How to Save Money Without Using Coupons
I get a lot of comments and emails from readers who are trying to save money without using coupons! I really believe that saving money is about more than using coupons and that even if coupons aren’t your thing you can utilize some of the same strategies we use in couponing without ever clipping a coupon!
Here are 3 of my FAVORITE Ways to save money without using coupons!
1. Price Matching
There are so many great ways to save using price matching. In my local area we don’t have very many grocery stores other than Walmart so it’s harder to save on groceries than anything else, Price Matching is a Life Saver for me! I’m able to price match all the loss leaders at my local grocery stores + Price Match Produce from Aldi’s all in one place.
You can download the Weekly Ads App for your phone, this will give you all the local grocery store ads in your area in one easy to access place + This is perfect if you don’t get the weekly paper with the physical copies of the ad. You can just pull up the ad in stores and price match directly from your phone!
Stores like Target, Toys R Us, Walmart and more offer price matching policies, make sure you check with your local store to see what the policy on price matching is in your area.
NOTE: Walmart just launched a new program called Walmart Savings Catcher where you can enter your receipt and they will automatically price match anything you bought, the difference will come back to you on a Walmart eGift Card.
2. Shop the Sales
We are trained to buy what we need, but sometimes what we want or think we need isn’t on sale. I rarely pay full price for anything and the reason is I always shop what’s on sale. If you are planning your menu for the week make sure you check the ads at your local stores first. You can plan your menu around what you find on sale and save BIG! If you just make a list of items you want and walk into the store to buy them you likely won’t save much money. If you plan ahead and buy what’s on sale then you’ll save big!
Coupons are not a very big percentage of the item price most of the time. The first rule of couponing is to combine a coupon with a sale! That’s because the sale is where the majority of the savings are, You can save 30-50% just by buying items only when they are on sale. B1G1 Free Sales will save you 50% off the regular price of an item (Without using coupons!), Gift Card Deals might be Buy 2 Get a $5 Gift Card and that’s a $2.50 savings per item, it’s rare to find coupons that high in value so if you have to choose one or the other, then I almost always choose the sale over the coupons!
3. Stockpile
Sales Cycles are something we talk about a lot in couponing, You can find most items on sale every 8-10 weeks. Typically everything in the grocery store goes on sale at some point, the trick is finding that item on sale and buying enough to last you through to the next sale.
Stockpiling doesn’t mean having 100 of an item, it’s simply buying enough when an item is on sale to get you through to the next sale. This is how we avoid paying full price :) If you have an item you buy frequently and you find it on sale buy extra to help you make sure you don’t have to pay full price again. Overtime this is one of the most valuable ways to save money on groceries. If you have a big freezer you can stockpile things like Milk, Butter, Frozen Vegetables, Meat and more when it goes on sale. I typically buy enough of an item to last me around 8 weeks. So if you use 1 bag of cheese per week on average and you find cheese on sale, buy 8 bags! It might seem like a lot at first but when you don’t have to pay full price for cheese again until you find it on sale the next time it’s worth it!
All three of these strategies work together to help you save money on just about anything you buy on a frequent basis. If you don’t want to use coupons or you don’t have time to use coupons then don’t give up on saving money all together, you can still save a lot of money on groceries and household items just by shopping the sales, using price matching and stockpiling when you find a great deal!
What are your favorite (Non-Coupon) Ways to save money? Leave a comment and let me know!