Yesterday I went grocery shopping with a good friend with the goal of helping share a little bit of my money saving techiniques. It was chaotic to say the least. I just pointed out items in the produce section that were a good bargain, tried to explain PPU comparisons, and grocery timing all while we were maneuvering two huge car/carts with two toddlers and a baby in tow. I mistakenly was trying to do too much too fast. Upon reflection later in the evening, I realized that it has taken me a while to accumulate what I know about shopping frugally.
I didn't have a job for the first six months of my married life. One month was taken up by our fantastic honeymoon in Vermont. One month was consumed by combining our households and moving to Beaumont. The remaining four months are what I refer to as my time earning my self-taught masters degree in homemaking: home finance to be exact.
I used to grocery shop willy nilly. I had no idea what things cost. Price of a bell pepper? No idea. When it would be in season and therefore cheaper. Again, no idea. Were fresh peppers more or less expensive than frozen ones? What?!
But during those easy, kid-free days of my early marriage, I tackled homemaking the way I had tackled other workplace challenges. I started out by reading. A lot. Blogs, library books, websites, coupon clubs, anything I could get my hands on. I made a price book with a spreadsheet program. I made a list of the top 30 items we buy each month and comparison shopped at three grocery stores, the dollar store, and even snuck into the Sam's Club without a membership card. I'm sure I raised a few eyebrows as I just went down the aisle with my notebook, pencil and calculator in hand. As a courtesy I bought a small item at each store (with the exception of Sam's). As my husband reminds me, I even went to the "ghetto" grocery store across town to see prices were cheaper there. For the record, I was horrified to see that they were the same or MORE expensive for the same items. I tried various methods of couponing and quickly realized that brand loyalty was a thing of the past for me. Oh, and I realized that I'll never pay full price for a craft item again thanks to coupons from Hobby Lobby and Joann's. I got familiar with the thrift stores in town and I garage-saled a lot.
Even after starting paid employment up until I had my first child, I still read and read some more about how to save money and run household finances efficiently.
I am so greatful for that time because once kids came along, doing the hard work of getting up to speed as a homemaker was pushed to the side in favor of reading books, websites, and blogs about raising kids.
Now, I'm no expert on frugal living yet. There are ladies out there in the blogosphere that feed a family of six on $50 a week while using mostly organic foods. I'm not there yet, and perhaps I'll never be. At a certain point I have to accept that there is only so much scrounging around for deals that I'm willing to do. I love the hunt of a good bargain and a penny saved but I'm not ready to make it my sole focus. I do think that to be successful at this, you need to make it a hobby. Amy D., author of the Tightwad Gazette book series says that she only has hobbies that save money or are at least spending neutral--none of those $100 trips to Hobby Lobby for her! I have taken her advice to heart. My hobbies are more likely to be baking, sewing gifts, and vegetable gardening than the golf, shopping, and dining out in my single years.
I know a lot of people are trying to trim budgets these days. In the case of my friend, she's working towards savings for a positive financial goal. Others are thrust into frugality school by necessity such as job loss. If you have the time and interest in running a tighter ship when it comes to your household finances, I'd recommend these three guidelines:
Go slowly at your own pace. What is good for someone else might feel like extreme deprivation for your family. There are many, many ways to practice good financial stewardship as a homemaker. Most of them take time though. If you have a lot of free time, like I did in the early days of my marriage, than you will be able to make changes more quickly. But even I revert back to less frugal ways when things get hectic around here with guests in town or if Tim is away on business. Sometimes you just don't have the time and energy to find the good deals, make a meal plan around it, and cook from scratch each night. Something's gotta give. Which leads me to guideline number two...
Don't measure your sucess by comparing yourself to others. There is no way I could do what I do with our home finances if I worked a full-time or even part-time job. Homemaking is a fulltime endeavor for me so I can do things that others can't do. At the same time, I'm relatively new at this. I'm sure the real frugalistas out there could cut my spending by at least another 30% without us feeling a pinch. It's all relative and you can't enjoy your progress if you are constantly comparing yourself to others. Also, try to refrain from getting too sanctimonious about how much you save/other people "waste" on groceries/clothes/whatever. I fell into this trap at first. If being frugal is going to make you a judgemental prig, it isn't worth it.
Find enjoyment in it. Some folks love the couponing game. I'm not as crazy about it since we try not to eat as many processed foods but for those who do, a lot of money can be saved this way. I've turned scratch cooking into a source of pleasure for me and the boys. At least one day a week be bake and freeze muffins, bread, bagels, cakes, you name it. Gardening is another source of fun although we're nowhere near feeding ourselves primarily from what we grow. I LOVE finding a good closeout deal at the store or blithley walking by a false sale--that's a product labelled as if it is on sale but my price book indicates that you can get it for a much lower price at other times of the year. I LOVE passing on sale information to like-minded frugal folks.
All of this brings me back to my failed grocery store tutorial from yesterday. It was a crash course. Because we were both shopping it was hard not to compare what each of us put in the cart. And because we went at a busy time of the day with somewhat cranky and hyper kids, it wasn't the leisurly fun that grocery shopping can be at other times. I broke my own three rules! Despite all this, my friend still did fantastic and managed to cut her spending by about 15-20% on that one trip. Which I suppose should be guideline number four: just do it!
