I’m back from BlogHer in New York City, and ready to get back into kicking my budget’s booty. (To be totally honest, I’d rather be sleeping the day away in my PJ’s). Before I left for New York last Thursday, I went on an enormous shopping trip to ensure that the kids would not go hungry while I was away. I wasn’t too worried about that happening, considering the fact that my mother in law stayed with them all weekend. Thank goodness for Nanas.But it’s always good to be well prepared.
Are you ready to hear about this week’s challenge?
The Challenge
Buy only products on sale and that you have a coupon for, excluding dairy, meats, and produce, which rarely offer coupons. For these products, you can only buy products on sale.
Was this a challenge for you?
It has never been a challenge for me to buy products on sale versus specific brands. I would have a harder time if someone told me to buy specific products without the option to swap for their cheaper alternatives. I’m cheap at heart and love sales. The challenge for me was finding enough coupons that coordinated with the sales in the stores. I have enough of a stock of dried and canned food in my cupboards that I am totally fine passing by a product that is full price. But what if I only find seven coupon and sale combos? That’s not going to work for a family my size. So I’m still working on finding more coupons. I did better this last week by printing a bunch of coupons off at Coupons.com through My Points. Not only do I get to save when I use the coupons, but every time I use a coupon, I am earning points to go towards gift cards of my choice.
Did it effect the quality of food you purchased?
Not at all. I am typically not picky about the brand of the food we eat, and I actually think that food I got for a great deal tastes even better (yes, it’s all in the head….and that’s totally ok with me!)
Were you successful or not?
I was successful in that I was able to use more coupons as well as pay better attention to the sales before I set foot in the store. I even carried the store’s circular in my purse to remind myself of the things that my store was featuring that week. I stuck with my list, and didn’t wander up and down aisles. I consider that a huge success.
Here are a few Sales Shopping tips from Clair:
- Either get a newspaper or see if Beth or Clair cover the stores you regularly shop at and will then tell you what’s on sale that week. They’ll even show you which coupons to use with which sales.
- Start reading the sales ads and buying things according to that.
- Then you’ve got to meal plan around what’s on sale. It makes for fun variety. (Plus, I always store meat in my freezer for future use, so there’s always variety around)
- Finally, walk into the store with blinkers on. No impulse buying, no brand specifics unless they’re on sale and definitely use lots of coupons!
How do you make combining sales with coupons work to your advantage? Don’t forget that Beth and Clair will have a Budget Bootcamp link up for those of you unofficially following the challenge. And definitely don’t forget the weekly giveaways associated with the Bootcamp!
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Thanks a great deal for the wonderful information here! I have bookmarked the page
Good job! It is tough at first to only use coupons and shop sales. I do it now, but it’s easier when you have a very good stockpile and can simply replenish your stock each week and buy a few staples.
I’m glad this weeks challenge went so well for you. I struggles with it, just because I can get deals at also than shopping sales and coupons. Oh well.