It was a good day for my grocery-store bottom line on Thursday.  It was not, however, a good day to be in the grocery store.  With a winter storm expected (one that only dropped enough snow to cause a nuisance), everyone in the zip code was out stocking up on French-toast ingredients.

I wanted to stock up on canned goods.  I didn't need any milk, bread, or eggs.  No--I was going in for soda, soup, and enough canned tomatoes to keep my family in spaghetti sauce for the next year.  You see, these past two weeks, my favorite supermarket has hosted its annual "Can-Can Sale."  If it comes in a can, it's on sale.  And I've got enough pantry space to take advantage of the great prices being offered.

I wound up with two cartloads of food, including:

  • 3 24-packs of bottled water
  • 5 12-packs of soda cans
  • 12 cans of tomato puree and crushed tomatoes
  • 12 cans of tomato paste
  • 16 cans of soup
  • 6 cans of spaghetti-o's
  • 6-pack of paper towels
  • 12-pack of double roll toilet paper
  • 2 jugs of laundry detergent
  • 4 boxes of frozen pancakes
  • 2 cartons of ice cream
  • and a bunch of other stuff besides.

All told, I spent $126 and change on these groceries.  If I hadn't used coupons and hadn't waited until those items were on sale, I'd have spent $299 for the same list of groceries!

My friends want to know my "secret."  It's a simple, 3-pronged approach:

I plan meals.

I have a large pantry and plenty of freezer space.

I try to combine sale prices with coupon savings. Find out if your favorite supermarket accepts printable coupons.  We've got plenty of sources for printables right here!  Then plan ahead--and watch your savings add up!