So I am now on a renewed mission to spend less at the grocery store. I've recommitted myself to clipping coupons, reading ads, planning the menu by what is on sale, etc. I had kind of let those things go, simplifying life by doing my one-stop shopping at WalMart. But the Smart Shopping Lady (I blogged about her on November 12) got me motivated... that if I spent a little more time planning and searching out the bargains, I will save more money... I'm trying.
However, when I saw a friend's blog posting the "average" spent on groceries for a family of our size in the United States (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm), I almost lost motivation. How discouraging! For a family of four with two children between the ages of six and eleven, the "thrifty" food plan monthly averages for 2009 are between $576.40 and $602.50. And that is just for food! We have a grocery envelope that we fund each month BELOW the "thrifty" food amount and it pretty much includes everything at WalMart: toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish detergent, makeup, soap, shampoo, cleaners, etc. Yes, we are down to bare cupboards and a bare refrigerator at the end of each month but we have a budget we have to stick to.
All of that to say, HELP! Friends have shared couponing/saving sites with me like:
- www.fiddledeedeemom.com
- www.hip2save.blogspot.com
- www.thefrugalgirls.com
- coupons.com
- www.smartsource.com
which are all great! But still... How do people who make less than Chris do it? I guess they don't have the Cedar Rapids debt... Also, what about all of these people who have their nails done, go to movies, go out to eat, do the Chuck E Cheese thing regularly, check out Disney World, etc. but make less than we do? How does that work? What am I missing? Seriously! We don't even RENT movies and our grocery budget has to be below the "thrifty" line. Really, I'm not complaining, I'm just not understanding!
