Saving money in the hopes of following our dreams gets hard sometimes. I don’t know about you but there have been times when I would love to run to the grocery store and plop any old thing into my cart without worrying about how much it costs. Alas, that’s not how it works and I have to come back to reality!
I firmly believe it’s ok to have moments of frustration while we’re saving, but then I have to open my eyes and look at the goals we’ve set or where we want to be in the next 5, even 10 years! Ah, that puts things back into perspective and makes all the hard work worth it!
I know that not everyone has time to save money by couponing. Some of you have children and a full schedule! So, today I want to share a few ways that you can stretch your dollars at the grocery store!
Make a weekly/monthly shopping budget and stick with it.
That may mean using the cash envelope system. Simply place your grocery allowance in an envelope. Once the envelope is empty, you’ll have to wait until you get paid again to go shopping. I can promise you you’ll think twice about what’s going into your shopping cart!
Refrain from going to the grocery store more than twice a week.
This may require you to make a menu plan so that you’ll know what you’re going to have for your weekly meals. I actually know a lady that goes to the grocery store every day after work to get dinner. Instead of planning ahead for dinner she wings it and ends up spending a ton of extra money.
Shop the sale ads at your grocery store.
As you know, many of the stores run great sales. Even if you don’t use coupons with the store sales, you can get great prices and stock up on some great items that your family will love!
Once you know how much you can save, it makes it much harder to go back to your old way of shopping. As I walk down the aisles of the grocery store and peer into other people’s carts, I think of all the money they could be saving.
How do you save at the grocery store?
Tshanina Peterson blogs at Thrifty T’s Treasures where you can follow her journey of living a thrifty lifestyle.
