The 137-Year-Old Tip That’s Saving Me $20 a Week on My Grocery Bill (at Least)

I tend to go to extremes when I like something, and my surprising obsession in 2024 has been … coupons! It’s not exactly an episode of Extreme Couponing, but after watching the movie Queenpins (starring Kristen Bell, who plays a couponer who illegally games the coupon system) I got inspired — not to do the scheming she did, but to remember that coupons exist and I should use them. 

There are a lot of apps out there where you can get cash back or coupons (Ibotta, Fetch, retailer-specific ones like Target Circle, etc.). I get overwhelmed easily, so I decided to start with the basics. I shop mostly at Ralph’s here in Los Angeles (part of the Kroger chain of grocery stores), so I downloaded the store’s app.

Immediately I was given coupons to clip that would be loaded onto my digital rewards card, including half-off Land O’Lakes Butter, $2 for a five-pound bag of store-brand rice, BOGO on bagged lemons, and a few dollars off each pound of select Boar’s Head ham or turkey. I could clip the coupons and have them all go into one “clipped” space in the app for quick reference as I shop. Or, if I thought ahead, I could build my grocery list in the app so I could see prices — it even gives a running total based on the store I’m shopping at — and in-store sales, and adjust my meal plan around my budget and total savings. 

I can also see items that I have purchased previously using my rewards card that are on sale specifically rather than having to go hunt for them elsewhere in the app or physically in store. The app also divides the list by aisle so you can move through the store and check off each item as you go, rather than zig-zagging back and forth. It’s my road map (road app?). A little time at home to plan makes the shopping process much more efficient — and cheaper!

After researching the staples, I started browsing all of the coupons, sale items, and cash-back deals for inspiration of what to cook. I usually have a protein, vegetable, and carb in every dinner, so in the opposite of doom scrolling, I went through pages until I found that center-cut pork chops, cubed butternut squash, and frozen broccoli were on sale. My meal plan was to roast the veggies and make a version of 15-minute honey garlic pork chops for dinner. I also made a soup out of the leftover squash and some also-on-sale chicken stock, and a quesadilla with on-sale flour tortillas and a brick of Tillamook cheddar.

Being a single person who lives alone, that lasted a few days before I turned to the app again to find some more money-saving meal planning. A rotisserie chicken was $5 ($4 off), my favorite Little Gem lettuce was $2 off, baby spinach was BOGO, and blue cheese crumbles were half-off. I decided to make a Cobb salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, a quick chicken soup with an entire bag of on-sale spinach, and various salad wraps (Caesar salad wraps dominated the week). 

While I was in the store I spotted chickpeas on sale too, so I made a salad and the green goddess hummus from my cookbook, Big Dip Energy. Although I didn’t plan to save a certain amount of money every week, it has been around $20 or more every time I challenge myself this way. 

It helps me save not only money, but also time on meal planning by doing it at the same time as my grocery list. It also keeps me excited about what I’m cooking and eating. It’s a win-win for my checking account and cooking creativity equally.

Got a savvy tip for saving money at the grocery store? Tell us about it in the comments below.