How I plan a shopping trip

It's Monday.  Yesterday was coupon day: the Sunday paper insert.  Or, in my case, the Sunday paper inserts.  I knew what coupons were coming out ahead of time and there were some good ones, so I asked Andy to pick up three papers because he gets up stupid early and would get to the corner store before the papers were bought up.  Total cost: $6.  We need cheese, so the six $1 off Kraft coupons paid for the papers; every other coupon was straight savings.
I wish I'd had him grab a couple more.  This was an amazing coupon week.

When I look at the sales preview, I mainly look for two types of coupons:
1) Items that we need now or will need in the very near future.  Cheese, foil, canned tomatoes, Dawn dish soap and a few others jumped out at me.  These are items we're low on, that we use a lot of, and that I'm going to buy quickly.
2) Items (nonperishable) that we use which will shortly be on sale.  It's fall, Thanksgiving and the holiday baking season are approaching, so I know that things like chicken broth, evaporated milk, chocolate chips, cake mixes, flour, and so on will be on deep discount in the next month to six weeks.  This week's circular included coupons for broth, evaporated milk, cake mix, and food storage items (zip bags, plastic containers, etc) as standouts for our needs.  These are items with a very long shelf life, so using coupons on top of a good sale means when I need chicken broth in 4 months, I'll only have paid a few cents a can rather than over a buck each if I bought it as-needed.
There were also coupons for Maxwell House coffee; this is our preferred brand and I know by observation it tends to go on sale every couple months year-round at our grocery.  In addition, coffee prices are going through the roof.  I'd rather buy extra at today's lower prices than be stuck paying double two months from now.  Products with volatile pricing or seasonal availability (coffee, sugar, flour, canned pumpkin as examples) are well worth buying a few extras when the price is low.

So.

I spent a little time Sunday cutting out the coupons and filing them in my little accordion coupon folder.  I also use a couple envelopes - reused from incoming mail - for specific types of coupon: baby products for my sister, assorted products for my mom, items I'll only buy if they wind up free or nearly free after coupon, etc.

Nothing usually happens with the coupons for several days.  I file 'em and go on with my life.  By Sunday I've either done all the shopping I need to do or I have my existing coupons arranged and ready to go for an early-week trip.

Come Monday or Tuesday, though, the ad for the sales starting on Thursday hits the 'net.  Those ads aren't in homes until Wednesday, but there are folks with "connections" who post them online early.  I use the early post to start planning our shopping.

We've got a good one this week.  There's a "spend $15, get $5 OYNO" (off your next order) deal going on and many items I have coupons for are included.  So here's the rough framework I'm starting with:




Buy three 34oz canisters of Maxwell House coffee, on sale for $5.99ea
Total $17.97
Use three $1 off coupons to bring the total to $14.97
Pay and receive a Catalina for $5 off my next shopping trip (OYNO)

Buy one 34oz canister of Maxwell House coffee, on sale for $5.99ea
Buy two packages of Oscar Meyer hot dogs, two for $3.78 (buy one get one free)
Buy two bags of Kraft shredded cheese, on sale for $2ea
  (note: some of these OYNO deals are based on the regular price of the item, not the sale price. This is apparently one of them with the Kraft products; if that's the case, I'll buy the fewest Kraft cheeses at a time as possible.)

Total $13.77
Less $1 coffee coupon, less $1 off two Kraft coupon, less $1 off two hot dogs, total $10.77
Less $5 OYNO Catalina from previous transaction
Total $5.77
Receive ANOTHER $5 OYNO Catalina.

Next, buy more cheese.  Ideally this will be 2 bags of cheese for a total of $4 and 4 packs of Kraft singles for $8 for a total of $12.  Going by non-sale price, this would be over $15, enough to generate a Catalina.
Less $1 off two shreds, less two $1 off two Kraft singles, total $9
Less $5 OYNO Catalina from previous transaction
Total $4
Receive ANOTHER $5 OYNO

Next, more cheese.
Buy 5 bags shredded Kraft for a total of $10 (again, non-sale price will be $15+)
Less coupon for $5 off any five Kraft cheeses, total $5
Less $5 OYNO Catalina from previous transaction
Total $FREE
Receive ANOTHER $5 OYNO

Next, buy 2 bags of Kraft shredded for $2ea
Buy 2 packs of Kraft singles for $2ea
Buy 4 packs of Oscar Meyer hot dogs, two for $3.78
Total $15.56
Less $1 off two shreds, $1 off two singles, $1 off two hot dogs, $1 off two hot dogs, total $11.56
Less $5 OYNO Catalina
Total $6.56
Receive ANOTHER $5 OYNO

So, assuming a best-case scenario here, I'll be getting:
Four 34oz canisters of Maxwell House coffee, 12 bags of Kraft shredded cheese, 6 packs of Kraft singles, and 6 packs of hot dogs for a total cost to me of $32.30, and I'll still have a $5 OYNO to continue the above with mayo, lunch meat, and sour cream - or I can just say "screw it" and use the $5 towards meat or produce.  The non-sale, non coupon prices of the above items is over $120.
If we ran out of coffee and I had to buy a canister without the luck of a sale or coupon, the normal price is  $10.49.  By shopping carefully, using coupons wisely, and buying extras to keep on hand, this scenario would be like buying three of the coffees and getting one more coffee, 12 bags of cheese, 6 packs of cheese slices, and 6 packs of hot dogs for free.  FREE! 

My exact grocery list/commando plan is likely to change some over the next few days, but that's the basics right there.  I look at the coupons I have and the sales I have access to and I figure out exactly what I need to buy to save the most money.  Yes, sometimes it means making several small transaction to get the most bang for my buck, but that's why I use the self-checkout and why I'm able and willing to come back the next day if needed.  With the above breakdown I won't need to buy cheese or coffee for four or five months and I won't need hot dogs for another year.  During that time I have the luxury of waiting for the right price on these items to buy more rather than being forced to buy at full price.

As a bonus, the plastic canisters the Maxwell House coffee comes in are fantastic.  We don't get rid of them.  When emptied and cleaned, I use them to store small, easily-losable items from cookie cutters to screws. Since they stack well, you can tuck them out of the way in a closet and they barely take up any space. We have a few on a shelf with all our utensils stuck in them.  They also make great food storage containers for everything from homemade stocks to pasta sauces to cake frosting.  Want to keep your cereal fresher longer?  Pour it out of the bag and into one of the plastic canisters.  Or, y'know, you could go buy a cereal canister for $15 minus over 2lbs of coffee.  Sugar and flour stays sealed up tight rather than in a paper bag folded down - an especially nice perk for those in humid climates.  Look, I'm not picky about my kitchen stuff all matching; I don't care if my sugar is in a blue coffee canister rather than a cute flowery canister that costs $10.  We drink coffee - lots of it! - so we're gonna buy it anyway.  The handy storage solutions it comes in only makes the deal sweeter.