Saving Money at the Grocery Store

I've been looking for ways to save money this year. We are priveleged enough to shop at the commissary at the Air Force base here in town and can save 20-30% on most items.

I've always been intrigued by the shopper that buys $100 in groceries and only pays a few dollars. I'm not sure if I'll ever get there but have been researching different systems to save money at the grocery store.

As I clip and save coupons I've been looking for better methods to store and find them because I've thrown away too many good ones lately that had expired.

Finally I decided to try a large zipper 3 ring binder and added blank pages from a photo album that never quite materialized! :)

The four "sleeves" on each page are a perfect size for coupons and they can be seen at a glance without removing.

Then I made a page for each category of coupons and added a tab to the outer edge.

I added a color coded list to the front of the binder. The header for each section matches the color and description on each tab. But this list will go a step further and list each item in that section for easy referreal.

The beauty of this system is to set it up for my own individual tastes and shopping habits. Some like to categorize by aisles in the grocery store or alphabetize by item. I prefer to separate by categories such as "Dairy", "Frozen", "Health and Beauty", etc.

The zipper binder protects my shopping list, unclipped coupon booklets, coupons, scissors and other misc. items. When open, the binder sits very nicely in the shopping cart and I can place coupons I want to use in a zippered pouch. When I reach the check out it is a simple process to gather them for the checker.

I've noticed a few stares and funny looks from other shoppers. But that's okay. I saved $26.80 on the last shopping trip and it was well worth it!