Saving Money 101 in Lincoln, NE

So many of us these days are looking to our pennies more often than we have in the past. With the new year comes many resolutions and to be honest many of my resolutions usually don't last past the first couple weeks of the year. Mine this year have stuck. I am having so much fun with these "stuck" resolutions.

I think these have stuck, because I have developed relationships with new and old friends/family in order to keep me accountable for my expendetures. They also help me in teaching me how to find a good deal and how to save money.

Every family is different...but I have learned from many different families. I thought I would share mine.

Living in an area where the only "discount" warehouse is Sam's or Walmart. Unfortunately, they are not much in the money saving business if you go in without a list or without the knowledge of prices of items. I decided to go to the cheapest place that I could find things - North Walmart in Lincoln. I priced out all the items that I normally buy. How you may be asking? Yes I was the one with my dorkey coupon binder writing down all the prices as I soured each aisle moving at a snail pace (thanks to my Mom, because she had my boys) writing down prices of things. This way I know that I can drive clear across town and purchase something at that price if I have to....my benchmark price. I also went to Sam's and priced things there to see how much they compare. It took me about 4 hours and I am still not done...but times are changing and so will the prices of groceries...so just a benchmark price.

Now that I have an idea of how much a particular item costs, I can't get sucked into the tags that all the grocery stores put up in their aisles that once sucked me in so bad that I walked out of the store with many "deals" but they weren't...just good strategies...tag everything and anyone that doesn't know better will buy them! Yep that was me!

Now plan my meals according to the sale ads. At first I had to plan two weeks, so that I could get a head of the game. Now I plan for the next week. So with my grocery store trip below...you can probably guess that we will have pizza next week:)

I always go grocery shopping on Wednesday nights (tonight was different, because we didn't go to Awana last night, Bubbi had a fever). I wake up early on Wed mornings, sit at my computer, go through all the grocery ads (because they all come out on Weds in Lincoln, except for an occasional sneaky Super Saver), and have my cost sheet (excel spreadsheet) open on my computer. I go through all the ads and find out what the good prices are. Once I have that, I go through and decide what I need (my need list is on my refridgerator on things I am getting low on) and what I am going to have the next week.

My goal is to spend $20 a week on groceries and less than $20 a week on other items (my CVS and Walgreens purchases). I have done pretty well staying within my budget, except for my craze over the cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can attest to our check book balance that something is being saved:) It is either my entertainment budget, because I don't feel the need to do other shopping (i.e. cute clothes for the boys, toys for them, clothes for me) because I get my fix and HIGH off the sales and coupons I am using or me spending less on groceries or not eating out as much. I also think that adding cable to our lives has cost us $15.00 more a month, but is saving us SO much more in DVD's we used to buy or rent along with the late fees and gas it took us to get them.

I encourage any or all of you to start to
#1 plan your meals. You won't believe how easy life is when you don't have to worry about what you are going to have and how much more time you spend with your family. Kenner and Patton are learning to do chores at young ages... 2 and 3. NO JOKE!! Kenner cleaned off the dining room table tonight all by himself, while I did the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. It brought me such joy to see him be so responsible and LOVE to do it! (we will see how long this lasts)
#2 only buy groceries on Sale! Walmart will price match anything. If you don't have a Walmart within 20 miles of you...you must live in the remote areas of the world and not sure what you can do to save money except to grow it and butcher it yourself:) Just kidding!

Happy Frugal Friday everyone!
Rhiannon