Money Saving March - Week 4 Organize your Shopping Trip!

This week's topic is "How to Organize Your Shopping Trip"!  This is a very important part of the whole couponing process.  How many of you have gotten to the store, got to the check out, reached for your coupons and you had left them in the car?  Or at home? Or in another purse?  Or how about take them with you and get your items, pay for them and get to the car and realize that you didn't use a single coupon you had clipped! (I personally have done that) 

Just by taking a little time at home when you are more relaxed and less stressed  to plan out your shopping trip can help with all the chaos we encounter at the store.  From kids who have to go to the bathroom, to husbands who just want to GO, we all have some sense of stress while we shop.  The more efficient you are while at the store and the better you plan, the more money you will save and the less time you will spend shopping.

You have heard me talk about making a shopping list before and this is no different.  Make a list, shop from the list and avoid impulse buying.  That's simple, right?  WRONG!!  But with a little help of organization, it can be a much more simple to carry out the task of staying on budget.  Here is how I plan and organize my shopping trips....

#1.  Take your weekly ads from the stores you plan to shop at this week.  Make a decision on what you will buy or what you need.  Make a list for that specific store.  I like to list the number of each specific item I will purchase, the coupons I will use, any rewards I may be getting back and the final cost.  This helps me to figure out if I am really getting a good deal on that specific item.

#2.  Match up your coupons to your list.  Clip your coupons to the list in the order you will hand them over to the cashier.  If you have a $3/$15 purchase, you want to use that first, so put it on top of the stack as a reminder to hand it over first.

#3.  Like we talked about last week, label your take along coupon organizer by store.  Take your list and coupons and drop them into the correct section. 

Now when you get to the store, you are organized and ready to shop.  Coupons for that specific store are ready and you no longer have to search for the ones you're looking for.  Go in with your list, purchase the items, get to the cash register with coupons in hand, and take all your great buys home with you!  Easy and stress free!! 

How do you get ready for your shopping trip?  What works for you? Leave a commet!

For more info on our organizational Starter Kits will all items mentioned in the previous two week's topics head over here!