But don't worry, my whole post will not be about coupons. Here is just what I have been learning lately...
It is true you can cut your grocery cost down by buying items on sale and using a coupon. However, you can see your savings drop even lower if you start to follow the art of stockpiling. Stockpiling is essentially buying ONLY items that are either FREE after double coupons and rebates or 75% off price. Stockpile items to look for are usually such things as soups, cereal, toiletries, breads, meat, pasta...
I have seen our grocery bill go down a lot since I started but I think this additional piece would help keep our cost down even more. It takes me a solid 3+ hours to organize, cut and plan the shopping trip for the week but I consider that part of my learning curve. One coupon lady on a site I read counted her savings of roughly $8000 a year in groceries. If you consider it takes her an average of 2 hours a week, that would be like paying her $77 an hour. Better than any part time job I know!
Anyhoo, there have been other things going on besides couponing...(HA!). The little one continues to grow and be a joy to her Dad and I!
I am enjoying all the noises she is making now. She is definitely experimenting with her voice.
This week was really cold but I decided to take her on a hike with my friend Ramona at a park nearby. Ramona had the good idea of covering her mouth and cheeks with a ear protector. I had her dressed in 3 layers with a hat and this thing around her mouth. I think the "real feel" temp that day was 9 degrees but she seemed happy enough.
You can just barely see her face peeking out here! Haha!
Playing with Daddy! You should see her face light up when Tom walks in the door from work. She knows he is going to play with her and she gives him this huge grin, so cute!
Here she is using her voice...we did get it on video so maybe we will be posting that sometime soon!
6 comments:
Awwwwwwwww!!!!!!! I love her! She is so cute and I love that picture of her laughing. The couponing thing is so incredible. I think I'll be happy if I save $20 a week, I don't have a lot of time right now to go too in depth with it but it's pretty exciting to save even $80 a month!
$77/hour!!! That's incredible!
I don't know if couponing would help me, I buy a lot of fresh fruit and veggies and many organic, healthy items. Very little mainstream items go into our cart. I get my fresh fruits and veggies from my work at wholesale prices to it's a really good deal compared to what's at the grocery store. Little she is getting so bit and she's adorable.
I didn't think it would work for me either since we try to eat a lot of organic and healthy stuff but I have been pleasantly surprised. There are a lot of coupons out there for organic and healthy stuff and some of the things like diapers, T.P., paper towels, razors, shampoo, toothbrushes, napkins etc don't matter as much to me. I was able to score a sweet deal on Clorox Green Works cleaner last week. It was on sale and I had a coupon so I got it for soooo cheap. Another example is that I have a coupon right now for $2 off any meat purchase at Giant so of course I will use it for the organic meat. I also have some coupons right now that stacked with the store sale are going to get me some FREE vitamins! Whoo Hooo!!
I don't buy all the junk that is on sale with coupons but I have been pleased to see what great buys I can get with them. What is amazing to me is to see it all add up. $2 off meat doesn't sound like a lot but when you add in all your other coupons for that week and you see your receipts and $30 was knocked off just in coupons excluding sale items that is exciting! I'm getting better at it too so I can't wait to see what I can do.
Yeah, I was going to write and see if you saw that Giant coupon for meat. That's a good deal. I got 2 bottles of FREE suave shampoo this week, organic eggs for 65 cents, 2 bags of FREE cereal and 2 packages of turkey bacon (both together cost me $1.50). PLUS, I bought 3 small boxes of ziploc bags that are on sale this week at Shoprite, plus I used my coupons of course. Shoprite is running a promotion if you buy 3 ziploc products, a $2 catalina will print off at the register so I got that as well. I am also sending in for the SC Johnson $5 rebate (you enter in your barcode of 3 SC Johnson products, plus send the receipt and they send you a $5 rebate in the mail) for ziploc so I am actually MAKING MONEY on this!!! So, after the catalina and rebate, I am getting free ziploc bags plus $5!!!
What a cutie! She is growing so fast, isn't she?!
I love saving more than I spend at the grocery store. That's always my goal. Unfortunately the supermarkets out by us no longer double coupons which makes it a little more difficult.
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