Savings Update

Several posts back, I talked about the grocery game and my excitement to save money. Well, I am happy to report that YES! I am saving money at the grocery store. I've not had a savings like some other serious grocery gamers have had (getting 50 bucks worth of groceries for like $2), but I am doing well. I've cut our grocery bill down by half at least, and I am stockpiling which makes meal planning so much easier. For example, last week I got $36 worth of groceries for $13.06. I'm pleased with that amount of savings. I did get a bottle of Kraft BBQ sauce for TEN CENTS! YAY me! My thrifty mom was so proud. :)

I've made some rookie grocery game mistakes, but I've learned from them. I definitely recommend printing off the grocery game list to have that as a reference in the store while shopping. I invested in a little coupon organizer thing (it's pink!), and that has made a big difference in keeping up with my coupons both for planning and keeping them straight in the store while shopping and dealing with Madeline lunging at everyone and everything.

I have found that our biggest reasons for not saving money in the grocery store is twofold -- Eric and I are faithful coffee drinkers, but we are also creamer snobs. We don't do regular milk, powdered creamer, or regular 'ol store brand half-n-half. Unfortunately, we love the flavored coffee creamers that don't go on sale nor have coupons very much. Eric and I are also beer drinkers, and we are definitely beer snobs! Beer jacks up the grocery bill anyways, so the fact that we buy the $7 or $8 per six pack beer doesn't help our savings. Oh well...some splurges are okay. ;)

But, all in all, I am saving us money on all other things, have a great stockpile, and have been so much better about planning our meals in advance so as to not make those "quickie grocery stops" that really increase the grocery bill. We'll know for sure how well I have done when we look at the monthly bills on the spreadsheet that my sweet, thrifty husband uses to keep track of our monthly budget and spending. Hopefully, I'll be back reporting a hefty savings!