The Inner Mom

Today is a day I dread every week, but none the less one that I cannot avoid; grocery shopping. In an effort to make one paycheck go as far as it can (which isn’t far) every Sunday I get excited to about buying the paper and cutting coupons. OH YEAH – this has replaced sex! If you plan and organize you can really save some money here. Sunday is coupon day, followed by grocery shopping the next week. Our list is never out of the ordinary; we eat meat and lots of it, we drink milk and there is always chef boyardee in our house! We aren’t on any diet plans or all natural kicks, and no matter how little money we have in the bank we always have beer chilling in the fridge! Priorities people.

The websites I use for coupons are couponmom.com, coupons.com and shortcuts.com. They are very easy to navigate and print off from. If, like myself when I first started, you cannot be bothered with cutting coupons I love shortcuts.com because there is no cutting or printing involved. You enter your grocery card in the computer, and the coupons are sent electronically to your card! HELLO GENIUS!

Another great way to cut back is to use the weekly flyer as your dinner guide for the week. This highlights sales and helps you navigate around the store without going over budget. I make a list of meals for the week based on the flyers. In our house if you use it up you write it down. We always have an ongoing grocery list so I’m not running back and forth the store all week for one or two items, that’s when you start to spend more money then you account for. I’m usually pretty good about sticking to the list, although I do allow myself 2 non-list items every week. This cuts down on my splurges – which at 8 months pregnant can be costly!

Something else to keep in mind is losing your mind! For anyone who has been pregnant you must remember thinking you were losing your mind on more than one occasion; I call this my baby brain syndrome. When I was pregnant with my first daughter I went out for groceries (with no list) and come home with a jar of pickles, which I hate, mustard, one potato and a can of chicken broth! My husband responded to my wonderful shopping with “and what are we having for dinner tonight?”