Saving Money WITHOUT Coupons

If you know me, you probably know about my love for couponing and saving money. If you would like to learn about couponing, read my tips on getting started here.  My Dallas Mommy also has a great series going on Extreme Couponing 101 that starts from the very basics.

However, most of my friends and family have excuses for not using coupons. They might say they don't have the time or patience to cut and sort coupons. There's good news. You can still save money without coupons. 

Shop the sales. Yes, it seems obvious but do you really seek them out? We mainly shop at Kroger for this reason. They have great manager's specials. This happens when the items are about to expire, they are overstocked, or canned goods are dented. Matt & I have chosen to try to eat as much organic as possible, especially meat and milk. As you probably know, organics aren't cheap. But they're reasonable if you buy them on sale. We always buy milk on managers special, making a $6 gallon only about $2. We stock up with the organic beef and chicken go on sale. We always scope out the managers specials in bagged salad and other meats. The best is when you find something on managers special that you also have a coupon for. 

Here's a breakdown of my Kroger trip last week:

Organic ground beef, organic milk, bagels, keurig cups, round steak, and some canned goods.  Every item is marked down. The Keurig cups along are usually $8.99 in store, that package was $1.99! The packaging was completely fine. It doesn't expire soon. My only guess is they had too many? Either way, that's a great deal and Matt uses the Keurig cups for coffee in the mornings.  The cans were marked down simply because they were dented.

Dented can or not, we still love green beans! I got 2 cans of green beans, a can of enchilada sauce, and a can of re-fried beans. That will be perfect for a freezer cooking day when I make brown bag burritos!

By buying things on special, I saved over $22. A 43% savings and I didn't use a single coupon!

I hate paying more than I have to, even if it's just a few cents. It adds up here and there. Seek out the sales specials and save some money when you can! Be careful to only buy items you'll use, though. Don't just buy something because it's a great price but will expire or be wasted.

I hope you all save some money this week!