I attempted my first ever Sale-Plus-Coupons-In-Hand Grocery Trip yesterday. And let me just say that is was AWESOME. I actually walked out of the store smiling (for real). My new full-time job is running this household of seven. That means it is my job to make things last, stretch, and look fantastic. And for me, if this is my job, I want to do it On Purpose and Well. I want to be a spectacular wife and mother–not just a great mom, but graceful and amazing.
Being a new SAHM means learning new skills and utilizing existing ones. It means getting to be in charge. :) And this year, for me, it mostly means honing my new craft: Coupon Shopping. 2009 is going to be a great year of learning for me, Rachel. I feel self-improvement knocking at the door–and I love it. I have two specific household goals for this year:
1.fully stock our year supply of food storage and emergency preparedness items.
2. Shop on a grocery budget of $360/month.
What??? For a family of seven? Yeah, I know. Trust me, I’ve done the math. It is about 1/2 of what our grocery bill has been for the family since September. And honestly, it is about 1/2 of what is was for just the two of us because we ate out so much.
I pulled out my grocery money, yesterday (cash in $100 dollar bills). When I arrived at the check-out counter I was terrified because I didn’t really know what to do with the neatly clipped coupons I possessed. The check-out clerk was very friendly and helpful. Here are my official results:
6065
Total Value: $273.40
Total Saved: $165.00
Total Out of Pocket: $108.40
Savings Percentage: 60%
# Items: 67
Total Price/Item: $1.62
That is without any Sunday coupons or special advanced couponing. The photo might not look like a ton of food, but anyone who does the grocery shopping knows how much it really is. I even got two cans of soup (valued at $3.29 each) for free. I saved $18.00 on hamburger meat. I bought 12 blocks of cheese for $20.00 and five tubes of toothpaste for under $5.00.
You can’t see the two cases of bottled water I bought for $5.00 total–saving $10.00. We do not drink bottled water to save money. But we do need it for our emergency gear and food storage…same with the extra toothpaste and instant oatmeal. Mmmm, there is nothing better than Peaches-n-Cream instant oatmeal for breakfast on a cold morning in the middle of nowhere (aka backpacking food).
Now that we have kids in the house, the landscape of our kitchen has changed. The pantry is full of fruit roll-ups and breakfast cereal. The fridge is full of go gurts and cheese. And I love it!!!
