Since we are a single income family, one of my contributions to our family finances is carefully watching my side of the budget. I see how hard my husband works for every dollar, and I like to make each penny stretch as far as possible. I’ve had thirteen years of practice shopping as a “grown up,” and have learned many tricks of the trade along the way.

My goal is to save on average 50% off our grocery and household budget. It is possible to save even more, and many people do. I am not, however, blessed with a coupon doubling store. Also, while I do clip coupons and gather them in a few non-traditional places, I am not an avid online coupon hunter or buyer. I try to save my 50% as part of our current lifestyle, without having to hire a cook, maid, and teacher to take over all the things I couldn’t finish if I spent too much time trying to save money! I’ve done the eight-hour a day store-hopping shop, and the online coupon print and clip for hours. It’s not a realistic lifestyle for me. All my savings strategies are implemented with the goal of saving money and time.

I like seeing a 50% or higher savings alert on the bottom of my shoping receipt. However, the receipt is not the best indicator of savings success.

For example, I just finished a weekly shopping trip at our local Smith’s store. The receipt said I saved 48%. I would have registered a higher savings percentage on my receipt by spending more money than I did. If I had bought the $8.99 meat on sale for $3.99, a savings of more than 50%, my percentage on my receipt would have gone up. With the exception of salmon and an occasional slab of baby backs, I don’t pay more than $2 a pound for meat. Therefore, I bought the $3.99 cut on sale for $1.99, a 50% savings. Although my receipt would have said I saved a greater percentage if I had bought the more expensive cut, I am saving more actual money by buying the cheaper cut. I’ll quite possibly ruin either cut in the kitchen anyway, so why pay more!

Sometimes a really good deal in percentage off is not really a good deal. If I’m buying a $500 dress for $150, I’m saving a lot of money, but since I would never spend that kind of money on a dress, I’m actually overspending, even though I’ve “saved” $350. DO you catch that irony? If I buy a non-sale dress for $20, my receipt will not indicate that I saved $350, but I ended up spending $130 less than had I bought the “sale” dress. If I buy that dress at a thrift store for $5 or at a garage sale for $2, I don’t even get a receipt, but I especially don’t get into debt! That dress principle applies to the beef aisle at the grocery store! Think about it.

Then there are those days when even the receipt says I had a stellar shopping day! On my last trip to CVS, I had to stock up on some essentials, like Prilosec and diapers. I walked out with two 48-count packs of Prilosec, a mega-pack of diapers, tissues, a huge bag of Starburst for the little cutie shopping with me, and a handful of other items that escape me right now. The total value was around $80, but I only paid around $25 (the usual price of just one box of Prilosec), and received $15 in extra bucks (coupons for money off any future purchase of anything). Cha-ching! I stre-t-c-h-e-d those dollars!

I love taking care of my family and helping out my husband by making wise use of our finances!

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