November 19, 2012
by Brenda Kohlmyer

When you're starting out in a new home, sometimes with less than half the food budget you used to have, it's important to set a weekly grocery budget and then make every effort to stay on that budget.

One way to stay on target with your grocery budget is to take advantage of grocery store coupons. Advertised grocery sales usually run Wednesday through Tuesday, and most stores still send their advertisements to arrive with Wednesday’s mail. However, you can usually check a store’s current ads early if they post sales flyers online on Tuesday night.

“The bonus with the store flyers is that, besides highlighting sale prices throughout the store, they often include free coupons for groceries. Store coupons are often for staple items like fruit, vegetables, store brand eggs or fresh meat. Because of this, they can have a bigger impact on your budget than manufacturer's coupons, which are usually pennies off of already high prices.

Another option is finding printable grocery coupons. Some websites specialize in printable coupons, but if you have a favorite store, it’s just as easy to locate and print coupons at the store’s website.

For example, Walmart coupons are easy to find on Walmart.com by doing a simple search for “coupons.” This brings up page after page of grocery, pharmacy and toy coupons offered by manufacturers and redeemable at Walmart, and sometimes other retailers as well.

Walmart has a long list of rules regarding coupon redemption, and probably with good reason. Hard core coupon clippers can save $40, $50 or more each time they go to the grocery store. You may not save as much during your first few coupon enhanced shopping trips, but with a bit of time studying ads you’ll soon learn to save 2% to 3% just from bringing along a few coupons.