Saving Families Money Since 2007
Many of you have asked for ideas and suggestions to help your children understand the true meaning of Easter. I found this Countdown to Easter on Pinterest this morning and thought it might be helpful–especially for those of you with younger children.
If any of you have links to other ideas, I’d love to have you share them in the comments.
Missed the other tips in this Supermarket Savings series? Find them here.
When you discover the world of couponing and frugal blogs, there’s a tendency to want to go overboard and try to cut your grocery bill by 95% next week. While the savings and great deals can be thrilling, please pace yourself.
If you go all out and spend hours and hours of time, at the expense of other priorities, you’ll invariably burn out and land yourself back in a worse position financially than you started in. Instead, take it slowly.
Focus on lowering your grocery budget by 1-3% every month. While this might not seem like much, over time, this gradual change in a good direction will really start to add up to significant change.
Best of all, you’ll enjoy the process–instead of ending up exhausted from pushing too hard, too quickly.
Want some step-by-step help to lower your grocery bill? Be sure to check out my 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget series. Or get a copy of my book, The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget.
The last 12 months have been all about stepping outside of my comfort zone… writing and marketing a book, recording an audiobook, speaking in public, being interviewed for radio shows, appearing on national TV (live!). There are so many things I’ve done in the last year that five years ago I never would have thought I could possibly do.
For many people, these are small things. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people doing stuff on a much, much larger scale all the time. But for a once-shy person like me who got nervous just to go to church or some other event with people I knew well, these are milestone things.
I read Crazy Love last year and committed to the Lord that I would step out and do whatever He called me to do–no matter what. I won’t tell you that any of this has been easy for me, because it hasn’t been. Truthfully, I’ve experienced tremendous fear and nerves time and again.
There are times when I’ve wanted to run away and hide and there are so many times when I’ve thought, “There is no way I can do X.” However, as I’ve stepped out in faith and asked God to hold me up when I felt incredibly unqualified, He has been so faithful.
And I echo what I read in yesterday’s Jesus Calling devotional:
“If you live your life too safely, you will never know the thrill of seeing [God] work through you.”
That’s definitely been the case for me. As I’ve gotten out of the safe zone, I’ve experienced God’s power and provision in my life like never before. It’s an awesome thing to be walking in His strength and might, because you know that your own strength and might would never be enough.
And this week, I’m once again stepping out of the “safe” zone. Tomorrow morning, my husband and I are boarding a plane bound for the Dominican Republic.
We’ll be traveling to visit two Child Survival Programs (one of which is the one we’ve “adopted” through your support of my book!) and we’ll also be visiting in the homes of some of the mothers who are a part of the program. In addition, we’ll be going to see some of the other projects Compassion has in the DR and attending a Leadership Development Program graduation.
We’re excited to have this opportunity, but I wouldn’t be completely honest if I pretended that I wasn’t somewhat apprehensive. You see, aside from the Love Like You Mean It Cruise, I’ve never traveled outside the U.S.
I’ve lived a safe and sheltered life. I’ve always had a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, and much more than most of the people in the DR could probably even fathom.
I know that the poverty and need I’m going to see this week will be far beyond what I’ve ever witness before. And I’m almost certain it is going to profoundly affect me in ways I can’t imagine right now.
But I know that it’s going to rock my world in a good way. And so I board the plane tomorrow, not knowing what lies ahead of us, but knowing that stepping out of the safe zone is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.
By the way, since you all were an integral part in why we’re taking this trip, I’ll be “bringing you along with me” by blogging a little about our experiences each day and sharing pictures of some of the things we see and people we meet.
Guest post from Anne
Almost a year ago, I switched my grocery shopping routine from weekly trips to monthly. It was one of the smartest moves I’ve made in my adult life.
Seriously, shopping once a month for groceries has helped me stick to my (very tight) grocery budget more than any other trick I’ve tried. More than coupons, more than sales, more than stockpiling, more than any other money-saving tip you can name (because I’ve done – and in some cases, continue to do – them all).
It seems counter-intuitive, but it works. Here’s why:
1. It forces you to be intentional and purposeful about spending your money.
Somehow, dealing with a larger amount of money all at once inspires caution, especially when combined with the fact that the food you purchase with it has to last at least four weeks. I am so much better about prioritizing my grocery purchases and focusing on the foods we will actually eat.
2. It’s harder to over-spend.
When I shopped on a weekly basis, I thought nothing of going over my budget a few bucks here and there. Those few bucks added up to $10-15 in the course of a month, as much as $180 in a year! When your funds are limited, that’s a lot of money to waste. But when I shop monthly, I’m much more aware of what I’m spending, and there are fewer opportunities to over-spend.
3. It allows you to take advantage of the savings found by buying in bulk.
Whether it’s the big boxes at Costco, or the bulk bins at the local organic market, it’s easier to buy larger amounts of food when you’re working with larger amounts of money. When I was shopping weekly, I was only working with one-fourth of my budget at a time, so I wasn’t able to buy large amounts of any kind of food unless it was deeply discounted.
Even though the large jugs of extra virgin olive oil at Costco are considerably cheaper per ounce than any other store in my area, there was no way I could purchase it at the expense of the basic food we needed to keep our tummies filled until the next week rolled around. Now, I can buy a large jug of olive oil one month, and 10 pounds of oats the next month. Each will last at least two months, and I can rotate similar large purchases throughout the year.
4. It makes you more aware of what food you actually eat.
When you refill your cupboards on a weekly basis, it’s very easy to push the new stuff in on top of the old stuff until the old stuff gets ignored for months. But when you go a whole month before re-stocking, it becomes pretty obvious what foods disappear quickly, and what foods tend to stick around for a while.
Having a better handle on what – and how much – your family actually eats helps you to write a more accurate grocery list that isn’t padded with a lot of frivolous items.
5. It helps you eat what you buy.
The fridge and cupboards start looking pretty bare by the last week of the shopping cycle. That’s a good thing, though: instead of food getting shoved into the dark recesses of your kitchen, it’s brought into the light, prepared, and enjoyed by everyone. Instead of being tossed because it’s past its prime, it’s put to use: thriftiness and frugality at its very best.
6. It helps you save on impulse purchases.
The more often you step into a grocery store, the more money you will spend. It’s just a fact of life. You run in to buy a gallon of milk, and come out with a gallon of milk and five other things you saw on your way. (They set it up that way on purpose, you know.) If you limit your shopping to once a month, you don’t have to deal with that temptation nearly as often.
Now to be fair, I actually still do step inside a grocery store once a week. I spend 75% of my budget on my big monthly shopping trip, and then use the remaining 25% to take what I call “mini trips” each week in the remainder of the month. Those mini-trips are only for re-stocking the fresh produce and taking advantage of any loss-leader sales that might arise.
Oddly enough, the reverse of principle #1 holds true: on the weekly mini-trips, I’m working with such a small amount of money that I’m very careful to spend it only on the things that are absolutely necessary.
Curious about Once-a-Month Shopping (OAMS)? Read my entire series on OAMS here and see if you think it will work for you!
Have you ever tried once-a-month grocery shopping? Have any questions for me?
After a few weeks of sickness, we were finally all feeling better this past week and got back into the swing of normal life again around here. Here’s a little peek into our week…
Kaitlynn and I enjoyed a tea party together one afternoon.
I got the tea cups down and she fixed everything for us and set it up. It was so sweet of her and I’m trying to soak up these years when she just can’t get enough of time with me!
We recently got Skip-Bo cards and taught ourselves how to play Skip-Bo. Kathrynne picked the game right up and has become quite the fierce competitor.
We taught Kaitlynn how to play this past week and I think she’s going to be joining the “fierce competitor” ranks here quite soon, too! It’s so fun for the girls to be old enough to really get into playing family games together!
In other news, I had a pretty near flopped Freezer Cooking session this week. You can read more here, if you missed my post on it earlier.
And it “snowed” this week!!! It was actually mixture of rain, sleet, and snow, or something like that, but it stayed on the ground long enough for the children to play in it and make some snowballs. Since snow has been pretty much non-existent here in Kansas this winter, the children were ecstatic when they woke up to white stuff on the ground on Thursday morning!
Did anything exciting or interesting happen at your house this past week?
Corrie ten Book by Janet & Geoff Benge is a tad above my girls’ level and I wasn’t sure whether they’d be ready to enjoy it yet. However, I went ahead and decided to try–and I’m so glad I did. It took us a few chapters to really get into it, but once we did, the girls were begging for me to keep reading!
This book chronicles the life of Corrie ten Boom, a woman who was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis because of her involvement in the underground network helping Jews during World War II. The story of her capture, the horrific things she endured, and then her incredible release and life post-war is fascinating and inspiring.
It’s perfect for younger children since it’s not too graphic, but it also opens the door to many great discussions on a variety of topics and historical events. If your children are a little older (or you are looking for great reading material), I’d highly recommend reading Corrie’s own retelling of her story in The Hiding Place.
See a list of the chapter books we’ve read together as a family so far this year.
Did you read any good books this week?
Guest Post by Carrie from Frugalistic Mom
On frugal blogs, we talk a lot about how to get more stuff for less money. But lately, I’ve been thinking more about how to allocate my budget in ways that I feel better about.
I would love it if I could afford to buy only the products I feel the best about — and maybe I will achieve that one day! However, I am not going to go over budget just to purchase these products. Here’s how we’ve started buying products we feel better about without increasing our budget:
I realized that we didn’t need as much as we thought we did.
I used to buy meat for each dinner of the week, and lunch meats for sandwiches. Then I started reading about factory-farmed meat, animal cruelty, and environmental degradation.
Our family decided to cut back our meat consumption to three or four meals a week, in order to free up more money in our weekly grocery budget for beef that we buy directly from a farmer we feel good about. The same goes for shopping locally instead of through mass retailers or online.
I stopped comparing apples to apples {literally and figuratively}.
Organic apples are more expensive than conventional – no question. But when compared to other food, pound for pound, organic apples can still be purchased pretty affordably.
Once I stopped comparing the organic price to the conventional price for every little thing, and just thought about what I was spending per pound for my food, I stressed less about the expense for the good stuff.
I prioritized our values.
Most of us can’t afford to buy the best of everything. I don’t buy all organic, even though I know this would be ideal in terms of environmental protection. I don’t buy all organic produce. Instead, I use the list from the Environmental Working Group to determine which produce is most likely to be contaminated with pesticides and I buy those organic. I buy conventional produce for all the rest of my produce purchases.
I put my money into what matters to me, not into showing off.
When my first child was a baby, I felt like everything that went into her mouth – and especially into the snack bag I handed her on the playground – had to be organic or the other mothers would think I was terrible.
I remember even buying organic cookies for her. Now that I’m a mom of three with more confidence in my own choices, I laugh about that. My baby didn’t need cookies at all, much less organic ones. And I don’t care what the other moms think, as long as I feel good about what I’m feeding the kids.
I make it at home when I can.
I’m no do-it-yourself diva – I can barely cut paper in a straight line. However, I realized that some products are so easy to make in an environmentally friendly formula that it’s really no trouble – like spray cleaner out of vinegar and baking soda.
I’m not a very good gardener, but those who are can do a lot toward easing the environmental burden of their diet by growing organic food at home. When I do price comparisons between do-it-yourself and store-bought, I try to remember to consider the social or environmental cost of the product – not just the dollar amount.
I make easy switches.
When I read about the child slavery involved in conventional cocoa beans, I decided not to buy chocolate. And to be honest, I was upset at the prospect of not purchasing our usual chocolate treats. However, once I got over the shock, I realized that kids love lollipops and other candies too. I can splurge to buy a couple fair trade chocolates for the kids, but otherwise I’m sticking to non-chocolate candies for now.
There are plenty of other foods that also come with a heavy human rights price, but since conventional chocolate isn’t a necessity, it was one of the easier choices to make.
I gave myself a pat on the back for choices that just happen to contribute to a greater good.
I’ve been buying nearly all of my kid’s clothes – and an increasing number of my own – second-hand. I do this to save money, but also because buying second-hand is more environmentally friendly, too.
I consider part of my shopping budget as charity.
If you buy the cheapest of everything without thinking about the consequences, and save thousands of dollars each year to donate to charity… are you really helping create the world you want? I’m not saying we should stop supporting charities, but instead, try supporting a retailer that operates according to your values. This can be as powerful as a direct donation.
With all that said, I understand that thinking about the ethics of what you buy is not going to fit into everyone’s budget. If I could barely afford enough groceries to get through the week, I would not waste one minute thinking about organic versus conventional.
And of course, not everyone shares my family’s values. You may go out of your way to support a retailer that I don’t feel comfortable supporting, or vice versa. I’m not trying to convince others to stop buying conventional chocolate or start buying organic. My point is that if there are things that bother you about what you’re buying, you may be able to find a way to shop with your values.
Carrie Kirby blogs about being a realistic frugalista in Chicago at Frugalistic Mom.
I was supposed to take a dessert to our monthly couple’s get-together tonight and I had a boxed cake mix in the pantry and a bag of chocolate chips in the freezer, so I remembered this dessert I used to make years ago and decided it would be perfect.
It’s not healthful, but it sure is delicious. 🙂 Best of all, it can be whipped up in mere minutes!
1 chocolate cake mix + ingredients needed to make it (You can also make your own chocolate cake from scratch.)
1 bottle of chocolate syrup
1 pint whipping cream (or whipped topping)
Powdered sugar
Vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Mix cake and bake according to directions. Let cool.
Poke holes in the top of the cake and drizzle 1/2 to 1-cup chocolate syrup over the cake.
Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla to taste.
Spoon whipping cream over top of the cake. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Refrigerate until serving. Makes 10-12 servings.
Once you’ve made your shopping list based upon the weekly sales fliers, make sure to check the Coupon Database and Store Deal Match-ups on our site to see if there are any printable coupons available for products you’re planning to buy.
Just search for the product name and the Coupon Database will automatically generate a list of all coupons available for that product. It does all the legwork for you–all you have to do is type in the products you want to buy and print the coupons!
Did you know that we have a listing of the best weekly sales and coupon match-ups at over 100 grocery store chains nationwide on the Store Deals Section of our site? Find and click on your store(s) logo here and it will take you to this week’s best deals list for your local store(s).
Quickly scan the list to see if there are any deals you’re interested in doing and print any coupons you’ll need for those deals. You can also click through the link at the bottom of each list to see an extensive sale and deal list put together by a blogger who lives in your area.
If you don’t want to mess with checking the Store Deal Section every week, you can sign up to have the list of the best deals for your local stores emailed to you each week when the sale ads come up. We’re all about saving you time–and money!
Taking five minutes of your time to check the Coupon Database and Store Deal Match-ups when planning your shopping trip could easily save you $5 or $10–or more!
Find more Supermarket Savings Tips here.
{A group photo from the Reader Meet-up in Harrisburg, PA last year.}
I’ll be speaking at the MomLife Bootcamp in two weeks and I’m so excited to have squared away the details for a Reader Meet-up while I’m there!
The Meet-up will be on Friday afternoon, March 23, 2012, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Flint, Texas (near Tyler, Texas). It will be an informal time to get to meet and chat with other frugal folks in Texas, share stories and tips, and come away inspired.
We only have room for around 25 women, so we ask that you find childcare for your children. However, nursing babies are welcome!
If you’d like to attend the Meet-up, please fill out the form below and we’ll contact you with further details.
I’m looking forward to meeting some of you!
Carrie emailed in the following testimonial:
Three years ago, our church of 40 members started giving away backpacks and school supplies every August for needy children in our area. I secured a list of families from a local organization, sent out invitations, and began collecting donations from Target, Meijer, and individuals.
These donations were used to fill backpacks for 150 needy children. To top it off, they were invited to our church facility where a local salon set up hair cutting stations and gave the children free back-to-school haircuts. It was incredible!
Fast forward three years, to this past August. We had so many backpacks and supplies donated the we had leftovers. I called two local schools, asking them if they would like what we had left.
One said, “Yes. We can use those to send food home to children who need it.” I was astonished, heartbroken, and saddened–there were children in our area, who for whatever reason, were not being fed by their parents on the weekend.
Since this particular school already had a food program in place, I contacted the school that was taking the remainder of our backpacks and told the counselor my plan: We wanted to provide food for needy children in the school via a backpack each week.
That started the ball rolling. The school sent home surveys to parents to get a feel for who needed food, and how many people we would be dealing with. It turned out that there are 18 children who go home each Friday with a backpack of food to feed them for seven meals over the weekend. Our little church of 40 people is feeding 18 children week! I did some math, and when it came down to it, a backpack of weekend food can be filled for less than $10!
After a few months of this, I was made aware of a national organization called Blessings in a Backpack. Although our church isn’t doing the program through this organization, it seems to be an easy way to start helping others if you need something more “official” to present to a school for consideration.
The point of the Backpack Buddies is not to fill pantries for families, but instead to provide enough food to children to get them through the weekend.
Here is a list of food we decided to collect:
- Canned vegetables and fruit (with easy open tops)
- Canned meat or meat stews (with easy open tops)
- Easy Mac or Ramen CUP of Soup
- Juice Boxes
- Shelf Stable Milk
- Snacks (granola bars, peanut butter crackers, etc.)
- Breakfast items (small boxes of cereal, granola bars, cereal bars, etc.)
We try to make the foods as kid-friendly as possible to open, prepare, and warm in the microwave.
I am so thankful to God that He has blessed us in a way that we can be a blessing to others! -Carrie
Do you despise budgeting or feel overwhelmed by the thought of trying to create and maintain a workable budget?
Hop on over to Amy’s blog for another installment of The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget Book Club. She’s talking budgets (or lack thereof!) today. I think you’ll be encouraged by what she and her commentors have to say!
And if you want step-by-step instructions on setting up and sticking with a budget, be sure to get a copy of my book, The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget. I tackle realistic budgeting in chapter three–and I break it down into bite-sized pieces so it’s not overwhelming. And it just might change your whole financial situation!
Want to cut your grocery bill?
Always ask yourself, “Is this a good deal?” when you pick something up to put it in your cart.
Here are four ways to know whether something is a good deal for you:
This might seem like a no-brainer question, but it’s amazing how many items we’re tempted to buy that we won’t really end up using. Will you really use that 50-pound tub of coconut? If not, it’s not a good deal for you, even if it’s a great price.
If you already have 69 bottles of shampoo at home in your bathroom cupboard, you probably don’t need to buy 10 more bottles–no matter how good the deal!
If you don’t have the money to pay for it, it’s not a good deal–even if it’s only $0.25!
Maybe that bottle of sweet tea is a great deal at the store, but could you easily whip up your own pitcher of sweet tea using ingredients you already have at home?
What questions do you ask yourself in order to determine whether or not something is a good deal?
