As the great recession and Lent have come upon us, many of us including myself are taking a second look at the way we live our lives. A lot of us are living in financial regret, or are dealing with rough situations out of our control. I'm trying to use this Lenten season as a time to simplify our life. Are we living within our financial means? If not, how might this affect our mental well-being and spiritual life?
One way John and I are looking into saving money is on food. The lifestyle we live makes it so easy to eat out with friends frequently and get take-out after a long day of work. I have watched months go by after adding up expenses with huge chunks going towards food. Last year for lent I gave up buying my lunch at work and the habit has really stuck with me. Thanks to my husband, I have taken my lunch to work almost every shift for the last year. Changing the habit is hard but eventually even a good habit can become routine if you stick to it. The money we were able to save with habits like this helped us save for our first house the end of last year. Talk about an awesome goal! Now that we have our house payments, you have to get creative as to where the new extra money is going to come from...
This is why I have found some inspiration in a few women that call themselves "coupon moms." They have various web sites but the overall philosophy remains the same: how can we save money on the essentials we already buy every month? The basic premise is that if you clip coupons and monitor store sales, you can save double on everything you already buy.
If you purchase these items when they are on sale, and time that with a manufacturer's coupon, you can get items for 30-75% off that you would originally pay full price for.
The only problem is that it takes a lot of organization. It also involves buying things in advance that you know you will need later if it means getting a better deal. You can't just run out to the store without first researching what is on sale that week and making a very specific grocery list.
So this is my Lenten project. I have purchased the Sunday paper for 50 cents a week for coupons and store ads knowing I will make back the money in savings.
I have found some help from the following sites: (They are hard to navigate through at times but once you get the hang of it it works pretty well.)
Coupon Mom
Frugal Coupon Mom
So wish me luck! We'll see how it goes!
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I am a coupon mom and I will tell you that sometimes I save up to $50 (or more) on a grocery bill. It is such a rush when you look at the bill and see the savings. It also helps to plan out meals according to the weekly grocery circulars. Good luck!
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