son of a...that's gonna leave a mark.

Groceries this week:


Total amount of purchases: $187
Total SPENT: $106

A savings of about 43%. Not my best work. Sigh. I've been averaging about 50%.

A few highlights:
2 Kraft salad dressings for .80 total (I usually make my own, but .80? Eh, why not?)
4 containers of Daisy sour cream, on sale for $1 each, plus I had 4 coupons for .50 each, which Kroger doubles, in case you're not paying attention here people, that means I got 4 Daisy sour creams for freeeeeee.
4 Blistex for like .20 each. My husband goes through that stuff like nobodies business.

You know, plus the usual meat, produce, milk, bread, juice, blah blah and a few beauty/household products. 

I just did a little math. Let's say I did this every week for an entire year. (Even though these $187 worth of groceries will last me closer to two weeks, but stay with me)....that's a savings of almost $5000 in a year. FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS I used to just give to grocery stores. Insanity, I tell you.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love saving money? It's like a little high I get...lame, I know. Anyway- fairly recently I noticed the economic hard times hitting me particularly bad in one place...the grocery store. Seriously, never in my life have I witnessed such an extreme price jump as I have with groceries and gas.

SO, I had some options.

In order to buy food for my family I could:

a) Sell myself on the corner. No thanks.
b) Get a respectable job. No thanks.
c) Live on Vienna Sausages and Mac n Cheese. No thanks.
(Incidentally, I remember eating and LIKING Vienna Sausages as a child. What the hell was wrong with me?)
d) Become a smart shopper.

As tempting as it was to become a whore, I opted for the smart shopper route. Less diseases and unwanted pregnancies that way.

Anywho...what does this mean, you may ask.

Well, it means that I have become a slave to coupons and weekly grocery ads. It's not as bad as it seems. My neighbor friend turned me onto this way of life and let me tell you that I am saving RIDICULOUS amounts of money.

It takes several weeks or months to really get into the savings groove, but trust me, it works. With a little organization, patience and pantry space you can save about half on your groceries...so not kidding. Some people even save more but I am not that talented.

Here are the tricks:

1. Stockpile coupons. Even if you don't need the item right now, clip it anyway. Even if it's a brand you never use or something you think you'll probably never buy because it's out of the norm or out of your price range, clip it anyway. Get more than one Sunday paper if it's something you need multiple coupons for. (Even if the coupon says "Save $1 on 2" you can still use 2 coupons)
2. Get some kind of organizer to keep track of them.
3. Check your local grocery store ads EVERY week.
4. Match up the sale items with your file of coupons and VOILA... money saving magic.
5. Be patient. If you have three or four coupons (yes you can use them all at the same time) for Cheerios, but none of the stores have Cheerios on special, just wait. Soon enough they will have them on sale. Like Publix today had Cheerios Buy One Get One Free and I had 4- $1 off Cheerios coupons... so I got FOUR boxes of Cheerios for $4.29.

Today I saved about $40 in coupons. My bill went down to $80...not my best work but I got a lot of high dollar items and stuff to load up my pantry with. For example...Uncle Ben's rice was Buy One Get One Free and I had coupons of course, so I got 4 boxes of brown rice for like $2 bucks...Do I need 4 boxes of brown rice? No, but I will use them. Start doing this with all your pantry staples and not only do you save a shitload of money you never run out of anything.

The downside: Yes it takes a lot of time, but once you get the hang of it, it's not bad. Also- sometimes I have to hit 2 or 3 grocery stores to take advantage and save the most money...that becomes a pain, but really worth it in the end.

In other money-saving news...I got my e.l.f. stuff today. I can't wait to try it out.