How to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half in Hawai’i (Step Two)
In Step 1, a savvy shopper always buys product when its on sale. You can check out the sale flyers that come with the sunday papers or look in the MidWeek. Yet another way to check is to go online. B plugging in your zip code or city, you can find ads online for the following stores:
Foodland
Safeway
Star Market
Times
Step 2
REDUCE THE OVERALL SALE PRICE OF AN ITEM BY USING COUPONS AT THE SAME TIME.
Lower the sale price of an item even further by combining the sale price with a coupon for money off the price of the product. This can often result in the price of a name brand product being the same or lower than a generic or lesser quality product. Once in a while, I can get products for free if I buy them only while they’re on sale and if I also have coupons for them at the same time.
Example: Barilla plus whole wheat pasta 16 oz
Foodland price: 2.99
Foodland sale price one week: 2. for 3.50 (1.75 each)
Foodland sale price (1.75) – .50 off on one coupon = 1.25 for 16 oz of Barilla whole wheat pasta.
A savings of 1.74 or 42% off the regular price
Example: Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot
Safeway price: 3.25
Safeway sale price one week: 8 for $10 ($1.25 a piece—you don’t have to buy 10!)
Safeway sale price (1.25) – $1 off one coupon = .25 for a box of Betty Crocker fruit by the foot
A savings of $3.00 or 93% off the regular price
Where to get coupons:
• Sunday newspaper (buy one or more, get the coupon inserts from friends or neighbors, check recycling bins)
• Online: there are several sites that you can print a limited number of coupons from (usually just two of the same kind of coupon).
• Ebay or online clipping services: selling coupons is illegal but people online charge a clipping/handling fee to send the coupons to you. Depending on the face value of the coupon, the the clipping/handling fee will range from .05 to .25 for each plus shipping. The coupon clipping services that have offered me great customer service are:
The CouponMaster
The CouponClilppers
There are also lots of coupon message boards where people are sharing their experiences and tips as well as trading coupons. Some are free and public with registration. Others charge for membership. These can get overwhelming so ease into them.
Free boards:
Pay sites:
www.grocerygame.com
www.refundcents.com
The face value for a coupon (what it is worth during a transaction) is often different in different parts of the U.S. For instance, I’ve seen Daisy sour cream coupons in the Advertiser for .35 or .40 off. In other parts of the country they may get coupons for $1 off the same item. This is where it is valuable to order coupons online through ebay or a clipping service for higher face value amounts than we can get from our local paper.
Ok, give me a few days to put up Step 3 and I’m also planning to follow it up with a ‘caution’ post about using coupons. I’m enjoying putting together this series and I hope it is of some value to you. Please leave a comment if it is or if you have something more to add.
A hui hou!
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First, thank you for the followfriday today! I appreciate it.
Second, one great way to cut a grocery bill in HI is to mystery shop. If you have enough time to spend 20 minutes doing a report, you can get paid $15-17 for your time, and $5-7 dollars in reimbursed groceries (which are FREE! No hafta claim taxes on doz.) There are 5+ grocery store chains in HI that have each store shopped one or more times per month. There is one local firm that shops 3 of them, and two mainland firms that shop two organic stores. Plus, 2 local stores and one mainland chain employ people on their payroll to do this also. If you do 3-5 every month, the savings/income can make a great dent in your food budget.