Fearless Frugal Fanny Returns !

For those of you who know me personally and those who have been reading me for a while, you’ll already know this. For the rest of you, I’ve got a confession to make.  I’m no Domestic Engineer. Dust was made for writing in and keeping small children company, when they hide under the bed. Another little known fact about me, (see Confessions of A Dot Mom Mogul for more tidbits) is that, while I love to cook and entertain; shopping and particularly grocery shopping, is a form of torture some sadist came up with to keep his wife in line. I’d frankly, just as soon be beaten. That said, it is a weekly task I endure and so I try to make the most of it.

I’ve never been what you’d call uhmmm wealthy, monetarily. So, saving money, living frugally, has been a part of my being for many many years. Back in the early 80’s I wrote a local column under the pen name of Frugal Fanny. I garnered this not so complimentary moniker, after the paper published an article about me and the fact that I managed to spend only $3.55 for a full Thanksgiving Feast for our large family dinner. (I fed 14 adults and 4 children that year).

Now, I won’t tell you that it could happen to everyone who reads my suggestions, but I am telling you, that you can save some serious jack if you’ll just do some pre-planning. Yeah, it takes me about 30 minutes a week to plan my grocery adventure, but what else am I going to do while I’m vegging out on the sofa, waiting for my favorite show’s to come on in the evening?

Money’s tight all over. That’s no news to most of us. Prices are continually going up. The good news is that you (with some time and effort) can cut your food bill by almost half and not deprive yourself or your family of your favorite foods.

The key to this savings requires a pair of scissors, a pen and a piece of paper and of course, your weekly grocery paper. Sunday papers across the country are usually chock full of money saving coupon pull outs. I simply pull out all that advertising, before sitting down to work the crossword, and set them aside until I work on my grocery list.

If you are starting to get really serious about saving money at the grocery and clipping coupons and want to save even more money at the check out… go to The Coupon Mom’s website! This lady has it all figured out for you!

Here is a little bit of information about her from the website:

Stephanie Nelson is The Coupon Mom™ and has taught television viewers and readers how to save money in many areas, including travel, clothing, restaurants, groceries, gifts, theme parks, gardening and entertainment.

Since 2004 she has appeared frequently on national and local television and radio teaching savings tips, including several segments on Good Morning America. She writes a bi-weekly column for ABCNews.com and a weekly newspaper column “Supermarket Shopper” distributed by United Media. She is the author of the book “Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom,” published in October 2005. Several thousand shoppers use her free grocery deals website www.couponmom.com each day.

Stephanie holds a degree in finance and has ten years of experience in sales and marketing with both Procter & Gamble and Marriott Hotels. In 1995 she retired from the corporate world to stay home with her sons. In 2001 she founded her free website www.couponmom.com committed to helping consumers save money and feed the hungry by increasing food donations to hunger organizations with the Cut Out Hunger program.

Cut Out Hunger shoppers across the country have donated tons of food to hunger organizations in their communities. Stephanie lives with her husband and two sons in Atlanta, Georgia.

The easiest way to use her site is to file each Sunday’s coupons together by date with out clipping them. She tells you in which paper to look (by date), and in what group of coupons to search. (based on the marketing company who prints the ads) To me, that is half the battle!

She gives you a long list of all of the deals at the store you select. Once you get to this list, you can quickly scan down the page to find the best bargains. This is even more helpful when you are in a hurry: you can only clip the ones that will save you the most money. Here is an example from this listing:

12-16 S ( Smart Source coupon group)
Orville Redenbachers Popping Corn 4.8-10.5 oz, Buy 1 Get 1 Free (Publix weekly ad)
$0.80 (Coupon’s value)
1 (How many you have to buy)
$1.35 (Sale price without coupon)
$0.55 (Final price with coupon)
79% (Percent saved)

The best part about this site is it is FREE! Yes. Free! Similar sites charge around $5 a month for the same information! Why spend your hard-earned money if you don’t have to?

The only problem is that the site changes the weekly grocery advertisements on Thursdays. Our  area  stores change their ads on Wednesdays. I have gone to the store on a Wednesday and had the wrong list of specials for that week. VERY FRUSTRATING! The best advice I can give you is to double-check the current grocery ad to be sure you are on the correct week! (or don’t shop on Wednesdays)

I am really enjoying hearing about coupon-clipping success stories! Please tell me yours!

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