Grocery Savings Geek

I love a good deal - and one of my greatest joys each week is looking at the bottom of my grocery bill to see how much I saved by using my loyalty card and coupons (online and off - but I'm better about the online coupons...) I'm kind of a geek that way, but who doesn't love a good deal?

Inspired by a recent blog post by Kelly at Block Party, I've been contemplating how to better stick to my grocery list, as I often shop either without a list (never a good idea...) or I'm easily tempted by a sale or something that sounds good at the moment.

While I haven't gone so far as the delivery service yet (but I'm really considering it), I have been better about taking stock of what we have and then planning meals around those items. Some of my favorite resources for recipe ideas for the week include $5Dinners and Cooking Light. I also often simply Google the ingredients I have - like this week searching for garbanzo bean recipes and coming across this one I plan to make tomorrow.

Well - this week sticking closely to my list (I only bought some Annie's mac & cheese varieties that F loves that was on sale, 10 for $10) I saved over 20% on my bill and lowered it by more than $50 over my weekly average! I even made use of a $4 coupon for diapers I had that was set to expire on the 31st, so we're stocked for awhile on those.

Thanks to some custom coupons direct from King Soopers I even got some FREE things on my list today, including eggs, Wheat Thins (they know me so well!), and cereal. Free is definitely in our budget. While I'm no extreme couponer, I'll still enjoy the small high I get each week from shopping wisely!

Smart Sunday Tip: Online Coupons

Did you know that you can go online and pre-download coupons onto your shopper card? I'm a King Soopers girl myself - and thank my mom for turning me on to this great deal! I just went online and downloaded $7.30 worth of coupons onto my card for today's grocery shop. Awesome!

The only trick? I had to remember how I originally registered my card, which was a trip down memory lane. I used my maiden name (no brainer...) but had to Google zip codes in Fort Collins to try to remember where I lived when I got my card. After that hurdle, however, I'm good to go.

I'm making recipes today from super blogger and awesome chef Alexis Anzalone and also trying a few from $5 Dinners. Can't wait!