Heather from Queen Bee Coupons has a great post up on saving money by doing without. Here’s a snippet:
When I decided to stay home with my kids (seven years ago!) it meant cutting our income by 60%. That’s right, 60 percent. Take $100 and throw $60 of it out the window. What was once $100, became $40 at the grocery store. I wouldn’t change staying home for a second. I wouldn’t trade anything for those extra 60 dollars, but I would be picky in how I spent the money I had left.
For us, this meant – if it wasn’t on sale and/or we didn’t have a coupon – we generally didn’t buy it. It was that simple. If it wasn’t a loss leader in the grocery ad (one of the best of the best deals), we would wait, and do without, until it went on sale.
And now, seven years later, our budget isn’t as tight – but we still live by this principle.
karen says
Thank you for sharing this post. I really enjoyed reading it. I especially loved the part about manager’s markdowns. One of my favorite parts of shopping at Kroger. I have gotten some amazing deals.
Uma @ Centsible Indian says
Quite true on this one. If we boycott the expensive ingredients until they’re on sale, we will be able to reduce our grocery bill without much effort.
One of my goals for this month is to reduce 12% of our grocery budget. I’m planning not to buy any ingredient that comes under this category.
doris says
What a GREAT post! Life is about CHOICES and this lady has definitely made some wise ones! I laughed as I read it because that is how we have always lived too. It’s about CHOOSING gratitude — being thankful for what you do have and seeing how truly blessed we are in this country — even if you’re in the lowest percentile.
Chelsea says
Reading this helped, a lot. We are working hard on figuring out ways for me to stay at home with our three babes, but we too, would need to cut our income by about 60%. Usually, I only see articles about families who typically saved the second income anyways, so it didn’t make too much of an impact when they went down to one income; which I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t discouraging.
Such a good post. Thank you!
Jacki says
Our family has always lived on one income. We only buy used or on sale. Our kids have everything they need and many things they want because of garage sales:) It is a lifestyle choice that has to be wanted.