Jennifer is a stay at home mom to 3 kids, under 5 years of age. She is also addicted to savings. AND she’s willing to tell you how you can be too!
Do you like getting a raise? A bump in the bank account? I do. That can be a hard thing to do especially when it isn’t the time of year where your paycheck might actually be increasing. But did you know that there is money in the Sunday paper and on websites that you’re probably leaving on the table? I’m not a crazy coupon lady or an extreme couponer, but I do know that I cut my grocery budget by 35% a month by doing a few simple things. I’ll focus on the first two today. Consider it the observation phase.
- Knowing my buying habits and paying attention to the supply and demand of the household
- Learning to shop the sales and knowing when certain items were at their lowest prices of the year.
- Learning the stores you shop at most, the lowest prices they sell the things you buy, and their coupon policies
- Finding the coupons and finding a way that worked for me to keep track and actually use them
- Using my smart phone to download a few apps that worked in a rebate sort of function
I know what my family goes through. I know that we go through on average 2-3 boxes of cereal a week. Cereal has a long shelf life and so this is something I have a lot of on stock in my pantry (notice the 30+ boxes in the picture). You have to know what those things are because you’re not saving if you’re throwing away a lot of food. Waste not, want not. On the other hand you are wasting money if you are waiting to buy something when you run out of it and it is not on sale and there is no coupon for it. Maybe you’re luckier than I am, but that never happens for me. Make a list of the top 20 things you buy and start there.
Secondly, there are sale patterns based on holidays and harvest
January- Vitamins, Health & Diet foods
February- Steak, Lobster, and Junk food
March- Frozen food
April- Candy, Cleaning products, Baking Products and Organic and eco-friendly products
May- Condiments, charcoal, pickles, and chips
June- Salad dressing, condiments, chips, and hot dogs
July- School supplies and Ice cream
August- Lunch supplies and snack foods
September- Meat
October- Candy
November- Turkey and Thanksgiving fixings (stuffing, gravy, and canned veggies, baking products)
December- Baking products, Turkey, and Ham
As for produce, if you buy it when it is in season then you will save money. It is also good nutritionally for you to have variety. You can see this usually on the front pages of the ads and by what is featured for the sales each week.
Happy Observing!
The Crazy Hat Box 
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