Coupon Shopping/Grocery Game

Ok - so I have to admit there are a few New Year's "Goals" that I haven't kept up with - like excercise (working on it), eating right (ugh!), drinking water - on again/off again...however, there is one goal that I have not only kept up with but am really getting to where I ENJOY it - Grocery Shopping with Coupons!!! I must say - Suzy Homemaker I am NOT! I don't like cooking, sewing, cleaning, etc but at the beginning of the year I resolved to do what I could to help us save money. I remembered that I had used the www.grocerygame.com back in Lewisville Tx and then I also saw that one of my friends really was saving $ by using coupons - so I decided "I'm in!" The results have been amazing and my family LIKES the food I buy! Ha ha! We have gone from a pantry and fridge filled with white "Great Value" labels to very colorful shelves with name brands which I have almost NEVER bought! On the average I am saving between $300-$400 a month in groceries. Some have asked how much I spend in order to save that much and it is around $300 per month. I know I can probably save any more and I am still working on learning how to "play the game" better. However - our grocery budget has always been around $300 a month and so to spend the same amount of money and get twice the groceries has been AWESOME! I stick pretty much to the ideas and suggestions on the site with the exception of looking through and anything I need that may not be on the list but I have a coupon for I use the coupon at Wal-mart - also, I watch for coupons that may be expiring and then IF I need or will use that item - I then go ahead and use it! One thing I am learning to do is STOCKPILE! When things are on sale for 10/$10 I buy the 10 - doing this has meant that we have a BIG supply of things like deodorant, hand soap, bar soap, hot chocolate, cake mixes, cleaners, etc. however with a family of 6 we go through a lot of this stuff too! The other advantage is that our income drops for 3 months in the summer when neither Joel or I are working for the school so by stockpiling on some of these staples now - we can be ready for the leaner months. Here is my basic routine - obviously there can be changes with our crazy schedule! Sunday - BIG day in that it is the day I get the Denver Post and pull the coupon inserts. I then write the date on the front of the inserts and put them in my coupon folder. Next still on Sunday - I pull the list from www.grocerygame.com I change her sort order to Savings amount because I generally don't buy anything with less than 50% savings unless I need it. Following that - I print the list and gather coupons, using the same method on the site. My main shopping day is generally Monday. I try to set aside the majority of the day because even though Durango is small it still takes awhile to go to 3 different stores - City Market, Albertson's and Wal-Mart. Well - there you have it the one goal that I have kept and actually really enjoy! Joel has even gotten to the point that he will come with me sometimes (he likes watching the total amount go down at the register!) The kids are also into it because often times I come home with treats like Danimals Yogurt, cookies, etc! Today was really fun - wish I had the camera - I went shopping by myself but when I came home the whole family jumped up and was all excited and helped unload!!! I enjoy making this a family event too!!! They were rewarded for their help with steaks for dinner - Buy 1 get 1 free!!!!