Becoming a Thrifty Shopper - Part 2

I've had several motivations along the way, for living frugally and especially concentrating on being a thrifty shopper. When Ron and I first married, we were very blessed to be able to purchase a nice old fixer-upper home - we joke that it was like the house on "It's a Wonderful Life". That house took quite a bit of my time (and everyone else in my family's too!) and I wanted to stay home and work on it as much as possible. Also, I was 27 and my husband was 28 when we married and it was our desire to have a family and for me to stay home with our children. It was almost 7 years before the Lord blessed us with our first child - but that's another story! Let's just say Motivation #1 was I wanted to stay at home.

My husband brought some credit card debt into our marriage (I'm sure it was a result of treating me so nicely while we dated and presenting me with a beautiful ring when we got engaged. So, I take as much of the responsibility as he had, for the debt!) Right away we decided (after listening to Larry Burkett) that we would get out of debt and not go back into it again. My husband took a second (part-time) job and I started working part-time a few days a week. It took us about 6 months to a year to pay off that credit card. From that point we decided it was just too much work digging out of debt and that we would always pay the credit cards off each month or stop using them if we could not pay them off. That was one of the best pieces of advice that we had learned from listening to Larry Burkett and one that has helped us immensely! So Motivation #2 was to pay off our credit card debt and keep it paid off.

These are a few of the reason that we were motivated to live frugally early in our marriage. I have other motivations at this point in my life, and I will post more on them next time.

Becoming a Thrifty Shopper- Part 1.

This was originally posted on 5/5/08. I thought with all the talk about money in the news this would be a good time to revisit this series.

I am starting a series today on "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper". I plan to talk about the motivation behind this goal, how to start, couponing, Internet resources and some of my favorite stores.

Motivation - Getting in touch with my Frugal Side.

It seems to me like every time I turn on the news, the radio or read the paper, the main topic of conversation is this economy! Just the rising price of gas has forced us to cut spending in other areas of our budget. 4 or 5 years ago we were only spending about $40 every 2 weeks for gas for our 2 cars. We are now spending $100 every 2 weeks and we only keep it to $100 by careful planning and cutting our as many unnecessary trips as possible. (My husband drives around 30 -45 min. to work)

Currently our income is around 15k less than it was a year ago. (My husband's job in the mortgage banking industry was a casualty of the housing slump.) I know I'm not alone in this situation. There were 900 other co-workers that lost their jobs, along with my husband, when HSBC shut down their mortgage operation last year in Carmel, IN. But thankfully, our situation was different than many of them because after we got married, my husband and I set as a goal, to live as debt free as possible. And because of that, he was able to take a position earning much less, with an excellent company, in a field he is much more interested in - 401K investments.

I have to admit, during the housing boom, when mortgages were selling well, and our income was increasing, I wasn't as in-touch with my frugal side. But the economics of this time have given me a great incentive to save all I can. Really, I've always been a good shopper. I do like to get the most for my money and I LOVE to get a good deal! My family actually jokes that I can smell a sale a mile away (and I sometimes wonder if they take me shopping for my company or for my sale sniffing nose!)

Seriously, however, I personally have several motivations for being a "Thrifty Shopper". And if you want to successfully join the ranks of the coupon cutting, super saver moms, it would be good to think about why you're going to spend some of your precious time engaged in this endeavor. You need a motivation a goal or maybe several, to encourage you that your effort and desire to cut your family's spending is worthwhile. Because it really is!

I will pick up next time with some of my motivations for frugality and a bit about how being frugal has helped us accomplish some of our financial goals. What are your motivations? Why do you feel the need to cut this are of spending. Feel free to comment below.

The Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending Workshop

A big thanks to everyone who came to the "Savings Swap - Saving Instead of Spending - Workshop". It was fun being able to share what I've learned about frugal shopping. If you'd like to learn more about "Becoming a Thrifty Shopper" read my posts here.

Thanks also to the Village Library and to their Librarian Andrea Berstler (she is standing in the second photo) for asking me to speak.

If you attended the workshop session and have any comments or questions I would love to hear from you. Please post below or email me at TheSavingsSwap@sbcglobal.net

Also, I will be posting my CVS deals pictured above in a day or so!

Becoming a Thrifty Shopper - Part 4

Today I want to talk about where to start. What is the first step toward reducing your grocery bill? We've discussed motivations and obviously, since you're taking the time to read this - you are motivated to reduce your grocery spending. So- where do you start? ........Coupons! I believe that coupons are the starting place because so much of what I do utilizes coupons. So you need to collect a good stash of them! But how?

If you do not already collect coupons, now is the time to start. If you already are a coupon cutter don't stop reading yet. Some of the things I have to say may change how and what you cut. I would like to talk about where I get coupons, what I cut and how I manage/ organize them. For today, however, I will concentrate on traditional manufacturer's coupons.

Let me say - before I list places to get the coupons, that getting multiple coupons is important - so that you will be able to maximize deals. (I will talk about that later!) but, let's just say that having a checkbook sized organized with 20 coupons isn't going to be much help in really reducing your grocery bill. I try to get at least 3 sets of each week's coupon fliers. I can't always do it, and sometimes I've gotten more - but 3 is my goal. You need to COLLECT coupons, not just cut out a few here and there. Here are some sources I use to get my stash.

Sources of Manufacturer's Coupons

The best place to start can be by subscribing to the Sunday Paper. That way you will have a source of coupons delivered to your door. (and sales fliers too!) Most newspapers run specials. I would not pay full price to get one delivered - check and see what deals they have going. I was able to subscribe to our daily paper through a deal at a little stand at the Meijer store. I will get 7 months of the daily and weekend papers for 10.00 a month. I also got a FREE Entertainment Book! Just what we've saved using the Entertainment Book has paid for the paper.

Another source is to ask friends, family, co-workers for their coupons or their extra coupons. Many people just throw them our or only clip a few items. Get the word out that you'd love the extras.

A third source is to go and purchase a Sunday paper. You can get them anywhere. Here in Indianapolis, the Dollar Tree Stores sell the Saturday Edition of the Sunday paper for 1.00 each. (They may do it on Sunday too, but I've never checked.) I try to go and pick up 2 extras whenever I can get there on a Saturday. I do always check first to make sure that there are coupons in them! I have heard that some people find stores that sell the Sunday paper on Monday for a discounted price! Some find a gas station or store that will give them the extra Sunday papers after midnight.

I often score a big pile of coupon fliers from the recycling bin. In this area, many schools, churches and libraries have large recycling dumpsters. Whenever I go to the library, I park next to the dumpster and take a peek! I have to say I've never done an actually "dumpster dive" (Climbed inside) but have done great with just a skim off the top. To me that's recycling at it's best! I've also found a few nice magazines to read that way.

Another way to collect coupons is through a coupon club/swap box. You can start a coupon swap box a your church, work or library. Use a coupon organizer and for every 2 coupons a person donates they can take 1 out of the box. That way the person who needs diapers and not dog food can get extra coupons of what they use. Keep an envelope for expired coupons to be placed in as they are found. (Overseas military and missionaries can use these!)

A final way to get coupons is at the store. When you are shopping check out the "blinkies" (the little coupon boxes attached to the shelves). I have found coupons at Store A and later used them at Store B. Also the Pharmacy dept. at our local Meijer often has $1.00 off yogurt coupons. We've gotten discounted yogurt and yogurt drinks for as low as .25/4 with these coupons. Check out the free magazines and pamphlets around the store as you shop. I just got a $10.00 check this week from Kellogg's. I had sent in a rebate found in a free magazine at Meijer! Keep an envelope in your coupon box marked "File" and pop these coupons in there to file when you get home.

These are just a few ways to get manufacturer's coupons. I will be posting more next time about Internet coupons and sources for them. I will also be posting about what I cut and how I organize/manage my stash of coupons.

If you have any other ways that you find manufacturer's coupons or coupon fliers. Please share them with us. I'd love to hear from you!