make sure your coupons don't expire before your next visit. Otherwise, the rain check will probably be worthless to you if you can't combine it with your coupons.

To see Walmarts official coupon policy and price matching policy, click here.

Step #6 Shop and Tell

This is my favorite part of the entire process. I bring in the loads of groceries I purchased and ask my family, “How much do you think this cost?” They are always so far off! I then organize it, take a picture and share my savings with everyone. I would love for you all to e-mail us with your savings so we can feature you on Couponing for Autism's Shop and Tell!

Step #7 Putting it Away

After I check out my loot I begin putting the items away. The last few months have been incredible to watch. I recently cut my budget to $50 a week from the usual $150 and my pantry shelves have been filling up so fast I keep thinking I will need more room soon! I feel so confident in know I am building food storage and preparing my family for the worst case scenario. The best part is I am able to build food storage with less money than I was spending weekly without putting items away for storage!

Step #8 Tracking Your Savings

To me the system wasn’t worth it unless I knew I was truly saving money. I began tracking my savings in an excel document and couldn’t believe how much I was saving weekly, monthly and yearly. Take a few minutes after you put away your groceries and write down how much you saved. To check out our monthly report cards click here. This system truly changed my life. As soon as I started receiving my coupons I started seeing the savings. For $50 a week my meal possibilities became endless. I had more food sitting in my pantry, fridge and freezer than I had ever had. This system is for anyone who wants to save money. It easy to follow and a lot of fun. It will save you money and help build your food storage.

Step #9 Order Sunday‘s Paper



Through Grocery Smarts we are able to offer you the LOWEST price on a subscription to Sundays only paper possible! It is super inexpensive to order multiple copies of just Sundays paper which is the only day you get coupons in the paper.
We do not work for the papers, but have just worked out a deal with them to be able to sell the papers at the best available rate.

Because there are so many newspapers in the state of Utah and each area has different options it would be confusing to post all the prices here, but the paper will end up costing you less than $1.00 and you know you are getting the best rate possible and also supporting the lists and website your are already using each week.
By getting a paper subscription there are 8 benefits
  • You don't have to get out of bed at 7am to run down to the gas station to make sure you'll get your papers
  • If you get your paper at the gas station and the inserts are missing, most times it because someone took them, there is nothing to do. It's sad but a reality.
  • The newspaper companies are not subject to giving the same coupons to the gas station as they are to subscribers.
  • If an insert is ever missing out of a paper (it happened to me for the first time last week) and you are a subscriber, just call the paper and let them know. Monday they brought me my missing RPs.
  • When you go on vacation you can put your subscription on hold so you aren’t missing any coupons
  • It helps keep Grocery Smarts lists and classes stay FREE
  • It's cheaper to get a subscription than it is to buy the papers individually each week.Through Grocery Smarts we can get you the paper for less than a $1.00.
  • It helps the newspapers stay a float in a struggling economy

To start delivery of your papers right away e-mail us at couponingforautism@gmail.com. We place our orders on Fridays! Be sure to tell us where you live and if you are currently a subscriber to a paper.
* Note-You cannot call the newspaper yourself and request this deal. You will need to e-mail us so we can help you get your order placed



Step #10 Host a Class
These 10 steps give a great overview on how to get started, but a class will go into detail to help save even more. To book a FREE class e-mail us at couponingforautism@gmail.com

Can't get enough of this find, get excited for tomorrow's post, "Coupon 202?"

This information is written and copyrighted by Couponing for Autism. Please do not copy it or distribute it without permission.

about us

| 0 comments
Welcome to Couponing for Autism and Healthy Families! We love getting great deals, shopping smart, and taking care of our families! Couponing for Autism and Healthy Families began as a small blog, She Shops Smart in February of 2009. A little more than a year later, after personal dreams and circumstances changed, the name was changed. Our goal with our new name is to show families how by using coupons you can afford anything you set your mind to.

Meet the Authors:

My name is Tori. With the news of my son being diagnosed with Autism in 2010 I quickly found that there was going to be so much to learn and do in order to help him. This spurred new goals for me, which included further coupon use in order to afford the costly treatments ($1800 A MONTH!) that insurance would not cover, as well as much research on the topic. It became clear to me that there are many others out that looking for information that I am was looking for too and I wants to share what I finds in hopes that others can benefit as well. -Tori

My name is Emily! I have always had a serious interest in saving money, nutritious eating, and healthy living. Many times I found that coupons seemed to be used to purchase processed and junk foods and this is not what I wanted to focus on purchasing when there are coupons available for all different kinds of products. I really enjoy finding coupons and ways to save money on the "nutritious stuff" and preparing meals that I know are good for my family. I believe that healthy living includes much more than just a good meal which is why I love finding ways and tricks to save and have fun in many other areas as well. -Emily


We have found that there are so many families that equally share the desire to save money, and provide health meals and activities for their families. Due to that, we are here to share what we know and what we find. We hope you enjoy the ride as we continue sharing our "couponing" journey.


Gluten Free Recipes

Contact Us

To submit a deal, comment, question or simply give us a shout out you can e-mail us at couponingforautism@gmail.com
Newer Posts Older Posts Home