Toronto family uses 'extreme couponing' to keep monthly grocery bill under $200

Aimee Geroux begins every grocery shop by sitting down with a pen, paper, and her smartphone.

The Toronto mother of three uses a collection of apps to help her save money at the grocery store, allowing her to keep her family's food shopping bill under $200 every month.

Using apps like Flipp and Flyerify, she begins by figuring out what products are on sale, and then uses those items as the building blocks of her week's meal planning.

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"I normally stick to the front and back of the flyers, those tend to be the loss leader sections," she said on Metro Morning.

Beyond flyer apps, she also uses rebate apps like checkout 51.

"They offer a rebate list each week. It could be 25 cents back on carrots or a dollar back on toilet paper. And if you buy those things and take a picture of your receipt and scan it to the app, they'll give you a rebate back in your account," she explains.

Geroux also uses printable and mail-to-home coupons to help score deals. She offers a guide on how to use coupons successfully on her blog, Extreme Couponing Mom.

Beyond using coupons and apps, Geroux also uses more traditional techniques at the grocery store, such as buying store brand products and swapping in frozen or canned produce when fresh becomes too expensive.

She said she knows she is a careful shopper but that doesn't mean she compromises on the food she buys. Her family continues to eat well.

"We eat fresh produce, we eat meat, we eat healthy." 

In her efforts to keep costs down, Geroux is in good company — a recent study from Dalhousie University found that more than 50 per cent of Canadians are shifting their shopping habits amid fluctuating food prices.

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