Today is 15% off Tuesday, my favorite day of the month. To celebrate I thought I would write a blog. Like many others I have become obsessed with the TLC show Extreme Couponing, which follows several Americans during their weekly grocery shopping trips. Unfortunately for us Canadians, several of the deals available in US stores are not available in ours. Different rules and regulations around coupon use mean that we cannot duplicate the crazy "98%" savings that we see on the American show. I have however, been able to pick up a few tips and tricks from the show that can be used by anyone here at home:
-Plan your weekly shopping trips and meal plans around what's on sale. An easy peasy way to do this is to go and view the deals of your favorite store online, so you can organize your shopping list without having to leave the couch. (studies have shown that you tend to spend far less in the store if you go in with a list and stick to it!)
-As always, stock up on non-perishable items when on sale (but no need to go into the hording phase!) Sales go in rotation, so if something is on sale stock up for the next 3 or 4 months until it goes on sale again. Then you can avoid having to ever pay full price!
- Collect coupons for items that you know you will need. These can be collected from newspapers or from websites. I recommend save.ca, gocoupon.ca and brandsaver.ca. The coupon booklets that come in the newspaper are also good, my favorite is the P&G Brandsaver one because it always has diaper coupons!
- Check with store policy, but see if you can use coupons for items that the store already has on sale so you can maximize your savings. I do this all the time and used to also combine this tactic with 15% off Tuesday, but alas.... they changed the policy and no longer allow coupon use on this day. Nonetheless.....
-Always do your large monthly grocery haul on the first tuesday of every month, as nearly every store chooses to offer an extra %15 off your bill (provided you have a store card, which costs nothing and I highly recommend!)
-In Red Deer, students of RDC can get 10% off at Sobeys when presenting their ID card, check your city for similar deals if you are a student.
Other than that, always be sure to bring your own bags, as we have enough plastic in the landfills as is. I used as many of these tricks as I could and I got my last grocery bill down from $189 to $130. Every little bit helps!
Happy Shopping
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