Where I shop...

I have been asked where I do my shopping that I am able to get good deals. I am not going to lie, it takes time to really plan out to get good deals. I look at it as almost a challenge to see how I can get the best deal for the least amount of money. I am not a penny pincher, but being young, married with a new baby, saving money is a top priority. Anyway. I shop at many stores. Ingles, Bi-Lo, Aldi, and Wal-Mart if I have to. I am not a huge fan of Wal-Mart (thanks to my husband)
I go through the weekly ad's and the monthly ad's from the stores and find the best possible deals with the coupons I have. I have really learned to clip coupons. I used to only shop at Aldi, but they do not take coupons. My most recent post with the produce is from Aldi. I will say that I am pretty picky when it comes to produce from Aldi. I make sure it is really good and fresh before I will buy it. Another place I like to get produce is a place in Mauldin, SC (right near the high school) it is an open air market and almost all of the produce is locally grown. I can get a lot for very little. I think produce from grocery stores is pretty expensive. Starting in May there is an open air market held in downtown Grenville every Saturday from 8am until noon. I have never been to it, but have wanted to go. My husband and I will be going this year for sure.. I dont know anything about pricing though.

So there you have it... Normally my weekly shopping will take place at many different stores. I go in knowing what I need to get, avoiding items that "catch my eye" or that look good and saving money because I don't just browse and get things I don't need. It just takes some weekly planning and time to find coupons online and in the newspaper. Anyone can save money on groceries, they just have to put the time in to plan it out.

A few hints...

look for deals such as Bi-Lo's 10 for $10.00. - what this should say to you is "each item is only $1.00." Then you see if you can get a coupon for it. Bi-Lo in my area doubles coupons up to $.60 so I could end up getting $1.20 off a $1.00 item. Not too bad!

I recently learned that if items are advertized for a certain price, yet they are not labeled that way or don't ring up that way, you are supposed to get it free. This happened to me recently at Bi-Lo. I wanted the Butoni Pasta advertized for $3.49 (and I had a 1.00 off coupon)- I couldn't find it anywhere in the store. I could only find it for 6.99. So I asked about it.. they looked at the flier, and rang it up and it came up as 6.99. They had to give it to me for free.

Go in with everthing written out and always bring a calculator. (I feel like a dork carrying around my big Ti83 Calculator and tons of coupons) but, really who cares. You may not end up getting everything on your list exactly the way you planned, but you can figure it out.

Let me give an example of how I write everything out:

Ingles

1 can vegall canned veggies- 4 for $5. = $1.25 each - .40( double coupon)= $.85
1 50 oz Arm & Hammer liquid detergent- $3.18 each -1.00 coupon- $2.18

1 Danactive yogurt- 2 for $4.00= 2.00 each - 1.00 coupon= $1.00

1 Ortega Salsa- 3 for $5.00= $1.60 each -.75= $.91

Pillsbury cresent rolls 10 for 10.00= 1.00 each - .50= $.50

Pillsbury biscuits 10 for $10.00= 1.00 each get 3 at 3.00 - 1.00= $2.00

Total: $7.44

This leaves $32.56 for other stores for my weekly spending.

By doing this I know exactly what I am going in to get and I know how much I am looking to spend (I did not include taxes, so I know it will be a little more)