Luxe for Less - Food

Do you use coupons?  While I'm not an extreme couponer like those people on the TLC show, for the past couple of months I've been using coupons.  I've literally cut my food budget by over 60% which is great since I have a teenage son and we all know they eat like crazy.  I'm still waiting for the day when I will only pay $5.00 for a cart of stuff, but until then I'm dancing the jig when I leave the checkout..

Here's a recent Publix receipt, I skipped out of the store after saving $176.81.  

The Publix BOGO sales is great way to save money when you combine the coupons with the sale.

 Here's a Kroger receipt where I did even better and saved 76%.  

I have learned a couple of  tips the past few months.

1. Not all Sunday newspapers are created equal, normally on Holidays coupons are not included in the paper. Use this site to find out if coupons will be in your upcoming Sunday paper.  

2. The More the Merrier, in order to make a dent in your grocery bill you need to buy at least two Sunday newspapers or more.  You can also just buy the coupons for a small handling fee from a coupon clipping service like this one.

3. Combinations are the best, you can combine a store coupon and manufacturer coupon. You can also combine two coupons with a BOGO sale.

4. If your store doubles a coupon (normally Publix will double a 50 cents coupon) then a 50 cents coupon is worth more than  75 cents coupon.

The site I've found most helpful is Coupon Mom. She has a video on her site that gives a great tutorial. 

Do you have any more tips to offer regarding the use of coupons?