Yesterday one of my friends referred to my couponing as an illness. Although my husband would agree, I consider it more of like a drug. You see, getting a good deal makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...getting a GREAT deal makes me feel empowered, strong, invincible. I know this sounds dramatic, but hey, I never said I wasn't dramatic. I wasn't always a "crazy coupon lady", my "illness" started about two years ago....let's take a look how I got to be this way....
I love food, that is no secret. I love to cook food, smell food, eat food....even playing with food is fun sometimes, BUT, food is expensive. Dusty and I used to eat out...A LOT. It was fairly common for us to eat at a dine in restaurant 3 times a week. It was something we enjoyed to do together. This was the norm until we had kids. If you have met my kids, you know that it is a cold day in Hell before I would bring them to a restaurant. I love my children, but not so much when they are crawling around on the floor under other peoples tables barking at them in Olive Garden ....just saying... :) All joking aside, I decided once we had a family that I would cook nightly meals, have pizza once a week and eat out on "special occasions".
I would do my best to meal plan and make a shopping list, but everytime I walked into a grocery store, I would walk out spending at least $100! I was frustrated, but kept on doing that until our world was rocked summer of 2008. Dusty, Jack and I moved from Iowa to Colorado in May of 2008 with a very large U-haul of "stuff" and big dreams. We always knew we wanted to raise our famliy in Colorado, and decided after much prayer that we should make the move. We quickly realized how naive we were about the economy when Dusty, my college educated, talented, attractive husband could not find a job. I was 8 months pregnant with our second child, cleaning houses to make ends meet. Dusty was working part time jobs doing what he could but things seemed impossible. We knew God had a plan for our family, but the waiting game was almost too much to handle. After we welcomed our second son Luke into the world, I began using diaper and wipes coupons to try and save a little money. It was either use coupons or be one of those CRAZY mothers that potty train their child at 2 months! Once I realized How much I was saving on diapers and wipes, I thought to myself "wow, I can save a ton of money with coupons". I have always been a bargain hunter, so I considered it a challenge.
I began researching the circulars that come out on Wednesdays that display all the stores new weekly deals. After that, I would clip my coupons to match up with the sale items and plan my meals around what I would be getting on sale. It was AMAZING, my my second month of coupon clipping and deal hunting, we were saving 50% off our grocery bill EVERY WEEK! All faith was not lost, and after another VERY long few months, Dusty DID get a job. Our grocery budget is now down to around $250/month. That includes all food, toiletries, and even DIAPERS! We are still eating healthy, well balanced meals and ALWAYS have toilet paper (don't laugh, there was a few weeks we couldn't afford TP).
My Family has been BLESSED beyond measure by silly little pieces of paper! I know so many families that are struggling financially and I hope this can be a blessing to you as well. It does take some work, and patience, but trust me, If I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN TOO!
No comments:
Post a Comment