I was listening to a radio show yesterday while I was driving to a doctor’s appointment and the two announcers were talking about how they save money on groceries by using grocery coupons.  The conversation started when one of them was reading a news story about how the majority of consumers don’t use coupons at the grocery store because they feel that there is a negative social stigma associated with using coupons.  They were surmising that the negative social stigma was that the people in line around them would think that they are being “cheap” when using grocery coupons.

My own mother refused for years to use coupons; she insisted that the only people that used coupons were “poor” people, and she refused to “be poor.”  A few years ago I had to work really hard to suppress a laughing fit when she was complaining to me that she was having financial difficulties and was now resorting to “cutting out food stamps” from the Sunday paper sales fliers.  I told her that food stamps you have to sign up for through the government, what she was cutting out were coupons and that meant that she was smart, not poor.  I told her that I’ve been cutting out coupons ever since I’ve been on my own, and that you can save a lot of money with coupons.  I don’t think it means you are cheap, or poor, simply smart!

One of the newest ways that I’ve learned to maximize that savings with coupons is with the website called thegrocerygame.com.  This is a type of club that you join, and have to pay $10 every two months for membership.  You do get the first month for free to see if you like it, and if it saves you money.  The club sends you information each month that helps you to maximize your savings by matching up coupons and deals at the participating grocery stores that are local to where you live.