Changing Me and Saving the Change

With the new year, you always think of things to change, kind of like a fresh start.  There weren't any resolutions made this year by me, but the main things that have been on my mind lately is finding more joy in my Savior and really feeling His love.  I have such a "judge" view of God, I don't see Him as the "daddy" that some do.  Secondly, we looked over our finances last year and we spent way too much on frivolous stuff.  I feel like it is a waste and not a good steward of what God has given to us.  Now, we aren't jumping on the Dave Ramsey band-wagon yet, but baby steps.  I really realized we spent WAY too much on food - eating out and groceries.  For 2 adults and 2 kids (toddlers, at that), we shouldn't need to spend as much as we were.  So, I am trying to spend less at the grocery.  I watched Extreme Couponing on TLC last week and was somewhat inspired.  Am I going to convert my garage into a food storage facility and buy 300 toothbrushes and hand-soap for the next 2 years?  NO.  I just want to use what is on the internet, in papers and what deals stores offer.  My store of choice is Publix (well, my dad work 20 years for them, I have to support them) and they usually have pretty good deals.  There BOGO's are always nice and they don't argue about Coupons.  Wal-Mart is another place, but I try to avoid their lines like the plague.  A couple things that worked for me are these:

• Use websites to help you find deals.  My sister-in-law's friend, Ashley hosts Frugal Coupon Living (click on the button to the right).  I also check out MoneySavingMom and a few others - there are tons out there!  
• My issue is that some of the stuff that is a "great deal" I don't use or buy.  So, when the things I like are on sale or even if they aren't, I go directly to the company website.  Most have coupons.  For example, the Jimmy D-Lights Breakfast Sandwiches I bought this week were B1G1 Free.  I googled and went to the Jimmy Dean website.  They had $1 off coupon and if you sent the email to 3 friends, you got $2.50 off.  (Note: I set up a junk email account in Gmail for all these type of email sign-ups).
• Some stores double and triple coupons.  Check your area stores to see if they do.  
• Plan ahead.  Get your coupons together and sale paper and compare.  
• Stock up on things that won't be perishable in the time it would take for your family to consume them. 
• Look for deals like, "If you buy this for $20, you get $10 Extra Care Bucks (at CVS) and those are like cash.  Target also has deals if you buy 2 of these items, you get a gift card.  Done that before.
• Sign up for Groupon.  They have great local deals and you can get up to 50% (and sometimes more) savings on restaurants in your area or other places - salons, theme parks, etc.  Let me know if you want to sign up.  Groupon is doing a deal right now that if I refer you, you get $10 Groupon and I get $10 Groupon bucks.
• Look at all the sale papers - Walgrees, CVS, Publix, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Target.  

So, I went this week to get some stuff.  Of course, produce you just have to get what's on sale or grow your own, but the other stuff, I stocked up on.  Here is what I got this week at CVS and Publix:

Most of this stuff was on sale, but a few items, I just had to buy or had a coupon.  I got a lot of B1G1s.  And, yes, we do consume that much Dt. Mt. Dew.  There is actually another 12 pack in the fridge, so add that to the picture.  All this stuff retails for $124.46 - and some of that was already on sale.  After coupons, ECBs at CVS (just for the Mt. Dew and laundry detergent) I spent $59.64 out of pocket.  That is a 52% savings.  Now, that is not what Extreme Couponing showed, but not too bad, right?  This stuff should last me quite some time - 6 12 packs of Dt. Mt. Dew, 2 Dozen Eggs, 2 bags of Chicken Nuggets, 2 boxes of waffles and much more.