Wifey Wednesday:2

As a wife I am in charge of the finances (bill paying, savings accounts, transferring money, budgeting, etc. whatever you'd like to call it) so part of my task is to save us as much money as possible. I coupon like it's my job, literally...

Couponing 101


Resources:
- Personal Services Center
- Commissary
- Stateside Friends/Family
- Coupon Groups (Facebook)
- Coupon Databases (www.afullcup.com)
- Google (internet printable coupons)
- Coupon Swaps

Step 1 – Meal Plan

1.Make a dated list of how many meals you want/need for a given time period (1 week, 1 payday, 1 month, etc.)

2.Write all “events” interfering with your ability or need to cook dinner during said dates. (birthdays, going aways, shop functions, date nights, etc.)

Example:


Monday May 1
- BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies


Tuesday May 2
- Date Night


Wednesday May 3
- Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread

Step 2 – Create Grocery List

1.Compare your meal plan to what is in your cabinet/fridge.

Example:


Monday you are having BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies. For this meal you’d need 2 chicken breasts, some BBQ sauce, some butter, some macaroni from a box and some steamed veggies. If you look in your pantry and see that you have Macaroni as well as BBQ Sauce and then you look in your fridge and see that you have veggies and butter all you would need to make this meal are 2 chicken breasts. So on your grocery list you would write “2 chicken breasts” and that would finalize your items for that meal.

1.Once you have created your list for your dinner meals fill in any blanks for items you know you’ll need for breakfasts and lunches.

Step 3 – Match Coupons to Grocery List

1.Go through your coupons and pull the coupons for items you have listed on your grocery list. Keep in mind what items are frequently used in your household.

Example:

Wednesday you’re having Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread. Let’s say you have everything EXCEPT spaghetti sauce. You find a coupon for $1.00 off two cans of spaghetti, but your meal plan list only calls for 1 can of spaghetti. In this scenario I would buy 2 cans (making sure to annotate on my grocery list that I have restrictions on this coupon meaning I must buy 2 of this item). I know that we eat Spaghetti at least once a pay period so this will save me from having to buy more Spaghetti sauce next pay period and essentially saves me money in the long run.

1.Once you have pulled all coupons for your list an easy way to help you shop is to highlight the certain items you have a coupon for.

Example:

Spaghetti Sauce (Ragu x2)

In this case I underlined. However, the highlighted items (underlined items) are items you have coupons for. The words in parentheses are letting you know the restrictions for said coupon. In this case, you need to buy 2 jars of Ragu.

This also comes in handy when you get to the commissary and realize they are out of an item you had a coupon for. Rather than being embarrassed at the checkout you can simply search for this specific item’s coupon and remove it from your bag of savings.

Good To Know

- MANUFACTURER coupons and MILITARY coupons are the only coupons can be used at the military commissary and the px/bx.
- All coupons can be used until 6 months past expiration when you are military stationed OCONUS.

Example:


A coupon expiring January 31, 2011 does not expire in Okinawa until July 31, 2011.

- If you have some items on your list that you cannot find coupons to match up for have fun with Google. Simply type in “Velveeta Mac n cheese internet printable coupon” and see what it brings up. It’s always worth a try if it will save you money!

Shopping Sales!!!

1.Pick up the sale ads located at your commissary and/or BX/PX.

2.Note any great sale items listed that you know your family can benefit from.

3.Search your coupons and see how low you can get the price.

Example:


The commissary has a sale right now on Schick Hydro Razor 3 for $4. I have a $4 off coupon for any Schick Hydro Razor. Essentially this makes that item FREE! Does my husband need a razor right now? No! Will he sometime in the future? Yes! Stock up on items that you will readily need in the future!!