I was chatting with my best friend Michelle this morning and we were discussing life, family, friendships, and the age old dilemma of how to make it all work. She is a super busy, full time working mom to 4 beautiful girls and she was telling me how frustrated she is that she just can't seem to find enough time in the day to get it all done. She would love to start using coupons more, but she feels she just doesn't have the time.
She and her husband would love for her to be able to work part time and be home with the girls more, but like so many of us, it's just not feasible right now. The economy is down, jobs are scarce, and the only direction prices are going is up. We brainstormed ways to slash her bills so she could be home more and here's what we came up with: cut her grocery bill in half!
I challenged her to 30 days of "my way", so here's my proposed action plan that can be easily adapted for anyone:
1. First, her grocery budget is $250 per week. $125 of that MUST go into an envelope and be put away. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If you're doing this challenge yourself, take half of your grocery budget and put it aside too.
2. Create a meal plan. If you normally shop once per week, you'll need to plan meals for one week. The best way to do this is by checking what's on sale and building a menu around sale items (i.e since Hunts tomatoes are on sale this week at Kroger, make spaghetti, chili, chicken parmesan, etc..)
3. Make a grocery list based on items needed for meals and snacks
4. Add to the list other items you'll need such as soap, toothpaste, detergent, etc. and check for a sale on those items! If they aren't on sale this week and you won't run out until next week, I encourage you to wait to see if there's a sale next week.
5. Go shopping! You now have only half your original budget to spend, so your first priority is to gather the things you need for meals, then toiletries (only if they're on sale or if you need them right away).
6. Once your meal needs and basics are met and only if you have money left over, you need to now grab extras of the things you have in your cart. For example, if you only needed 3 cans of Hunts tomataoes but you have coupons for 6, you need to grab 6 cans - 3 for now, three for later. Also, now would be a good time for you to get a few other things that are cheap with coupons, but that you might not have needed this week.
Now for the hard part (or so I think). The main issue here was always time, right? She asked me how she could possibly get this all done during her busy day. I asked her when she normally gets her shopping done and she said it's during the 1 hour and 15 minutes between picking up her elementary kids and her middle school kids. She can quickly print the deals list (just print the webpage where I post weekly sales), spend 1 or 2 days in the car writing up her plan and clipping coupons, then 1-2 days at the store(s) in between picking up the girls. That leaves her 3 days without having to worry about shopping!
**The key to maximizing a grocery budget is to stock up when an item is on sale! I have a new tab across the top titled "free this week". I put posts in there that have free items, but if you look at each grocery store rundown you'll see more free items. Grab as many of those items as you have coupons for and stash them away! You'd be crazy NOT to get as much free stuff as you can, especially if you're working towards slashing your grocery bill in half. Let's just say you can get free toothpaste this week and you have 3 coupons for toothpaste. Buy ALL 3 tubes of toothpaste, use one now, and put the other two away. Now when you need toothpaste you have a FREE tube, so you won't need to pay $3.00 at the store! If you can stockpile most of your non-perishable groceries this way, you'll be set!**
In part 2 next week, I'll report on her progress and let you know how much she was able to save - time AND money!
She and her husband would love for her to be able to work part time and be home with the girls more, but like so many of us, it's just not feasible right now. The economy is down, jobs are scarce, and the only direction prices are going is up. We brainstormed ways to slash her bills so she could be home more and here's what we came up with: cut her grocery bill in half!
I challenged her to 30 days of "my way", so here's my proposed action plan that can be easily adapted for anyone:
1. First, her grocery budget is $250 per week. $125 of that MUST go into an envelope and be put away. Out of sight, out of mind, right? If you're doing this challenge yourself, take half of your grocery budget and put it aside too.
2. Create a meal plan. If you normally shop once per week, you'll need to plan meals for one week. The best way to do this is by checking what's on sale and building a menu around sale items (i.e since Hunts tomatoes are on sale this week at Kroger, make spaghetti, chili, chicken parmesan, etc..)
3. Make a grocery list based on items needed for meals and snacks
4. Add to the list other items you'll need such as soap, toothpaste, detergent, etc. and check for a sale on those items! If they aren't on sale this week and you won't run out until next week, I encourage you to wait to see if there's a sale next week.
5. Go shopping! You now have only half your original budget to spend, so your first priority is to gather the things you need for meals, then toiletries (only if they're on sale or if you need them right away).
6. Once your meal needs and basics are met and only if you have money left over, you need to now grab extras of the things you have in your cart. For example, if you only needed 3 cans of Hunts tomataoes but you have coupons for 6, you need to grab 6 cans - 3 for now, three for later. Also, now would be a good time for you to get a few other things that are cheap with coupons, but that you might not have needed this week.
Now for the hard part (or so I think). The main issue here was always time, right? She asked me how she could possibly get this all done during her busy day. I asked her when she normally gets her shopping done and she said it's during the 1 hour and 15 minutes between picking up her elementary kids and her middle school kids. She can quickly print the deals list (just print the webpage where I post weekly sales), spend 1 or 2 days in the car writing up her plan and clipping coupons, then 1-2 days at the store(s) in between picking up the girls. That leaves her 3 days without having to worry about shopping!
**The key to maximizing a grocery budget is to stock up when an item is on sale! I have a new tab across the top titled "free this week". I put posts in there that have free items, but if you look at each grocery store rundown you'll see more free items. Grab as many of those items as you have coupons for and stash them away! You'd be crazy NOT to get as much free stuff as you can, especially if you're working towards slashing your grocery bill in half. Let's just say you can get free toothpaste this week and you have 3 coupons for toothpaste. Buy ALL 3 tubes of toothpaste, use one now, and put the other two away. Now when you need toothpaste you have a FREE tube, so you won't need to pay $3.00 at the store! If you can stockpile most of your non-perishable groceries this way, you'll be set!**
In part 2 next week, I'll report on her progress and let you know how much she was able to save - time AND money!
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