CUTTING YOUR GROCERY BILLS IN HALF

There have been many articles and reports written explaining supposed ways 
to cut your grocery bills.  Sure, you can eat only bargain noodles and 
generic beans.  That will save a little money.  Wash out those plastic bags 
and reuse them.  That will save a few cents.  But there is one sure way to 
cut your grocery bills in half (or more!) that is easy and you can still buy 
brand name items.  By intelligently using the system detailed in this report, 
you will see savings from the first day.

First, save coupons.  Too many people think coupons are a waste of time, or 
that they only raise the prices that are charged on items.  This is false! 
Buy a box of envelopes, and label your envelopes with the categories of food 
and products you buy regularly.  You can be as broad ("vegetables") or exact 
(an envelope for each brand of canned vegetables you regularly buy) as you 
want.  Clip every coupon you come across and file them in the proper envelope.

Sunday newspapers are the best source for coupons.  If you find a lot of 
coupons you can use on a particular Sunday, it may be worth your while to 
buy a second copy of the paper, to get another set of coupons.  If your 
paper costs $1.00, you can make that back with two 50-cent coupons.  The 
rest will be profit!

Next, watch the sale flyers.  When you see items on sale that you have 
coupons for, that's the time to buy.  Here's something a lot of people 
don't realize. Say you have three 50-cent coupons for "Bill's Beans."  You 
can only use one coupon per purchase.  But, if you buy three cans at once, 
that's three purchases, and you have every right to use all three coupons.  
Also, watch for stores that offer "double coupons."  That means that they 
will double the value of the coupon, usually up to 50-cent value coupons.  
Buy the sale items with doubled coupons, and your saving increase!

For best results, you should try to have a coupon for at least one-half to 
two-thirds of the items you buy on your shopping trip.  Make a shopping list 
before you go and stick to it.  This prevents impulse buys.  Also, funny as 
it may sound, don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.  If you do, 
you'll no doubt buy extra things that sound good to you at the time, but 
you may not end up eating. That's the first half of the system.  Using 
coupons to their fullest extent is a major part of grocery bill cutting.  
Next comes rebates.

When you use any canned, boxed or bagged goods, save the package.  Labels 
can be soaked from cans with warm water, and the outside layer of a box (the 
part with the printing on it) can usually be carefully peeled off.  Use a 
few grocery boxes to organize these.  Alphabetically is the best way.  These 
can be stored in an unused closet or the garage.  Also, keep your receipts. 
You'll need them for rebates.  Then, when you see a rebate for an item you 
regularly buy, you can get the required proof of purchase easily and quickly 
from the packaging.

Here's how these fit together:  For example, you have three 15-cent coupons 
for a 79-cent canned vegetable.  The vegetables go on sale for 69-cents at 
a store that doubles coupons.  You can now buy three cans of the vegetables 
for 39-cents each (69-cents minus 30-cents per coupon).  Then, a few weeks 
later, the manufacturer has a $1.50 rebate that requires three proofs of 
purchase. By sending in the rebate, you have now made a profit of 33-cents 
($1.50 minus $1.17).  Many manufacturers will reimburse you for the cost of 
postage to send the rebate and proofs in, so you get the full 33-cents.

Think about it.  If you are able to do this with at least half of your 
grocery purchases (and you should, if you try), you can cut your grocery 
bill at least in half, if not more!  All this for not a whole lot of work.  
It may seem a bit much at the start, but once you get a good, organized 
system in place, it will be quite easy.