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“Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright,” but have you seen how much turkeys cost this year? The recent economic slump has me searching for ways to keep from leaving each paycheck at the grocery store.

As a little girl, I remember my mom clipping coupons religiously. Sale ads, paper scraps, and baskets of coupons littered the counter. I also remember “no-frills” food packaging and some very strange meal combinations! As a young wife and mother, I attempted to copy my modest upbringing. I clipped coupons and shopped the sales. As years went on, I stopped this valuable process to save time rather than money, however, the nation’s economic decline has started to affect my family. Feeding five kids can be expensive, especially if you shop at the most convenient stores.

My mother’s dedication to saving money so she could stay home with four little ones inspired me to reconsider old frugal strategies. So, I grabbed the sales ads, the Sunday coupons, my laptop, and a pair of scissors and locked myself in my room. I got online and found many websites and blogs about coupons, free stuff and budget shopping. I realized that there is a lot out there that I am not utilizing to help save money. By getting back to basics, I can feed my family healthy foods and ultimately make money!

Here are some quick tips to help you stretch your holiday food budget:

• Call your local grocery stores and inquire about their coupon policy. Ask if they double coupons every day and if they have a cap on doubling. One store in my area doubles up to two dollars off!
• Ask if the store accepts internet coupons. Most stores take those printed with a coupon bar code.
• Ask if they honor ads from other stores.
• Do not run to more than two or three stores, only to save a few cents. Stores have a similar variety of sale items. Choose two stores based on their coupon doubling policy and only look at their ads.
• Don’t throw away coupons from the Sunday paper thinking, “We don’t eat that.” If my favorite grocery store will double a coupon for something that is already on sale, my family will learn to eat it!
• Some dollar stores sell the Sunday paper for only ONE dollar! If the coupons are really good, buy two papers!
• One internet site, http://www.coupons.com/ , provides access to almost every other coupon site. Be aware that they require permission to sell your name to third parties.
• Set up a separate free email address to use for these registrations. Having everything in a central location is more organized and less time-consuming. In addition, you don’t have junk in your personal email account.
• Set up a folder in your “Favorites” for coupon internet addresses. Check them at the beginning of the month when they all change their online coupons.
• Avoid sites that require you to fill out surveys. These take hours for little or no benefit.
• Coupons.com offers a “coupon bar” for your toolbar. It shows when new coupons are available, which saves you time.

“And so I’m offering this simple phrase, to moms with one to 92 (kids)…although it’s been done many times, many ways, “Happy couponing to you!”