Clip Less, Save More | Easy Alternatives to Saving Money

Saving money and making wiggle room in your finances involves everything from cutting cable … to making your own cleaners, shopping thrift store sales (or, sales with FREE shipping)…

It also involves clipping coupons and shopping smarter for all of your grocery and personal care needs, household items & more.

If you were to sit down and analyze your savings habits, I’d be curious to know how much weight coupons play in that equation. 

Several years ago, I’d say they played a heavier role ~ for many of us, shopping at Fry’s and Safeway meant stocking up on FREE & cheap items.  Over time, policies have evolved, and it seems like GOOD printable coupons are a stretch.

Of course, I can tell you to print these *HOT* High Value deodorant coupons for Old Spice, Olay Body Wash or a coupon to help you save $.25 on Dish Soap that runs $2.49 or more — but how many of you truly WILL pay $2 – $3 for deodorant?

Not many – just like I personally feel that it would be a stretch for me to tell you that Shout Stain Remover for $1.49 is a ‘GOOD‘ deal.  

Because I truly will not pay $1.49 for Shout. 

Of course it’s all relative ~ but thankfully we have evolved our habits over time as well to find MORE opportunities for you to save – provided you are willing to do some leg work to visit NEW stores, switch up your shopping habits, and perhaps even try something you never have before — using Mobile Apps and incorporating more generic items (obviously those you are not brand loyal to!)

Long gone are the days of going to buy 10 papers and clipping all day Sunday.  MANY of you are no longer that person. 

Many of you are not that Extreme Couponer you see on the television show that widdles $900 worth of items down to pennies.

Many of you have probably never bought a pallet of goods and gotten them for free.

Many of you do not clear shelves to sell the goods at a garage sale on weekends.

Many of you just use printables – you don’t even buy papers – which may sound crazy, but unless it’s a GREAT insert, we just stick with printables too. From ONE computer.. and although we have six in our house, it works GREAT for us.

Are we Thrifty? Frugal? Cheap?  

We are all of them, but we just love to be able to shop smarter & reach the end result of stretching our budget the same.  Here are some of the ways I can make that work for our family.

I Love to Save

Saving Money is what I do.  Couponing is now a small part of what that entails at least for me, and I’m pretty sure for a lot of you. 

Sure we all still have our coupon clutches, binders, & baby wipes boxes with our coupons organized but that’s not enough to save money anymore —  MY goal is saving as much money as I can on my grocery bill, and our our household expenses.   

I may not be out there every Sunday but I do print what I need from our coupon database ... if there is a GREAT deal on Shampoo that I can’t live without, I’ll be there. But unless it’s a really GOOD deal, I save more by staying home. 

I know how to assess my pantry to determine what I need. And I’m really GOOD at determining my stock up price on common items. I am fine with buying generic in some areas knowing that the stock up price that I want probably won’t drop to my “buy price”.  And I can put together a wicked meal with what I have on hand if I have to make money stretch.

Truth be told  – deals are great, but sometimes I can save more by not going out at all.

I use Saving Apps More than Inserts or Printables

Not just for groceries, you might have your favorite or you may hate them all but I personally love them because with the end (for the most part) of double coupons the savings apps have picked up the slack.  I don’t have to pay for papers. Provided my phone has a battery charge I can redeem these mobile offers.

I use CartWheel to score deals on clothing, toys – and more.. at Target.  I use MobiSave, SNAP, and Ibotta for my Groceries if needed.

I love to re-route my app savings to my Savings Account, it’s an effortless way to save, and it adds up fast.

I Shop the 99 Cent Store or Dollar Tree

A lot of what we show you weekly from the 99 Cent store is cheaper then buying with a coupon during a sale at Safeway, Fry’s, or Albertsons.

We regularly buy Udi’s Bread and Pizza at the $.99 store for 99 cents when each costs about $4 or more at any store.  We love the $.99 store lately and can usually find some pretty amazing deals to share.

You can reference our last post for 24 Items to buy at the $.99 Store… it’s important to know that not all stores may carry the same items, and going in the mid-morning is the best option.

I price Match at Walmart

New ad Wednesday will find me price matching on fruits and veggies at Walmart.  I can usually score 2 weeks worth for a small price.  Depending on where you live you can also score by going to the Ranch Market or… even El Super, Food City & Los Altos Ranch Market.

I Buy in Bulk

You heard me:  We DO Buy in Bulk.

It use to be that Costco, and Sam’s Club were a couponers enemy but they are now our best friends.

When you can go in and buy bulk and spend less then you would using a coupon, it’s a win-win situation.  Costco always has sufficient stock. They have an amazing selection of Organic Items at a terrific price.  Not everything is better in bulk though – read our last post for our favorite Costco Deals to see more.

Then there is Zaycon…. where we can buy our Meat in Bulk. I LOVE that.  I love their meats and chicken.  In some cases it might be slightly more, but it means I don’t have to chase down a sale… and that is worth every bit of my time.

I Save on Entertainment

Last time there was a sale on Entertainment books (right now there isn’t a sale…) I bought two. One for the Car, one for the House.

I don’t pay for movie rentals. I wait until we have a FREE Redbox code.

We love going to the movies but we use Fandango Offers like THIS to buy our tickets. Every little bit helps.

I use LivingSocial and Groupon to save money on local entertainment and restaurants, we’ve even been horseback riding on the cheap when family rolls into town.

We try to use discounts on LivingSocial to grab inexpensive Date Night vouchers, movie passes, and more. 

I swear by the Pogo Pass.  We’ve had a great summer so far and kept the kids busy for something that got us into over a dozen FREE venues –not to mention we have a FUN fall and winter ahead of us with a second FREE visit to MANY of those same places.