Coupon Savings Revisited – Mom Feeds Family of 6 on $4 a Week

On all personal finance sites, you’re likely to find information about how you can use coupons to save money on your weekly groceries. The cost of feeding a family can be astronomical, but it doesn’t have to be as a woman proves in a news segment on ABC News and Good Morning America. Kathy Spencer from Massachusetts shows off her couponing skills for Good Morning America, where she got $267 worth of groceries for just 1 penny.

Get Circulars and Coupons

Kathy spends a couple hours each week going through the weekly circulars, newspapers, and the internet to find the sales and coupons. When she makes her shopping list, she buys products based on if she can get them for free (or close to it).

Check Stores Policies

Many stores will let you use multiple coupons on the same type of order. For example, Kathy had 7 coupons for $1 off seafood orders. She went to the fresh seafood counter and ordered scallops and perch – in 7 different orders so that each order would be about $1 in price. She got a quarter pound of scallops in 4 different orders to get the equivalent of a pound of scallops. A quarter pound of scallops cost about $1.08. This way, she can use one coupon with each of her quarter pound orders and it will cost her 8 cents per order. If she got a full pound order of scallops in one bag, she would only save $1 off the order because she could only use a single coupon for the one pound bag, and she would pay about $3.25.

Save Store Bonus Credits

If the store you do your grocery shopping in offers bonus credits – coupons towards the price of your next order – you can use them to reduce the amount you pay at the checkout line. CVS offers “extra care bucks” when you shop and swipe your CVS card. These print with your receipt and work like cash the next time you come into the store. CVS is also a store that accepts both manufacturer coupons and their own print coupons – giving you many opportunities to get free products.

Double Coupons

Stores that allow you to double coupons give you the opportunity for big savings. Most have a limit of 99 cents or so – but any coupon you can double saves you twice as much money!

Combine Store Coupons with Manufacturer Coupons

The majority of stores will allow shoppers to use manufacturer coupons (typically found in the newspaper or online) with a store coupon (typically found in the store circular with weekly sales).

Youtube: Feed a Family of 6 for $4 a week