Extreme shoppers are a new breed of coupon clippers, who have taken couponing to the next level.
By combining coupon savings with insider knowledge about grocery industry trends, Extreme Shoppers work the system and end up saving BIG TIME.
The main concept behind extreme shopping is stockpiling.
If you purchase the items when they are at their lowest price according to the store's internal cycle for putting items on sale and buy enough to get your family through until the next sales trend, then you will save money by avoiding the need to buy items at their highest, non-sale prices.
Grocery trends generally run in three month cycles.
So, if cereal and canned goods are on sale this week, then you stockpile those items to get you through three months when the next sale cycle for those items comes.
Each area of the store has sale cycles and within those cycles individual stores also discount habits.
For example, ask your store butcher when they discount meat that is close to its salable expiration date.
This will still be good quality meat and if you aren't going to eat it immediately, take advantage of the rock bottom price to purchase and freeze it for consumption later.
To uncover your store's sale cycles, begin by keeping a small diary of the varying prices on items you routinely buy.
Note the item's price, the day's date, and specifics like size, etc.
Record price data in your shopping diary over the course of three months.
Stockpile when you find your desired item has hit its lowest price.
Sale prices in store and manufacturer coupons will tend to run in tandem as a general sales promotion on that item.
You should be able to find ads in your local grocery circular or in newspapers or online at The Penny Wiser that you'll "clip or click" for additional savings on trending products.
Utilize your newly clipped or clicked coupons in conjunction with store sales to achieve the most savings possible.
This strategy of not only using cents-off coupons aggressively, but also timing their use with a store's sale cycle on that item is like doubling down.
When added to a low markdown price, the savings from a coupon greatly reduces the out of pocket cost of an item.
Sometimes making items cost virtually "nothing".
With a few tips and tricks you too can become an Extreme Shopper and, in some cases, save hundreds of dollars per month off your grocery bill.
There is no reason why you can't stretch your grocery dollar as far as you need with a little time on Sunday morning to search for coupons and a little insider knowledge about the grocery store sale cycles.