Being Thrifty

Michael and I pretty much live at the grocery store.

Every morning I would go to the store on my way to work and pick up breakfast and lunch for the day. In the evening Michael would stop at the store on the way home to pick up dinner and other household needs. Plus our weekend trips where we would get meals for a few nights during the week, but always forget key pieces...which is what kept Michael going to the store in the evenings.

The thing is, every time I go to the store I find something that I must have, so daily visits add up. Every time Michael goes to the store he spends between $50 and $70. Most the time when he comes home and tells me how much he spent after I only asked him to pick up a salad dressing or something I wonder how in the World he does it.

While on maternity leave I started getting better about making sure I got everything for the week in one visit. Feeling pretty proud of myself, and on my quest to save more money so I can spend more time at home than at the office, I decided to start trying coupons.

Michael laughed at me and said he didn't want to be that person at the store with a million coupons and even brought up how frustrated I was when the grocery line was held up because the lady in front of me saved $40 with coupons (seriously...how much do you have to buy and cut for that kind of coupons savings) and then paid with a check which the cashier didn't know what to do with. After laughing at me he agreed to go with me, mostly so we could make sure we got everything we needed and so he could get the special things he likes.

I spent the morning planning out meals for the week and figuring out what we were running low on, and then connected that list to what we had coupons for. I even organized the shopping list and coupons in order for each aisle since I know that store by heart with all the time I spent in there.

By the time we finished shopping, Michael had not been embarassed, we did not hold anyone up in line, we got groceries for the week (except for the BBQ for our sandwiches because we like the brand at the other store better) and saved $15 in coupons.

And once again; something so simple makes me proud!