- I want to be a good steward of what God has given me.
- I want to be able to continue being a stay at home mom.
- I like to be able to splurge once in awhile - go out to dinner or away for a weekend!
- I like to save on the big things - money saved on the little things sometimes means we are able to put more down on our mortgage payment - which in the big picture, means it will be paid off sooner!
- It's good to have some money saved and put away "just in case" of illness, job loss, etc.
- Not gonna lie - it's the thrill of the hunt! I get a rush when I know I saved money!
When I'm on my A-Game, which is obsessive couponing, watching sales, etc etc....I aim to spend about $40-$50 a week on groceries, which includes diapers and toiletries. Lately, I have not been on my A-Game. The couponing I was doing was definitely saving me money, but I just did not have the time to put into it. I fell behind and now it's going to be a monumental task to catch up again. I'm still doing pretty good on the weekly budget though, largely in part to my stockpile.
I know some people will cringe at the mention of a stockpile, but before you judge, let me give you a list of stockpiling tips....then you can decide for yourselves if you think I'm a wacko.
- Only stockpile what you have room for. The goal here is not to end up on a Hoarders episode.
- Only stockpile what you will actually use in a reasonable amount of time. I don't care if the flea & tick shampoo is 75% off....if you don't have a pet, don't buy it!! Along with this...pay attention to expiration dates! Some things are on sale for a reason!
- Never pay full price to stockpile. This is not brain surgery - if you pay full price just to have your stockpile, you aren't saving money!
- Some good things to stockpile include pantry items you use all the time - for me those are things like chicken broth, diced tomatoes, etc. I also love to stockpile toiletries - CVS is my main source for these - seems like almost every week you can get a free toothpaste, razor, or deoderant! Cleaning supplies are another great thing to stockpile because they can get so expensive if you end up having to pay full price. Thanks to my favorite savings website, For the Mommas, I stocked up on Purex laundry detergent last February, and I haven't had to buy laundry detergent since!!! All I had to pay for were the coupons I bought on eBay.
- Wondering what to do with your stockpile (besides USE it?) Those items can make great gifts! Give a bride-to-be or someone moving into a new house a big box of cleaning supplies! You can also donate! Did you buy that flea & tick shampoo because it was a great deal, get home and realize you don't have a dog? Donate it to a local animal shelter! Donate food to a food pantry, or toiletries to a local rescue mission! There are always people in need, just look around!!
Want to see my latest stockpile purchase? CVS is running a great deal on Finish Dishwasher Tabs & Gelpacs....normally they are priced at $6.89 (yikes!) - this week they are on sale for $3! I bought some coupons on eBay (for a very little amount)...$2.25 off each box, making each box only 75 cents! So, I bought 10 boxes for $7.50. Each box has 20 tabs or gelpacs, so I won't have to buy dishwashing detergent for a very very long time. To sweeten the deal, I also earned $10 in ExtraBucks for spending $20 on that particular brand (before coupons - I love CVS!) So technically, they are paying me to do my dishes 200 times!
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| Even a picture of dishwashing detergent is made cuter with a baby in the background, right? |
If you are a local, don't worry, I left some finish at CVS for you....but just in case they are all gone when you get there, don't worry, CVS has a GREAT rain check policy - they never expire!
PS - Another great thing to stockpile is toys, especially when you find them on clearance! Great for gifts or donations!!! See my previous post here for the toys I picked up during Target's after-Christmas clearance sales!
7 comments:
This is amazing! I am a huge fan of CVS, too. I don't coupon, but I still can find excellent deal. The pressed powder I use was $7 off and then I had a print-off coupon for $10 off. That made it free. I was pretty happy.
How much time each week do you spend couponing? It's something I've tried, but always found myself buying things I didn't need because they were 'cheap.' I'm thinking I should give it another go.
Martins also had finish for $3, and I used my one 2.25 off coupon, so I guess I'm 1/10th as excited as you are (which was pretty excited). You are my couponing hero!
I loved this. I try to use coupons too. I haven't done a lot of CVS shopping though, I'll have to check out their add in tomorrow's paper. Also I haven't tried buying coupons online. How do you do that?
DO you have to be a member of a site to be able to get the coupons? Thanks for the tips.
Oh, I will send the instructions for cake in a can soon.
Hannah
Pookie, you're my hero! Ben laughed out loud when I read him the dishwasher detergent post. I've never done coupons because it seems like I only see coupons for name-brand items, and I can usually get the generic items cheaper than the name-brand-with-coupon price, but I'm starting to think I'm just not finding the right coupons - considering you can only spend $50 a week on groceries! Teach me your ways, Jedi master.
Do you have to go to several different stores every week? If so, your kids must do better with shopping than mine!
In our old house, there's no way I could stockpile since we had absolutely zero storage space. (As in, only buy enough canned goods for this week because I don't have cupboard space - or a pantry anywhere else - for anymore than that. Ug!) but in the new house, I could certainly give this a try. Yay! Your blog makes me wish so badly we lived closer! :( Although, I must admit I shouldn't have spent time reading about your awesome new laundry room and all the cute projects you've made because I just end up coveting!
Love you!
Simply awesome. And here I thought my generation was the first to master dry wit. Seems I was wrong. ;)
BR, A
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