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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Becoming a Frugal Shopper

I have to admit that I've gained my mother's shopping skills. She is the best bargain shopper I know. I bought groceries for the next 3 weeks. Here's what I know:

Fareway: $79.50 (food only, followed my meal plan & bought some special things for our Oscar Party, special snacks for the kiddies and even a small chocolate milk for my oldest son)
Wal-Mart: $18.63 (diapers and a pie)
Hy-Vee: $11.70 (Hy-Vee brand pull-ups ($5.69 on sale) and food groceries)
Target: $13.79 (large box Target wipes - usually lasts about 3-4 months)

Total: $123.62 for the next 3+ weeks of food, about a 2 months diapers and 4 months wipes. Not too shabby for a beginner. I used two coupons and went to three other places for cheaper items that we know work well (Target wipes, Hy-Vee training pants, Wal-Mart diapers).

A friend suggested trying the Hy-Vee pull-ups as the Pampers Pull-Ups are $15 + and the Hy-Vee training pants are regularly $7.16 bought on sale today for $5.69. Yay!!

Now I know there are a lot of you out there who are even more amazing shoppers because you're great at couponing. I'm not that great, but am learning. I've been making progress and it shows. I have been able to purchase special treats for my boys that I haven't been able to do for a while (fruit snacks, yogurt, string cheese, etc). Our growth group meets twice a month for a meal, prayer and study. This month is my month to host and I thought it would be tough, but we've been able to make a great meal and get extras (soda and a pie - yum). I think the best money saver for me is sticking to my meal plan and using only cash.

That's what I know. How do you save on your groceries?

2 comments:

Rachel said...

Do you look up what's on sale before you go to each of the stores? People always say they do things like this and I'm curious to know the details. I always try to be careful and spend wisely but I'm interested in the art of saving with grocery shopping:)

Linda said...

We don't have coupons here.. if we would, I'd have so much fun with them.. *LOL* ;)

My best tip is for meat..

#1 choice is the islamic butcher. They sell good meat for VERY low prices. Just don't ask them for porkchops ;)

#2 choice is supermarket meat that you 'should' eat that day (sell-by date) - here that's always marked 35% down. I just freeze the packets and use them whenever I feel like it..

And as for toiletries.. buy a small container just once, then always fill it up with a BIG one.. big containers are wayyyyy cheaper..

That's all I have ;)
Greetings from the netherlands!