Money Monday Update

Okay. Get ready, ladies. I am going to tell you about my Grocery Game experience. I took out the coupons I do have, printed off my customized lists, and planned out my shopping experience.

I won't lie, it was tough and lengthy, but I think this is because I am so new at this whole thing. It took me a little while to coordinate coupons, but Terri's lists are very specific and organized. I now see how, in a few months, once I've collected several Sunday newspapers, I will be able to get things free. So, here's what I did.

I went to Meijer. I had a $5 off my purchase coupon from my previous purchase of two boxes of Huggies diapers, plus a $3 off my next purchase coupon. The flyer said if I bought $10 worth of Kellog's products, I would get $10 off instantly on Fruit of the Loom products. Also, if I bought $15 worth of Betty Crocker mixes, brownies, or muffins, I would get $5 off instantly. Next, I had $1 off of any two boxes of Kellog's products. I had $3 off of any two Right Guard deodorants, which were on sale for $2.87 a piece. In addition, I had several $1 off coupons for pancake mix and syrup, and some other boxed products. Finally, I followed her list for sale items.

I ended up spending $97.12 for 12 pairs of underwear, 6 deodorants, 15 boxes of mixes, bread, syrup, pancake mix, 2 Porterhouse steaks, salad, fruit, applesauce, paper towels, 5 boxes of cereal, brats, 24 cans of soda, 2 jugs of orange juice, one of those gigantic containers of coffee, and brownie mixes. I am VERY stocked up right now. The biggest purchases were the underwear and deodorants. Those can be set aside and used as needed. Perfect. So, I saved about 40% using coupons and Terri's list. Awesome for my first time and especially for not having many of the coupons since I don't have a stash yet.

My recommendation would be to save up about 2 months worth of Sunday newspapers. Get a 12 month accordion binder, put a label for each month, put a little sticker on the top corner of the coupon pack with the corresponding date for the Sunday you purchased the paper, and put it away. After 2 months or so, go to the free trial. I think it is totally worth it. I am anxious to see what the next few shopping trips bring. My thought is that once my stash is complete, I may only need to buy some perishables for the week and maybe get the freebies that are listed or the essentials that I just can't pass up.

If you decide that NOW is the time for you, please put me down as a reference! I would SO very much appreciate it. :) My address is mayheminthemotherhood@gmail.com

I will keep you posted as I get better and better each week. It can only mean more savings from here!

On a side note, we are doing well. Things are starting to even out a bit more. I do regret not doing this sooner. I am going to research Dave Ramsey and will placing a review/post about his process online for you all to read. He sounds like a popular financier who believes that we should live on CASH alone... *gasp* More to come soon.