How do I do it?

Over on Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls she is holding a Couponizer giveaway. You head over there and post a tip for how you save money and you are in the running for a Free Couponizer. So I figured as long as I was sharing tips over there I might as well break it all down here too. So here goes...

Sales for Grocery stores in my area run Wed-Tues each week. Super Walmart, Super Target and the drugstores run their deals Sun-Sat. There are a number of sites that do wonderful break downs for shopping deals and I check out as many as I can. Most people put out their deals on Thursday for grocery stores or Sunday for the others. There are two types that I check out.

1. Blog posts. There are some lovely ladies out there that do a very detailed list of what deals are out there and how best you can take advantage of them. Money Saving Mom and Moms Need To Know are two of my favorites. If you want a complete line of just about every store out there (localized to the individual "host" you can also check out the GROCERY GAME over at BeCentsable They have different stores in their areas than I do, but for the most part everyone has the same stores. For instance...I have a King Sooper in my area, but all stores under the Kroger name (Kroger, Ralphs, City Market, Dillons, Smiths, Frys to name just a few) have roughly the same promotions and often the same prices, same with all stores under the Safeway name (Vons, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Genuardi's, Carrs). So I check them out to see if someone else has found a better deal and then I almost always double check my source to make sure the deal is valid at my particular store.

2. Localized information. If you want something more specific in your area there are a few sites that are worth checking out. TheCouponMom.com, MyGroceryDeals.com and Pinchingyourpennies.com are pretty much the only free localized sites I have found so far. Unfortunately the Coupon Mom and Pinching Your Pennies doesn't cover Albertsons in CO, and My Grocery Deals doesn't cover Super Target so if you want to cover all your bases in a place where maybe these two places don't, you're going to have to part with a bit of cash. Hey like I said you have to spend money to save money and definitely to make money. Now let's face it, with all the stores out there I have yet to find a place that covers them all, but if a paid site is worth it to you then I suggest you look at couponsense.com or grocerygame.com. I have tried them both and personally I prefer the multi-store availability of couponsense to the pay per store option of grocerygame, but each service has it's loyal following so it's really a matter of preference.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the plethora of savings forums, hotcouponworld and slickdeals are just two of the ones I know of. If you are a dedicated couponer that can navigate these sites and keep up then more power to you. I for one know my limitations so I let the other more experienced ladies find the deals listed there.

After I make my blog runs and track down the deals I think are worth pursuing as well as any I happen to find on my own, I do one final sweep through searchalldeals.com a search engine that does just what it says, searches all deals. If someone lists a deal but there is no coupon associated with it, I put in that item in the search and let it find out if there are any places that have a coupon or a trick that I haven't come across yet.

While all this may seem very thorough and organized, I'm afraid that's where the ends. I am still amidst a massive struggle in trying to find or create the coupon solution for me If this is a problem you suffer from as well, Kingdom First" has quite the list of coupon solutions from bloggers from all over!

Right now it's just a handwritten list on a pad of paper and a Ziploc baggie filled with the coupons I need for all the stores. Not the best solution, but being a person who has bought something many times before that I thought would work only to have wasted my money, I'm waiting until the right system comes along and finds me. When I find it I'll be sure to let you know.