Couponing

[AndyS]

...
Set up an account at Advance Auto's website. You will get online discounts and coupons.

This is one I use.

I do a lot of my own maintenance and mechanic work. I found out I can order the part through Advance website and usually get a 20% discount ... then go down to the store not far from me & pick it up same day. Can't get that discount if I buy it at the store without ordering it online first.

Also ... I get a 10% veterans discount at Lowes. Just take your DD-214 down to the customer service counter and they'll put you in their computer system. Don't have to be active duty or retired. Any honorably discharged veteran qualifies. Once you're signed up for it you just tell them at the register when you make a purchase and give them your phone number, they punch it in & you get the 10% (not sure if it applies to lumber, though)

My wife was heavy into couponing for awhile ... saved us a lot of money, but it's a lot of work too.

 

[Sunset]

Household of one here too. I walked through the whole store, Wegmans app in hand, and I did find a couple things cheaper that I buy anyway. Kirkland vodka and canned chicken are both fine and substantially cheaper than 2 local discount groceries. But even most of the canned goods are not.

Thanks for the tip on big-ticket items. I was thinking electronics, which I need like a hole in the head, but a new mattress ... hmmm.

The roasted chicken is a great deal.

We have a Sam's membership, and while I only earned a $10 credit which they nicely have automated at the checkout and ask if you want to use it, rather than at the end of the year (my understanding) for Costco.

But the main reason I upgraded to Sam's more expensive membership is they give fantastic discounts on drugs compared to the regular membership. It was really worth upgrading for that reason for us.

 

[FUEGO]

We use befrugal/ebates on big ticket items (and make sure to follow up). Cruises are a huge one as we usually get 7-20% cash back which is usually $40 for a cheap cruise for 2 or $150 for the family.

I pay attention to grocery store sales and I'll take advantage of them if it's easy. Our Food Lion (an east coast/mid atlantic grocer) has these deals every month that rotate. Like "buy $40 of meat get $5 off your next purchase" or "buy $10 of frozen food get $2 off next purchase". About 8 categories each month with potential for $25 cash back. I usually hit 3-4 of the categories by paying a little attention so it's an easy $15-20 (and I'm only buying stuff that's cheapest at Food Lion such as BOGO or on sale -and I can walk to the store in 5 mins. so don't mind a special trip to get some exercise). AKA not a lot of extra effort.

Otherwise, we're neck deep in the credit card bonus offer game. Just signed up for 5 cards (and think I only got 3) and I'll land $1000 cash bonus plus 120,000 American Airlines miles (free trip to Europe for 2 or almost enough for cross country domestic flights for 5) - cost out of pocket is $198 for annual fees on credit card. That's how we can do things like 9 weeks in Europe for $8500 (for 5 of us) or 7 weeks in Mexico for $4500 - plane tix and lodging are free or heavily discounted.