My family likes to eat healthfully and as naturally as possible (no we aren’t perfect), and our grocery budget for the week averages around $90 for three people. For everything. Here’s how I achieve those savings and don’t have to spend a lot of time. ‘Ain’t nobody got time for extreme couponing!
1) Meal Plan: This is the single most important element of saving on groceries. Sit down with your store flyer (or find them online) and find what meat is on sale (provided you eat meat). Plan everything around that main dish. Chicken on sale that week? Grab your favorite recipe and make sure you have all the ingredients. I have our family’s favorite recipes in a recipe binder so I can easily meal plan and I know the go-tos that everyone will love. You can see more on meal planning here.
2) Go meatless once a week. This give huge savings in and of itself. Get creative with beans, mushrooms, peppers, cheese. There are lots of yummy meatless meals out there that will save you at least $7-10 on your grocery bill every week. Here are a few of our favorites.
3) Stock up on good meat discounts: If there are really great meat markdowns, buy a few and freeze some, that way when chicken isn’t on sale, you have a stash of meat on hand. No coupons required. Just a small amount of advance planning. Check when your grocery store does markdowns. There will usually be a daily markdown, and a big weekly markdown (I usually aim to go to the store this day). We store extra in our deep freezer. You can see how I organize our stash here.
4) Download the FREE ibotta app. There are TONS of cash-back rebates on fresh produce (not joke) and other products you were probably going to buy anyway (lots of natural options.) You complete an easy task (like answering a poll, watching a 30 second video) and after scanning your store receipt, they credit your account with cash, and you can get giftcards, or straight up cash to paypal. I have been using this app for years and I have earned hundreds of dollars in savings. There isn’t any prep work. Just have your phone in store with you as you shop, and do it as you go. No extra time required. Click here to get the app!
5) Shop by BOGO. We plan most of our grocery trip around By On Get One (Free) sales. And word to the wise: you don’t have to buy two at most stores to get the savings! Lots of times you will find that these BOGO sales align with what is already on ibotta.
6) Stacking. Here’s where you can get a little fancy if you want. I don’t extreme coupon, but I do bring in 5-7 store coupons for additional savings (many that I can stack with what is on ibotta).
HOW TO GET COUPONS
- Subscribe to your Sunday newspaper for ad inserts. There are three types: Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G. Label these with the date, file, and you can use them as you need! (Note: The best deals usually come from circulars from the previous weeks, not the current one).
- Visit online sites that do all the work for you. Find the grocery store you shop at, and these sites provide links to online coupons that you can print at home, circular match-ups so you know what coupons to use, and even ibotta deals on top of that so you know what the best scores are. They take the guesswork out of eveything and align the great sales for you. Then you pick the few you are interested in! You can get coupons on loads of different items, we recently used cashcoup and saved so much money! I highly recommend checking them out.
- www.southernsavers.com (what I use, for Southern states)
- www.krazycouponlady.com
- www.hip2save.com
- Dr. Google. Need a coupon for a specific item? Google that product and the word “coupon.” I usually can find what I need this way if you are having trouble!
8) Stock up for 6-8 weeks. More sales will be there. I promise. The next time the store has a sale (in about 6-8 weeks) you are ready to stock up again. And buy what you are actually going to use and eat. Otherwise you aren’t saving, you are just spending. See my point? There is always another deal and another day.
I hope this was helpful to you so you can see how I meal plan and get the most bang for my buck. Here is a video that walks you though how I use ibotta and stacked deals with coupons this shopping trip:
*YouTube has been such a blessing and I am fortunate to get to work with many brands that I love and use daily! I have been using Ibotta since 2013 and have saved hundreds using this app, so when the company approached me wanting me to share my rebates and grocery savings, I was really excited. Thanks to Ibotta for sponsoring this post and video. As always, all opinions are genuinely my own.*
Great video kathryn! I love you videos. Quick question for you. I am just beginning to coupon and wondered which grocery stores you like to shop at the most for the best savings? Thanks so much!
Hey, Chasity 🙂 I shop at Harris Teeter.
You are the best! Love watching your videos and reading your blog 🙂 Keep it up!
First the Dollar Tree and now Ibotto..love you so much for sharing such awesome tips!! I just downloaded the ibotto and can’t wait to use this weekend for our grocery trip! just had one doubt and I am hoping to get an answer..you mentioned in the video we need to scan the bar code and then the receipt..just to understand the local produce like fresh fruits/veggies would not be having any barcode so for that only the receipt will work?
Hey, Parita 🙂 You don’t have to scan anything for the fruits and veggies, it just shows up on your receipt and is verified that way. Happy shopping and I hope you enjoy the extra savings <3
I joined Ibotta , yesterday … already have 3 bucks on my account from one simple transaction. YAY ! I am looking forward to earning grocery shopping and Dollar Tree rebates next week; and using them for my Amazon.com wishlist. Thanks Kathryn for all that you share with us.
Yes! That’s awesome, Linda! It does add up quickly. We also use our savings for Amazon sometimes, too 🙂 Win-win! xo!
I joined Ibotta by using the ‘click” option in your blog. I have enjoyed it. However, ibotta has paired us as teammates. I did not know if you were aware of it … want it? My purchases/points are small; yet adequate for me … heading towards a $10 Amazon card to buy the computer password/address notebook.
I just wanted you to know about the situation .
I am a great-granny (4yrs), so the information about kids has been helpful for me.
Hey, Linda! Yes, it’s great that we are team-mates. Our team is quite large, which means we have the potential to unlock more rebates and earn more 🙂 Glad you joined have have been enjoying it!!
Hi Kathryn!
Thank you so much for talking about Ibotta. I am trying it for the first time and just submitted two receipts. We will see how it goes, but I’m super pumped about this app if it works. Thanks again for the heads up 🙂
Awesome, Bridget! 🙂 I hope you love it!
I found you a few weeks ago and I have used so many of your ideas…life changing but so simple…love it…and will use this one too…absolutely love you and your blog…you have taught this old dog many new tricks…wise beyond your years…God Bless!
How do you redeem this to a gift card ( what types) verses PayPal?
Kathryn, you talked me into trying ibotta!! Do you have a referral code I can enter for you?
Take care,
Daniel
If you haven’t already signed up for Ibotta, feel free to use my referral link here https://ibotta.com/r/onadime 🙂
Wish we had ibotta in Canada. You said you don’t use laundry detergent. What do you use?