Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half! with Stephanie Nelson, The Coupon Mom

Stephanie Nelson is the Coupon Mom. With more than 7 million members, Coupon Mom gives members access to thousands of printable coupons for groceries, restaurants and more. As the nation’s top expert in couponing across the country, Stephanie has been on every major national television talk show and taught millions how to save money for the past 16 years. She has been called ‘”the rock star of the recession” by the Washington Post and her book, The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, is a New York Times best seller.

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It has never been an easier to save money with grocery coupons. New technologies can help the typical household save up to $6,000 a year at grocery stores, drugstores and big-box stores without having to cut out a coupon.

People know they can save money with coupons, but they tend to forget them. Many also don’t buy the Sunday paper or say they don’t want to be the person holding up the checkout line with a stack of coupons.

A wide variety of free apps solve these problems by being easily accessible on a smartphone, so you can’t forget your coupons. Once selected in the app, store systems automatically process discounts, which eliminates the extra time or embarrassment at the register. Because the apps and digital coupons are free, shoppers don’t need to buy a newspaper to get these savings.

No more excuses — here’s what you can do to start cashing in on easy savings in 2017:

Download the apps for your stores to get digital coupons, store coupons, and special discounts.  Most stores have an app that offers their own store coupons and promotions.  Apps feature digital coupons that work seamlessly without handling any paper coupons. Shoppers select the coupons they want in the app and add the coupon information to their loyalty card.  When the cashier scans the loyalty card, the coupon savings comes off the bill automatically.

Most grocery store chains have apps with hundreds of digital coupons. CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Target have apps that offer digital manufacturers’ coupons, store coupons and store rewards programs.  When shoppers combine store and manufacturers coupons with rewards points, it’s common to find items that are free after all savings.

Shoppers can select coupons and offers within the app while shopping in the store, making it easy to cash in on savings with minimal planning time. Using apps also cuts down on having to carry around multiple store loyalty cards, since they are built into the app.

Use cash-back apps to get cash offers after purchasing products, which can be used on top of coupons. I’m a big fan of the newest invention in coupons — cash-back apps that give you money after you buy an item. You select offers in the cash-back app and then upload a picture of your receipt via the app. Once verified, cash is put into your account and can be redeemed once the balance hits a minimum amount (typically $20).

Offers include groceries, household items, personal care products, beer, wine, liquor and even retail stores.  Apps with the most offers include Ibotta, Checkout 51, Savingstar and Mobisave.

Use free websites like CouponMom.com to do shopping research for you. You’ll be able to cut your grocery bill by 25% to 50% and save hours of time with the help of a website to do the research for you. Deals websites create “best deals lists” by matching sale prices with all coupons and offers available. Popular stores include CVS, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway and Rite Aid.

Deals websites have “how-to” videos and free tutorials to explain each store’s strategies. Find more local grocery deals websites by entering the name of your store and the term “deals” in a search engine.

-Stephanie Nelson, founder of CouponMom.com

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Although estimates of the cost of Valentine’s Day vary, all sources agree that the traditional Valentine’s Day purchases increase in price significantly on Valentine’s Day. If you’re thinking of spending money on a dozen red roses, expect the price to double during that time. Other traditional expenditures include dinner at a nice restaurant, champagne, cards, expensive chocolates and/or jewelry. Bankrate.com estimated the total cost of this Valentine’s Day celebration to be over $500 last year.

If the objective is to show your Valentine how much you care about them, you can do that thoughtfully and inexpensively if you think of nice alternatives. The key is putting thought into showing them that you care about them. Here are easy tips:

Cards:
Although a $5 card is a small part of the total expense, you don’t have to pay that much to give a pre-printed card. Making a homemade card and writing a very thoughtful, sentimental letter in the card will be much less expensive and will probably be appreciated more.

Eating Out:
A fancy dinner out with champagne can cost over $100 for a couple, and most restaurants do not accept coupons or discounted gift cards on Valentine’s Day. You can make a nice, simple dinner at home for $20, and if you wanted to dine out you could go to breakfast, lunch, or even just have dessert out after dinner.
Instead of eating out, you could enjoy time together by attending a local event, taking a walk, renting a movie at home or doing an activity together that you both enjoy—all much less expensive options than the $100 dinner.

Gifts:
Rather than giving expensive jewelry, you could give a gift certificate for an indulgent experience, like a facial, massage, or manicure. Go to sites like Groupon or Living Social to buy discounted gift certificates (often 50% off) for services in the Beauty and Salon segment. You’ll spend $39 for a special gift. Less expensive gifts include books on a topic of interest, which shows you thought about their preferences or tickets to an event that they would enjoy. Making a music CD of favorite songs is another thoughtful and inexpensive gift.

Flowers:
Because a dozen red roses may break the budget at over $50, you can buy a pretty bunch of flowers at Trader Joe’s or the supermarket for $10 or less and arrange them yourself in a vase or jar. You can also give a flowering plant that lasts longer than a week and may only cost $5 or $10. My husband did that 26 years ago and the plant lived until both of our children graduated from high school!

Chocolates:
Instead of buying a $60 box of Godiva chocolates, you can buy a heart-shaped cookie cutter for a couple of dollars and make heart-shaped sugar cookies, or bake a pan of brownies and cut them into heart shapes. Arrange them on a paper or plastic plate and wrap with a bow for a festive sweet treat that costs less than $5 to make.
You can also buy Valentine’s Day bagged chocolates (like M&M’s) or conversation hearts on sale for $2 or less and put them in a glass jar or mug, ties with a bow. CouponMom.com lists the best Valentine’s Day candy deals and has printable coupons to make them even cheaper.
Remember, the key is to show your Valentine that you put time into giving a thoughtful gift, which doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

Stephanie Nelson is the Coupon Mom. With more than 7.5 million members, Coupon Mom gives members access to thousands of printable coupons for groceries, restaurants and more. As the nation’s top expert in couponing across the country, Stephanie has been on every major national television talk show and taught millions how to save money for the past 15 years. She has been called ‘”the rock star of the recession” by the Washington Post and her book, The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, is a New York Times best seller.

Print $1500+ in Free Coupons Now!