The cost of groceries only continues to rise and I know many folks are trying to figure out ways to control costs.  While couponing in 2025 isn’t the same as 2015, there are still huge ways to cut your costs and save money on things you need.

First, to actually save money you can’t go out and buy every deal you see.  The point is to save money yes, but in the end even deals that cost 50¢ still mean that you are spending money.  I want to encourage to coupon inside of a set budget.  This means that if you have the 50¢ in the budget then buy the deal, but if the budget is spent then pass a few deals up.

As you start creating a budget, look at how much you are currently spending and then set some goals to bring it down.  A reachable goal would be to try to decrease your current amount by around 30%.  If you are spending $200 a week, that means we are aiming to bring it down to $140 per week.

Tip: Everyone always wants a specific number for a good grocery budget.  That’s impossible.  We all have different families, eat different things, and have different non-negotiables.  So just trust me and aim to decrease your current spend first before just picking a random number and trying to hit it.

It might sound big, but it is totally doable!

Some foods have to go.

Anything that isn’t a necessary food is really a waste of money when money is very tight.  So no juices, cookies, chips and other unhealthy snacks.  We already didn’t buy soda, but we were very juice heavy.  I know this is sounding like a diet, but when it comes down to needing the money, the most unhealthy things are the easiest to remove first.  The kids can drink water, and actually will drink it when it’s the only option in the house!

Decrease personal and household product costs.

These items also don’t feed you, but at the same time it’s important to be clean.  When we started couponing I had one in diapers and 2 kids in pull ups.  The need to save money pushed me to finish potty training our twins.  That saved a ton, but the last one in diapers pushed me to learn something else… how to shop the drugstores!

If you are just starting to coupon and are only shopping the grocery store deals, I encourage you to add in just one drugstore.  It’s not that scary and it will do amazing things for your budget!  Following the drugstore deals you’ll see free toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes, soap, deodorant, shampoo and so much more!  We also see the best prices on paper goods and most cleaning supplies in drugstores.  To get started, I would encourage you to start in CVS they are the easiest store to learn.  I do videos each week of the top drugstore deals.  So follow along and grab one or two deals each week to help you learn!

Focus on stocking up.

Our goal in couponing is buy things on sale and stock up on them, but when you first get started you have no stockpile.  To save the most money at the start, you need to plan a menu based off of the items on sale this week.  Grab those items for this week’s meals, but also grab any items on sale that you will use in the next 6 weeks.  Remember when you see a sale that you will not see that item on sale again for a good 6 weeks, so if you use 1 box a week you’ll need a few of them to get you through until the next sale.

For even more ways to cut your grocery budget watch this recent live video!

Everything does go on sale.

Believe me, I’ve heard every excuse in the book in my 17 years of running Southern Savers. Even if you only eat organic or have a ton of allergies there are still sales on everything you buy.  If you have specific brands or things you buy then your goal is to learn the best price for those items.  Use the item search here on Southern Savers and search for the brands and items over the last 6 months.  See what sale prices we’ve seen and then make that goal of only buying and stocking up at that price!

Don’t wait to start.

There is no point in waiting!  There are sales running this week that won’t be on sale again for 6 weeks.  So at least make a list of what you will use that is on sale and grab those items this week. Use the grocery lists right here on Southern Savers and remember that if items are on the list they are a great price.  I only type up the actual sale items (and ignore all the things that aren’t actually a sale).

For the next few weeks, try to incorporate these few tips and see how much you can save.