Summer days are quickly slipping away and many kids will experience the first day of school this month.  In some areas, school is starting much earlier in the month of August and I encourage you to pace your back to school spending to minimize the impact to the family budget.  Expenses associated with supplies, clothing, shoes, accessories and fees can be crippling especially if you have more than one child in school.  See my Back to School Planning Worksheet to help you inventory before shopping.

Remember, overspending occurs most often when a shift in routine occurs, so get past the routine shift, and then shop and you will likely spend less and spread out the expense over time which is always helpful. 
 

Many times I am asked what my average monthly savings at the grocery store are and truthfully I have to say it varies.  There are factors that influence my ability to maximize savings and the biggest one is PLANNING.  Other factors include seasons, family activities, and my energy level.  So if you really want to see your savings increase I suggest you follow these simple planning steps for a cheerful checkout!

Planning for Savings:

& Clip and file your coupons to have lots of choices.  The Sunday newspaper is your best source of legitimate manufacturer's coupons.  Look for additional coupons from sources such as P&G Saver.

&Go online and access a website such as The Grocery Game that posts grocery store and coupon deals and find the deals that match your needs. 

&Build your shopping list and compile your coupons deliberately.  An organization system such as The Couponizer helps this process by providing you with the tools necessary to plan and shop successfully.

&Make a special shopping trip so you can focus and buy ONLY items that you have a coupon for or are listed at a great store price. 

IDEA!  If the kids come along, make the shopping a treasure hunt, give 'em a coupon and let them loose on the aisle to find the item!  I do this and it is fun to see my kids be successful in helping me shop for deals.

Timing is everything with a coupon since grocery store items typically follow a 12-week cycle ? everything dips to its lowest price at some point during that time. The trick is to catch it at that low point, use a coupon to drop the price even lower, and then if possible stock up on things that have a long shelf life.

Try The Grocery Game for a 4 week trial for $1 - then it is only $10 every 8 weeks for one store.  The three features that set this Web site apart are first, information about unadvertised as well as advertised specials are included in the sale list.  And second, the staff uses a proprietary process to check price history on about 10,000 items every week to sort out real sales from "phantom sales" ? advertised specials that really aren't as good as they appear.  About half the items in a typical weekly flier are actually on phantom sale.  And lastly, the simplicity of the website.  So often, I have seen coupon websites that are so cluttered with ads, offers and lengthy instructions that you loose interest quickly.  The Grocery Game is visually appealing and with minimal visual clutter to distract you from your task of planning your savings.

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Looking for online coupons?  Here is a website that lists just about every coupon code available.  Additionally, I like how easy it is to find coupons of real value and you are not required to give any demographic information.  You might be asking "Who's Alex?"

Excerpted from Alexscoupons.com, a website started by a father...
Alex's Coupons evolved from two different sites.  The first site (Alex's Place) was started on January 10, 1998, the day my daughter Alexandra was born. Initially the site was simply a place to post photos of Alex so friends and family could see them. That all changed on November 10, 1998 when Alex was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia...click here to read more...

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J 
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