Extreme couponing

Although I have never been a "reality show" fan, (never seen Survivor or any others, I guess my life is crazy enough) I have been tuning in occasionally to watch this extreme coupon show. I thought I would pick up some tips on how to use my coupons more effectively or something like that, but the "reality" is that they should combine this show with the one about hoarders. Has anyone else noticed that these people who spend 60 hours a week to get a $5 grocery bill never have vegetables or protein in their baskets? They really look unhealthy and they are literally devoting rooms of their living space to this obsession. Living space is supposed to be just that, living space, not storing 20 years worth of cheap shampoo space. I don't know about you, but these people scare me. I am ALL about saving money and making sure my family has food to eat, but really?

I learned when I moved into my ex-husband's house that there is not a single thing that cannot go bad after a period of time. Case in point: he had a 6-pack of Diet Coke in the pantry for 5 years. There is not a single natural thing in Diet Coke to go bad, and yet when I popped one of those suckers open, it was rancid. Who would have thought? So what are you going to do with those 2000 energy bars? Even if you didn't get tired of eating them, it would take a loooong time to get it done. Ok, so you say they will donate them to food banks. The thing is-they won't. They have built shelves and devoted rooms to this obsession and they work hard at getting that stuff. They wouldn't give it away in a million years. They would look at each item and remember the rush they got from getting them and they will not let it go. It's a slippery slope.

As for me, I will stick to my sunday paper and the internet for my coupons and I will not give up a minute with my daughter to save 40 cents. I average a savings of 45-55% just doing that, so why change?

For the newly unemployed

Ok, now that you have some time on your hands, I am going to tell you how to eat well on a small budget. If you can, the first thing I recommend is getting a freezer and a meal sealer machine. I have seen extra freezers in even small apartments, and it will really help maximize your money. The next thing is something of an undertaking and will take about 1-2 months to complete, but it is super important. Get a spiral notebook at the dollar store or BigLots or wherever. It doesn't need to be big, and in fact it is easier if it fits in your purse or pocket. If you are like many people I know who have never worried about having the money to feed your family (and I see you all the time at the grocery store :-)) and your shopping strategy is to throw whatever strikes your fancy in your cart without a second look, this is going to be especially hard for you. Not as hard as giving up the lattes, but close.

Next, get with your family and make a meal plan for at least a week. If you can do more; do it. If your kids are requesting lobster, just say no. Use websites like www.eatingwell.com and let the family help with this part. Look in your pantry and see what you have hiding in there and plan meals around that item.

Here comes the hard part: you need to go to at least 3 stores (I use King Soopers (Kroger, City Market-all the same), Safeway and Albertsons. This will take at least an hour in each store so plan accordingly. Go down each and every aisle and make notes in your notebook the prices of things you like to buy and the store brand as well. If it happens to be on sale at the moment, note the regular and the sale price and highlight the sale price. You will have a LOT of entries and it helps to have a page dedicated to each of these 4 things: Fresh (lunchmeat, cheese etc.) Dry, Frozen and personal/cleaning.

This is time consuming, you say, but not so hard, right? Well, you have to do this each week for at least a month and 2 is better. Use the same items you wrote down before but note the differences in prices from week to week. After awhile, you will start to see a pattern emerge about when stores put items on sale and for how much. You will know what the highest price for an item is and also the rock bottom price. Knowledge is power. If you do nothing else but not buy products if they aren't on sale and stock up when they are rock bottom, you will have saved a ton of money on groceries. If you are anything like me, you will plan a meal and go to the store and realize that in a week that item you need is going to be waayyy cheaper, you will change your meal plan instantly.

The notebook serves several purposes, first-it will help you see that some stores will put items on sale and they will not really be a bargain at all. For example, say Safeway has a 2 for 1 on something and you think, "ooohhh free!" However, many times they jack up the price on that one item you have to buy and your handy dandy notebook will show you that you can go to another store and get 2 of the same item for less than the one you have to buy to get the other "free." Second, you will be able to really, innately, know how much things cost and moreover, how much things should cost.

Yes, there are websites that will do all this for you, and that is much easier in a way. But I don't like not thinking for myself and I don't like paying someone else to do something I can easily do for free. It makes me feel like saving money is my current "job" and I can do it well. And so can you.

Black Friday

I was just looking through the massive pile of ads that came in today's paper, and it made even me think, "I must need something!" That is really something. I quickly came to my senses, took a deep breath and decided to write about it. I get that retailers need to make money this year because the economy is bad and blah, blah, blah. I don't care. They certainly don't care about me.

Then I started thinking about Christmas. My daughter is amazing, because at 10, she knows the difference between want and need and knows that Christmas is about want. She also knows she has the cheapest mother alive and tailors her list to the few things she really, really wants. I have taught her from an early age not to equate her self worth with "stuff." I think people forget this simple idea. They "need" the latest gadgets and designer clothes and their closets are stuffed with, well, stuff. I am lucky that even in this economy, I have a nice house in a nice neighborhood. I have clothes to wear and food to eat. I have these things because I have figured out the difference between need and want. Sure, I go to stores and I think, "wow-wouldn't it be cool to be so rich that I could buy this and that and not worry about the bills each month?" "Wouldn't a Pumpkin Spice Latte (my favorite from my old life) be awesome right now?" The sad truth is, I can't. And if you are actually reading this post, you can't either. So...take a deep breath and hug your family and commit to stop thinking "stuff" is what you "need." You don't. Your child will love you even if they don't get that $150 (but on "sale" for $100) Star Wars Lego set. Your family will love you even if you don't have the newest smart phone or tablet. Guess what? They will love you more if you decide to "need" them as much as that latte. That is what the day after Thanksgiving should be about. Make it so.