If your household is like mine, you probably run to the store for milk and bread at least once a week. I know dairy laws differ state to state but I always wondered why there were no coupons for milk since it's something almost every household buys in multiple quantities. Maybe I'm just behind the coupon times, but there are coupons for milk! I found this out during an event Real California Milk held last year.

Example of Real California Dairy coupon

On the Real California Milk site, you can print coupons for milk brands that have the Real California Milk seal. This comes in handy when the store brand has the seal since most store brands are almost always cheaper than name brands. I see this at WalMart and Sprouts Marketplace.

WalMart brand milk carries the Real California Milk seal

Using a coupon, this half gallon goes down to $1.33. The really cool thing is, because the coupon is offered as a PDF, you can download it and print as many as you like* (just be aware of the expiration dates). I have several of these in my coupon binder at all times. It's nice to be able to save on a fridge staple!

What other staple items do you always try to have

 coupons on hand for?

*As with all coupons, read the fine print and make sure the coupon is valid in your area. Only use coupons from trusted sources. Do not abuse, alter or use coupons fraudulently!

Print Grocery Coupons at Cheap Sally: Frugal Friday

Yesterday I Skyped with Steph and one of the many things we talked about was budgeting and saving money. I told her continuing to trim our grocery budget is a big priority for me. One thing that has helped me the most is printing grocery coupons. 

Many sites will issue one or two new coupons throughout the month, but for the most part, printable coupon sites are re-set on the first day of month. I've bookmarked all the sites I go to and I try to hit them all within the first two days of the month. If I wait too long, many of the good coupons hit their print limits. 

Earlier this week I got an email from a local PR firm about a new site for coupons. Since I hadn't heard of it before I thought I'd share in case you haven't either. Having access to multiple sites for printable grocery coupons is the best way to get duplicates of really high value coupons or for items you buy all the time. 

The coupons on Cheap Sally are powered by Coupons.com which is my favorite site (look under the more savings tab). Cheap Sally also has coupon codes for online shopping, discounted gift cards and event tickets. I'll keep those things in mind but I know for me, the grocery coupons will be the most valuable part of the site. 

What site do you visit most for printable coupons? 

Gettin' My Frugal On: Coupons Are Awesome!

*Update: I've added a few more blogs to my reader and I've included them below.

I've been reading more frugal blogs lately hoping to pick up tips on ways to cut our food costs. Since our mortgage went up we're really feeling the pinch. All the sites I read advocate coupons. I use coupons whenever I can, but have never tried all the price matching scenarios because it seemed like so much work.

I figured it wasn't worth the hassle to save a dollar or two. Why burn the gas? Why buy things we don't eat? Man, how I wish someone had smacked me upside the head! Or that I'd met Erin, Erin and Alyssa sooner (met them at General Mills, more on that later). Done right, the savings can be way more than a few dollars, especially if the items go toward building a stockpile (that's frugalista lingo for a huge stash of non perishable foods, toiletries and household items).

Since it's been so. damn. hot. here, this past Saturday I decided to put some of what I've read recently about the Kroger Mega Event into practice and take advantage of the air conditioning (here in So Cal we go to Ralph's). I printed all the coupons I needed, loaded others onto my Ralph's Club card and left the boys here to swelter.

And I returned home with all of this:

Before coupon total: $117

You'll never guess how much I paid for it. Go on, guess.

Nope, try again.

Ooooh, that's close!

You're getting warmer!

Give up? (just tell me the damn total already!)

I only paid $43.95!!!

I know! I was impressed with me too. I think I could have done a little better though. I didn't make a list and I'm pretty sure there was something I forgot. Part of the Mega Event is an in-store promotion where purchasing 10 eligible items automatically took $5 off. Looking at my receipt on the way to the car I had 27 items. If I had counted before checkout adding another three items may have paid off even more.

(Our Armageddon Stash stockpile)

Between my anal compulsive-ness and my competitive-ness, it's totally grocery game on! I even put a note on our mailboxes asking all my neighbors to give me their coupons if they're not going to use them. Tomorrow is trash night and I'm not above doing a little digging in the paper recycling bins.

I will admit that this took a long time. I was on the PC (for printing) and had my new! laptop next to me and I was cycling back and forth between blog posts and the coupon printing sites. But, I have a feeling it will get easier as I get used to when the coupons reload, which sites I like best, what stores I like, a better system for organizing my coupons and which blogs I find most helpful. Hmm... that still sounds like a lot of work...

If you're new to all this too, here's a list of what I've found most helpful so far:

Print coupons from*:

Smart Source

Red Plum

Coupons.com

P&G eSaver (Proctor and Gamble)

Simple and Delicious (ConAgra Foods)

A Full Cup (you can print Target coupons here)

Cool Savings

Unilever

Smart phone options:

Cellfire.com (I loaded coupons straight to my club card but I'm also going to try the free app for my iPod Touch)

Blogs to read:

$5 Dinners (Erin, I totally stalk her, but she's cool with it)

Keeping The Kingdom First (Alyssa)

Mommy Snacks

Deal Seeking Mom

Jane 4 Girls, $800 Annual Budget (Erin, and no, that's not a typo!)

Newly added:
Couponing 101
Save At Home Mommy
Stretching A Buck

Buy extra coupons from:
The Coupon Carryout (for when you know of a great sale price and coupon match, affiliate link)

Clip coupons from:

Sunday paper (Smart Source and P&G)

Red Plum mailer (I've been tossing this in the recycle since the coupons are bundled with other junk, sob!)

All You magazine (sold at Wal Mart, but I'm going to subscribe)

If there's something you know that I don't please share! Does anyone match coupons for Albertson's? And if you've picked up any good tips spill those too, this is all so fascinating to me!

*I did have to register at many of the sites but so far no Spam (photo credit from here)