Can you really just spend $35 a week on Groceries?

Introduction:

In the blog world, I came across this very inspiring mom, Crystal Paine and her blog http://www.moneysavingmom.com/. Honestly, all the information was a little overwhelming for me, and I kept on thinking how in the world can she just spend $35 a week on groceries….it really started to bother me not knowing how she does this.

God is so good to me every day and His mercies are new every morning. Surprisingly, yesterday, by His mercies and grace, I was able to take a shower while Jackson watched Mickey Mouse in the high chair (I had the monitor on in the shower with me), and so I actually had time today after spending time in His word to download a free Podcast on the money saving mom’s blog. While Jackson napped I had time to listen to this podcast on my ipod while washing the clothes (Tuesday is the day I wash Charlie and I’s clothes, Thursdays I wash Jackson’s clothes).

I was totally inspired by listening to this podcast on how to spend way less at the grocery store. I am definitely a verbal learner. If I hear some one say a statement, I usually can remember it for a long time. That is why I listen to the Bible on tape. I hate Walmart, and this plan does not involve me going there too often (right now I go there like 2 times a week).

First Podcast I listened to was “Easy Steps For Grocery Savings” by Crystal. What I learned from her and what I am going to implement is this:

Steps:

1. First, she says start with meal planning (do this a week in advance) The problem I have always had is that I pay so much for meat, lets say $4.99 and then $1 or so for spaghetti noodles and then I am up to about $6 for meals we like such as Spaghetti. We can go to Egg Roll Station and split house fried rice with all kinds of meat for $6 and then I still have some left over for lunch the next day. She says that Kroger always has deals on meat, and I know Sams Club has deals on meats as well. Some times she even goes to allrecipes.com and gets recipes based on what meats are for sale. For example, if fish is on sale at Kroger she will type in that fish and get recipes for it. She says to start small with baby steps, 5 minutes of planning can save you 1 hour. I am going to look online and see what Kroger has for sale, and plan my meals around what they have on sale.
   
2. Second, I need to have realistic goals. I am not all of a sudden going to spend $35 dollars a week on groceries. Let’s say I spend about $150 a week on all our food and groceries (which I think is about right). Next week I am going to try and only spend $140 by using manufacture’s coupons as well as store coupons found online and in the newspaper that we are just going to get on the weekend. Again, you can find printable coupons on the website, http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ she also recommendeds going to pinchingpennies.com. Also, I am going to get $140 out of the Atm for groceries, and pay with cash so I can visually see how much I am spending and see how much I have left.
   
3. Third, starting out, she says to try to spend $5 a day per person in your house for entire days worth of food. For us that would be $105 a week. Then try to get it down to $3 a day per person. Of course she has it down to like $1.67 a person a day. She tries to not spend more than a dollar on lunch per person and no more than a couple of dollars per person for dinner. Of course this involves planning. She states that everything we buy goes on sale up to 50% off every 6-8 weeks, but you have to be on the look out for these items
   
4. CVS has the best deals by far, however, Kroger grocery store, Walgreen’s, and Target have good deals as well… you just need to be on the look out for them. CVS is how I believe she only spends $35 a week because she has been doing this for years and uses coupons, sales, and rebates and does not buy any household items at Walmart. She also gets her diapers here by using her CVS bucks and you can get milk and bread at CVS as well. All her toilet paper, detergent, shampoo, and any thing that is not food she buys at CVS for like $1. How does she do this? She says that CVS has a rebate program that is a little complicated. Others have explained it like this, “The Extra Bucks are basically coupons. Each “buck” is equivalent to $1. In order to participate, you will need an ExtraCare card, which you should have anyway in order to get sale prices at CVS. If you don’t have one, you can get one. Today, I actually went online and updated my CVS extra care card. Well, I had to call them to do this because we have moved so many times, and I had no idea what they had as our address. She explained to me that some items that you buy give you extra bucks. For example, right now you can get 2 bags of candy for $4 and then you will receive $2 in bucks that you can use in the store later on (for many regular priced items, you only receive 10 percent back on your purchase) This will be noted on the weekly ads, which items you receive extra bucks on. I know this is a little confusing, so if you have questions let me know!
   
5. She keeps it fun, and looks at is as a game to see how much she can save

How CVS Extra Bucks work:

There are several ways to earn Extra Bucks.
1) You get 2 percent back for all your total purchases (excludes alcohol, tobacco, lottery, gift cards, money orders, postage stamps, pre-paid cards, prescriptions, and special order Home Health Care items, including footwear).
2) You get one Extra Buck for every two prescriptions you buy

So, let’s say Head & Shoulders is on sale this week for $3.99. Then, there’s a note in the flyer saying that you can earn two Extra Bucks if you buy Head & Shoulders. Here’s what would happen:
1) You’d go to the store and buy Head & Shoulders for $3.99. You’d make sure the cashier scans your ExtraCare card when you do. (If you happened to have a manufacturer’s coupon as well, you could use that, too, for additional savings.)
2) You would earn two Extra Bucks for buying Head & Shoulders. Usually, the Bucks will be available 24 or 48 hours after the purchase. Once that time has elapsed, you can access your Extra Bucks online, print them out at home and use them on your next purchase. Or, the next time you buy something at CVS, the Extra Bucks print out at the bottom of your 3) So, deducting the $2 in Extra Bucks, your final cost would be $1.99. It’s a great way to save, but it’s kind of like delayed gratification. If you can get in the habit of always buying the items that qualify for Extra Bucks, you can get in a cycle where you pretty much always have some to redeem.

I really like this program because once you’ve earned them, you can use Extra Bucks on anything. It’s like a dollar bill. You can also use several Extra Bucks coupons all at once, adding to your savings.

You should note that Extra Bucks do expire, so you need to pay attention to the expiration dates.”

Conclusion:

Ok, so I am going to be accountable for spending less and I will let you know how it goes. What do you think about this plan? I know for me it is not like magic and next week I am going to spend $35 on groceries, it is going to take time. Crystal looks at this as her part time job where basically she is making $20 an hour and not getting taxed on this money. Starting Thursday (we will have gotten paid) I am going to track our grocery money strictly and plan out every single meal. I will try to post one time a week to let you know how it is going. If we can even get down to $75 a week we can save a couple thousands dollars a year! Another money saving tip, while I am at this, is to buy your gas at Walmart using a Walmart gift card. If you use a Walmart gift card you receive 3 cent off whatever they have listed as the price for gas. After we get paid, we put about $65 on a gift card, and we have saved a ton of money in gas.

Ps-Charlie’s car broke down yesterday-Praise God we have AAA services (98 dollars a year and they were there within 10 minutes…you also get discounts at hotels and we do not have road side assistance with our car insurance). Usually when our cars break down I break down as well. But, God in his grace gave me time to listen to the podcast yesterday, and so now I am determined to start saving money on grocery. Therefore, I was very calm when Charlie’s car broke down even though we have spent a ton of money getting it fixed this summer. It was only by God’s grace and strength, through the Holy Spirit as my helper, that I was able to handle the stress of Charlie’s car breaking down in as godly of a way as humanly possible for me. I am so thankful, and God gets all the glory.