Answering a common question people have to this coupon thing:

I had my first comment last night! I'm thrilled. I don't know who it was or how they found the website, but I'm glad they did. They posed a question that is actually very common so I thought I would answer it for all to hear!

Question: "So do you just buy what's on sale and then plan a menu for the week based on what was on sale or do you make your list of what you need and then go find where that stuff is sold at the best deal? Does my question make sense?"

Answer: Yes, your questions makes sense! And my answer will be a little bit of both...

This is how I do it. I look at the ads each week and make a list of the "deals". Then I make my rounds shopping from the list to pick up the great deals at 1-5 different stores. I've done this for long enough that I have a very well stocked pantry. As far as dinner menu's go, I like to be creative. I just take a look in the pantry and piece together a meal. I know what basics to have in the pantry (ie, chicken stock, beans, rice, spices, oils, lean meats, canned/frozen veggies, cream soups, cheeses, whole grain pastas, potato spuds, etc...). Give me a well stocked pantry and I can create a delicious and healthy meal (most of the time). I learned to do that by following recipes for several years and just paying attention as I put things together from the recipe book. So to answer your question, I plan my menu around what's in the pantry. I keep the pantry well stock inexpensively by watching the deals each week and frequenting the coupon websites & using the Sunday paper inserts.

I try to keep a good stock of items we need on a regular basis (ie garbage bags, cleaning products, paper towels, toilet paper, etc). I keep the mindset that it's better to buy it when it's cheap and save it than to go buy it at full price when you need it. So I guess you would say I pretty much buy on a "what's on sale" basis instead of a "we need it now" basis. Sometimes however, this process doesn't work and I have to go to the store to get things I need and must have now. In this case, I always go online and try to find the store where I can get the best deal.

But for the most part, my shopping is based upon purchasing what I can get cheap or almost free with the weekly sales and coupons.