I applaud the extreme couponers from the reality show.  However, I do not need to own 400 bottles of shampoo nor do I need 200 bottles of mayo.  Even if they are free.  That being said, I like to coupon to save money on the things I actually buy and use.  I feel no need to have a stockpile of food (even if the world is ending in whatever month it happens to be today...because ya can't live off mayo and shampoo anyways).  So this is how you do it MY way.

Every week I sit down and make a meal plan.  I try and do what I call "doubling".  This means, for example, I make a whole chicken on Monday and on Thursday we use the rest of the chicken for something else.  We hardly ever eat the WHOLE chicken the first night and so with the left-overs I make things like chicken tacos, enchiladas or whatever sounds good.  I also believe in simplicity of meals.  I refuse to make a recipe if it calls for more than 7 ingredients.  I need to save time AND make a delicious and healthy meal for my family.  I am not Bobby Flay so I am ok with simple yummy meals.

Now that you have the meal plan, go through and make your grocery list based off that.  It helps to do EVERY meal, including snacks, in your meal plan.  To save money on ink and paper I bought a whiteboard version but I also included one I found online that you can print. 

Now that you have your grocery list (and if you use the pantry inventory  list make sure to check that to restock your spices, etc.) you know what coupons to look out for.  If you see a coupon for save $.50 on Cheetos but it is not on your meal plan, you are NOT saving.  Now if you know you are having a party within the next month and you will be serving chips and such, then go ahead and snag them because you saved money in the end.  So never forget about holidays or events when planning your food for the week.  One thing I DO stock up on to an extent is meat.  I can freeze it.  If I see that a whole chicken is on sale for $.89 a pound I pick up two.  That is FOUR meals for me and my family and they usually run about $5-6 a chicken.  I throw in a veggie which averages about $.25 a person, if that, and that makes each person's meal $.87.  (I did 5 divided by 2 for two meals per chicken, then divided it by how many family members I have which is 4, then added the cost of a veggie).  Safeway is also notorious for doing BOGO on roasts.  So I spend about $8 per roast, and get one free.  And that lasts us THREE meals.  

It also is more than the coupons.  One thing that makes it hard in this area (Northern Idaho) is that Walmart is the only store (that I know of) that does Ad-Matches.  And now you have to BRING in the ad.  They also will not honor the BOGO's from other stores unless the price is displayed in the ad.  So if it says your laundry soap is BOGO but doesn't tell you that each bottle is whatever price it is, then they won't match it. 

How do I get all this wonderful coupon and ad-match knowledge?  I get the Sunday paper.  We have two papers in my area so what I do is I peak inside each one and see which has more ads.  Each papers seems to vary week to week.  I also use the internet to look at each stores page that did not have an ad.  One website I use for printable coupons is Swagbucks.com.  I like this site because there is no extra effort on my part.  You sign up, install the toolbar (it's not one of those annoying ones or I would NOT have it) and you get swagbucks for searching on the web, printing coupons, taking surveys, and more.  With those swagbucks you can turn them into REAL bucks.  You can get gift cards to your favorite stores like Target and REI or if you like the online shopping you can get Amazon cards.  So when you print the coupons off their site and turn them in (the same coupons you get everywhere else) you get swagbucks.  It's not for everyone, but it is for me.  

Find whatever system works best for you in terms of organizing your coupons.  I find that CD pages work well just for that sitting down weekly and organizing process. Then I can just fold them up and stick them in a drawer in the kitchen until I need to pull them out or put more coupons in.  I have each little section labeled for various sections like meat, household supplies, canned food, dairy, etc.

So this is how I do it.  You will find over time a system that works better for you, but DO find that system.  I save us about $200 a month in groceries because of this, and it really is little effort.  If I can do this, so can you! 

GOOD LUCK!