So, I blame my mom for this one. And I don’t think she’ll be surprised by that. I love “saving” money. Brian and my dad both agree that it’s kind of a backwards concept. But, I think that the guys also agree that it’s nice knowing that their women keep the family fed and looking nice without going too far overboard.
For the past couple months I have been using a site http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ to create my shopping lists. Basically, this site shows me what items to buy, where to find the coupons, and the deal that I’ll get in the end. It does cost a few dollars a week, but I more than make up for it most weeks.
There’s another blog that I read that the woman sets up her purchases each trip and shows how much she saved and what she got for the $$. Well, I was thinking that I’d do the same. Then I went to the store.
And I can’t imagine taking an extra step and displaying what I bought. So, here are my non-displayed purchases… Basically I bought enough that it covered our table. And my savings were $171.88! I ended up spending $113. I think that around $40 in savings were from coupon.
We’ll see how far the food goes though. I guess that’s always the issue. I went to the store on Tuesday to do this big trip and the little guy and I went back yesterday already. I just can’t fit enough milk in our fridge for a whole week. And we fly through fruit like no body’s business.
One of the biggest struggles for me going from a very independent woman who contributed to our family incomes, to the stay at home parent, has been finding satisfaction. Being a mom is a never ending project. There’s rarely a point that my house is totally clean (rare as in, hasn’t happened to me yet), and if the laundry is done it only is done for a matter of hours, until the next change happens. When one child is having huge successes, another will be struggling. And once one task is learned, another is there waiting to be taught.
I think that’s why I enjoy this “game”. I get to feel like I got something accomplished. And I feel like I’m using our resources well. It’s hard not contributing to our bottom line financially. So, I’m going to count this weeks savings as my part!
FYI You can freeze milk. It thaws nicely. That's what we do when we go get the good milk.
I have done that in the past–but freezer space is at a premium, too. We had an extra freezer that we got rid of this summer and now my frozen milk space is gone.