So....I've been doing my best to save money in as many ways as I can come up with. I'm determined to be completely debt free, earning an incredible income, and done trading my precious minutes for someone else's scraps in no time. (Okay, at least by this time next year.)
I've watched that "Extreme Couponing" show before, and I'm always AMAZED at the haul these people take home for pennies. Each time I watch it, which admittedly hasn't been THAT many times, I turn the TV off and decide that I could absolutely do that! Why not?! I'm smart, determined, and if those people can pull that off so can I!
Well, that excitement lasts just about as long as it takes for my next payday to roll around. That's when I realize that Couponing on that level, the kind with the capital C, is A LOT of work. And anyone who knows me personally can certainly tell you how incredibly UNORGANIZED I can be. So I crash and burn on my first adventure at the store, and deem myself a loser for life in the coupon kingdom. I figure that's reserved for the real queens of saving.
That is, until recently. I finally realized that, as hard as it may be for me to admit, sometimes going "all in" before you know how to swim may not be the best advice. Sometimes, starting on a smaller scale is ~GASP~a good thing! Who knew?! So, I started by clipping a few coupons, for items my family would actually use, making a menu plan based on what we actually eat (and I actually have the time and skill to make), and matching my coupons to sales at the grocery store I actually shop at.
And guess what?! Week 1 I saved $67.00. Week 2 (actually week 3, as I get paid twice per month) another $59.00. The best part though was not the actual savings from rewards cards and coupons. The best part was the fact that when I shopped only for the things I would actually need and use, or for the things that were so cheap I couldn't pass on them, I actually ended up saving SO much more!
Just to show how incredibly intense this was for me.....typically I would spend about $350 every 14-15 days, not counting the odds and ends I had to stop and pick up in between my grocery store runs. I can safely say I would spend about $800 per month for my 4 person household. (And that's being VERY conservative!) We also had a lot of waste, food that was thrown away because we just didn't eat it before it spoiled.
Guess what I have spent on food and incidentals for the past 2 months, now that I'm making a plan and (mostly) sticking to it?! $567.92 the first month and $457.53 this month. And....we haven't run out of food. And....I haven't heard once "Mom what's for dinner?" or (my personal favorite) "There's nothing here to eat!" (After you just spent $400 at the store!) And I've been able to start stocking up on things like body was, diapers, wipes, etc. That to me is an awesome haul!
So I may never be the "Queen of Coupons" and I may never figure out how to get $1000 worth of groceries for ten bucks, or have a room full of stockpiled items. What I will have, and anyone else can as well, is a happy, healthy and well-fed family and a little extra money at the end of the month. It also makes for a WAY less stressed out me, with just about an hour of work on Sunday. That's a win-win in my book!
******Bonus for you lazy savers like me!!!! Download the ibotta app for your phone. Super easy and the cash back adds up so quickly! I use it for things I'm likely to buy anyway, I have my store cards linked so it's automatic. If I go to a store that doesn't use rewards cards, like Walmart, it's super simple to upload receipts. Voila....in 4 months (I started the month of December, and did use it for a lot before the holidays) I've cashed out $60.00 and I still have a $13 balance on my account. Pretty easy way to earn some cash! Enjoy!
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