There's nothing like saving money

I went to the store today and although it took me 120 minutes to shop it was so worth the trip! For those that aren't aware the first Wednesday of each month is Senior Discount Day. No, I am not a senior but my mother is. If you know a senior, take them to the store and use their Fry's, or Basha card and they will take 10% off of your bill. (Albertson's also does this but a card is not needed.) Now my store of choice is Fry's. It's close to my house and the cashiers know me so I feel right at home there. Now before I tell how much I actually saved today, I need to back up.

Going to the store is a HUGE undertaking for a family of 6. The following steps took place between the hours of 9:00 am and 11:30 am. (That's my ode to 24.) Anyway, I started by scanning carefully ALL of the sales papers to see which store had the best sale for what I needed. Since my pantry is about bare it was stock-up time. Fry's was the chosen one. I then made my list using the sales paper as a guide, being very carefull to choose items that were on sale. Now, here comes the REAL work. I look through every stack of coupons and match them up to the sales item. I also visit http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.redplum.com/ to get even more manufacturer coupons. Now as I am doing this, I simultaneously make my menu for the next 2 weeks making sure I don't have any repeat recipes from the previous 2-3 week cycle. I want to make my menu from items off my grocery list and items in my pantry, which right now doesn't have much in it. Okay, this can be an extremely long process but I like to challenge myself to see if I can save at least 50% of my total bill. Anything less and I am a little disappointed in my effort. I know, I have issues, but hey if I didn't take this little challenge our grocery bill would be out of this world and on one income that could spell D I S A S T E R!.

On to the next steps. I have made my grocery list, made my 2-week menu, and clipped all of my coupons. I am feeling pretty good because my stack of coupons are pretty thick. That should translate into some great savings. The following takes place between the hours of 1:15 pm and 3:15 pm: I meet my mother and my grandmother at the store and I start shopping. I have filled every crack and crevice of my grocery cart with a grocery item. By the time I get to the check-out my arms are tired because that sucker was heavy. Of course you always get the wise-cracking cashier "It looks like you hit up every aisle. Did you find everything okay? HeeHee HeeHee." I just laugh and start putting my groceries on the conveyor belt. I was going so fast Jamie Sommers would have been proud! Anyway, I hand the cashier the coupons and my mom's savings card.

Drum Roll Please! I spent $149.56 and I saved a whopping $168.22. I had 32 manufacturer coupons. Thirty-two! That has to be my all-time record. That savings was 53% of my bill. I was excited. How many items did I get for $149.56? 105. I bought 105 items. Not bad. Oh, I almost forgot, the Senior Discount of 10% totaled $21.94.

Saving money on groceries is not for the weak of heart. You have to have patience, organization and did I mention patience? This whole production took almost the whole day (actually 4 1/2 hours) but the good thing is I did not go over my grocery budget of $200. I now have some left over to head to Sam's Club and buy some great bulk items as well as buy some whole wheat pastry flour from Sprouts.

Let's all remember Wednesday, April 7th. That is the next Senior Discount Day. Whohoo, there's nothing like saving money.