 Consumers
didn’t need a recent news story to tell them what they
already knew: grocery prices are up almost across the board.
According to one such story (MSNBC), “People are really
feeling it when you consider food accounts for about 15 percent
of the average household budget. Rising prices are in large
part driven by wheat-up 44 percent. Consumers are paying as
much as 36 percent more than last year for common kitchen
staples, like eggs, bread, milk and chicken.” And an
end to rising prices is nowhere in sight.
Amy Bergin is one consumer—and mother of three kids
under age 9—who has been lowering her grocery bills for
years. How? With coupons.
Sure, sure, most of us say. But then we don’t follow through
because keeping track of coupons is time consuming, confusing
and complicated to just save 25 cents here and 50 cents there.
Well, Bergin says we need to give coupons a second chance.
Several years ago, Bergin wanted to help keep her spending
in line with family financial goals. The transition from single
working woman to first-time-stay-at-home mom was not a smooth
one. She knew her old spending habits were partly to blame.
Her success in changing her spending routines and boosting
her savings is what inspired her to create The Couponizer®,
a set of tools meant to help consumers get organized.
We chatted with Berkin and fellow budgeting queen Stephanie
Nelson, aka “The Coupon Mom,” to share four key
tips to help you start saving today:
1. Establish a weekly shopping routine that includes both
planning and shopping. Most of the time, shopping is done
with little or no planning—a sure way to overspend. Inventory
your current supplies, check your calendar, scan your recipes
and make a shopping list. Then line up coupons and weekly
deals. Use a system to organize and shop with your cut coupons.
With simple strategic planning, shopping becomes nothing more
than executing your plan and you will shop faster and easier
and save more money.
2. Set goals for spending. When you decide as a family how
much money you have to spend each week or month for necessities,
you tend to be more diligent in how you spend that money.
Revisit these goals quarterly to see what is working and what
is not.
3. Look online. There are more ways than ever to obtain savings
with the availability of downloadable coupons from coupon
websites, online promotion codes and consumer-friendly websites
offering free samples of the most popular brands from major
manufacturers. Databases of coupon information are readily
available online, which allows consumers to see when and where
the best prices are for the brands they buy most.
4. Track your savings. If you total your savings for a month
or two, you will be amazed at how much this total is (especially
if you have been utilizing coupons and other savings opportunities).
Just like seeing weight loss motivates you to keep dieting,
saving money will motivate you to keep up your new plan—and
using coupons is the easiest way.
Both Nelson and Bergin agree it’s not all about the coupons.
It is about valuing money and spending this limited resource
wisely. They also agree that consistency matters when you
try to live within your means and achieve your family financial
goals regardless of how the economy is doing.
So this Sunday, spend a few more minutes with the paper.
Cutting coupons is back in style!
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