Spend Your Money Wisely, Part II

Well the second half of this blog had been delayed, and I apologize for that. I'm down to just one kid this afternoon, as my parents took our daughter for a couple hours so I can get a few things done around the house. So lets jump right in, shall we?

I left off at looking through the store ads, and once I was done with that I would be ready to make my meal plan and shopping list.

My meal plan is made with Microsoft Publisher, just a blank calendar that I adjust monthly with the new days. I would attach it on this blog, but for whatever reason it isn't working. You can use whatever is easiest for you; a wall calendar, a piece of paper, you name it. I find that using the computer saves more time and I am able to erase things much easier.

Once I have my calendar created, I go through the coupons I've clipped and the sales I have written down and begin making meals out of them. So if I have a coupon for a frozen CPK pizza, that would be one meal, and I would put it on the calendar. Each day has:

B:
L:
D:

on it. (B) Breakfast, (L) Lunch, (D) Dinner. So the CPK meal would look like this:


B:
L:
D: CPK Pizza


now I know dinner has been planned for that day. I keep doing this until as many meals are done with the coupons and sales that I already have. I also try to make the items last as long as possible, If I buy bacon, I'll not only use it for breakfast, but I'll use it in a BLT sandwich one day as well.

Once my calendar is as full as I can get it, I start to make my grocery list. All the sale items and coupon items  go on this list. I try not to buy anything else, I try to only buy things I have a coupon for or that is on sale. Occasionally I'll need to add a few items. For example, that BLT sandwich, I still need the L & T, so I add lettuce and tomatoes to my list. Then, I go through each day on the calendar, writing down any additional ingredients I'd need to make actual meals out of the coupons and sales list.

One document that has really come in handy is my "price comparison sheet" I made using Microsoft Word. I have been to many stores, writing down the price of frequently bought items. This way I know the price of an item BEFORE I go shopping, and I can get an idea of what I'll be spending at checkout. I write down the item, where it can be found and the price. With that done, I add the price onto my grocery list and get a running total for the day. If I'm over budget I should know before leaving the house, and I can adjust accordingly.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't so bad. Once you get into a rhythm it really does work. I saved over $80 at Safeway the other day. I was pretty proud about that. It may not be "extreme" couponing like you see on tv, but like I said earlier, this is Hawaii. We don't double coupons and food is already slightly higher than what you'd pay on the mainland.