Cha-Ching

A group of girlfriends and I were talking the other day about how our lives would be different if we made a six-figure salary. One friend said she'd buy a beautiful home, another said she’d spend nearly every afternoon at Anthropologie. I, however, waxed poetic about the amazing ingredients I’d buy. Organic, free-range poulet rouge, black truffles, and heirloom tomatoes. Humanely raised lamb and ribeyes, and sushi-grade yellow tail. Salumi from Italy, and an entire leg of prociutto, a wheel of parmesan the size of my torso. Blue Point Oysters and Osetra caviar. True, I do buy some of these things, but sporadically. And every time I do, it’s a splurge.

I know I’m fortunate—in this economy or otherwise—to have a career in the field that I’m passionate about. I’m in no way complaining about my salary, but I have recently been very conscientious about the way I spend it, particularly on food, so I can make what I do have go further.

From the time I’ve spent in the blogosphere, I read here and there about something called The Grocery Game, aka The Coupon Game. These incredible people (mostly stay-at-home or work-at-home mothers) were buying hundreds of dollars worth of groceries and other goods for a fraction of the retail value. They have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves, online resources…and a whole lot of determination.

Because I know we’re all trying to hold on to every dollar we can, I thought I’d spread the money-saving love and share what I've learned from these ladies.

Do you shop at Publix? If you do…

• BOGO= buy one, get one free. There are different BOGO deals each week at Publix. If it’s something that either keeps well (i.e. canned goods, cereal, or frozen foods) stock up! Here’s the best tip I’ve gotten about BOGO: Publix allows you to use one coupon per item. That means you can use a coupon for the free item, saving you double. So if Quaker Oatmeal is BOGO at $2 a carton, and you have two $.50-off coupons, you can use both for $1 savings, and you’ll get two cartons of oats for $1. Make sense? This has made a huge difference in my grocery bills!
• Many Publix stores accept competitor’s coupons. Just ask the manager before you get to the register. Target often has great coupons, and my favorite are the Walgreens $5 off $20 purchase, or even $10 off $40. And your Publix may accept them! Look for them on the Walgreens web site – there’s usually one every few months.

The following web sites update between once a week and once a month, and you can print manufacturer’s coupons right from the web site.

www.coupons.com
www.smartsource.com
www.redplum.com
www.afullcup.com (Target coupons)
www.coolsavings.com 

Last, but most certainly not least, the following are my very favorite money-saving blogs. These three wonderful ladies are so smart and such great stewards of their money. I encourage you to check them out! Sarah of Fiddledeedee outlines all the Publix sales, and matches them to printable coupons, as well as any coupons that have appeared in the newspaper in weeks past. She’s my Publix hero!

The others also outline grocery deals, as well as great deals around the web.

The Money Saving Mom
Fiddledeedee!
The Coupon Game