Reader TTS

Other mom friends said they plan their grocery list around what’s on sale that week. This approach seemed like too much work for me, so I decided to keep things simple by making a grocery

list, then scouring for coupons before I hit the stores. Finding coupons to clip was made easy with the help of a mobile app, which Fuscaldo perused before heading out to the grocery store.

Dolly Faibyshev My first challenge was finding the circulars. I don’t get a newspaper delivered to my house (because who still does?). However, I do know how to use Google, and a quick

search yielded dozens of free apps and websites that aggregate supermarket weekly circulars. I discovered the stores that I typically shop at for groceries — Target, Walmart and Stop &

Shop — post weekly deals on their websites and mobile apps. To keep things simple, I downloaded Flipp, a free app that allowed me to select my supermarkets and browse their circulars right

from my smartphone.  After perusing the circulars — which, I have to admit, got tedious real quick — I selected one supermarket that offered the best deals based on my grocery list and

downloaded the store’s loyalty app. From there, I clipped digital coupons, adding them to my store loyalty card. Two items — paper towels and London broil — were cheaper at a different

grocery store, so I planned to stop there on the way home.  I made a conscious decision to tackle my coupon search the day before I went out shopping for groceries, so I could browse the

circulars in front of the TV at my own pace, instead of forcing myself to tick off both tasks back to back. I almost threw in the towel the first night but kept at it with dreams of saving a

fortune circling in my head. ON THE HUNT Determined to save money, I headed to the grocery store ready to scour the shelves, put my prep work to use and find the best bargains the

supermarket had to offer. Unfortunately, that plan went out the window as soon as I entered the store. Where I live, supermarkets are crowded, lines are long and nerves can easily get

frayed. Add the fact that I went grocery shopping on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and you can see why I yearned to be pretty much anywhere other than the supermarket.  Still, I forged ahead,

committed to saving as much money as possible. I tried to stick to my grocery list the best that I could, but I admit that I went rogue a few times and purchased items that weren’t on sale.

After all, who can pass on pumpkin special edition Oreo cookies or cotton candy-flavored grapes? I know I can’t.  Fuscaldo loads her cart with staples for the week, taking extra care to

stick to her list. Dolly Faibyshev Checking out was easy, sort of. I forgot to bring in my reusable shopping bags, so instead of paying for paper bags, I set my cart aside and darted out to

my car in the rain to retrieve them. Once I was back inside, my clothes dripping wet, the cashier scanned the store loyalty app on my phone, and the coupons were automatically applied to my

bill. I ended up saving $25.98. I was thrilled! Sure, the gentleman in front of me saved a lot more, but he also had a $300 plus grocery bill. Mine was shy of $150. I determined in my head

what my extra $26 would go to. (And, no, it wasn’t more groceries.) I felt very proud of myself. But I also lost my food shopping drive and decided to skip the second store. I figured that I

had saved money and that my family had enough paper towels to get by until the next outing. All in all, I think I did a decent job of saving money even if I hated every minute of it.