Saving Money on Groceries...

Okay, so we're trying to budget these days. It's hard to budget. It's almost like a diet. Both words feel restricting. Right? At least they do to me.

I've always been a coupon clipper. I look for the best deals at the few stores we have in town because Wal-Mart price matches so with my coupons and my price match deals I do okay. However, recently I've been thinking I should try a little harder. Especially when I'm trying to save enough to go to the ACFW writers conference this year.

So I heard about the Coupon Mom website. It's a website that posts the sales at the different stores and the extra coupons that are usually in your Sunday paper. So you'll know how much you'll pay for the item after the sale price and the coupon. There are a lot of things you can get for free if you follow along.

I admit the concept is really aggressive. You're supposed to buy things when they're on sale whether you need them right now or not. You build up a stocked pantry. That way you're paying the least $$ for the items. The best part is that being a member is free. I didn't have to pay anything to join. There was another website that did something similar but I'd have to pay for the lists of sales and figured if I was trying to save money buying into something might not be the best way. :0/

Last week I spent $35 less than I usually spend and I got a bunch of health and beauty stuff that I usually don't buy because they cost more. My hall cabinet is full of toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, and razors. It's kind of fun to see how much you can get for so little.

I thought I'd pass the website along to you in case you'd like to try. It does take time. I spend about an hour a week on planning my grocery trip and another hour actually grocery shopping. So if you don't have extra time, it's not for you. But if you're trying to save a few dollars and still get some great products, you might try it. www.couponmom.com