Look at what this mom is doing to make the budget work!
My name is Becca. I am a Wal-Mart-a-holic. For awhile I didn’t want to admit this to anyone. “I don’t have to go to Walmart, I can stop anytime…” But it took a friend who is a Publix employee to pull me out of the mire. She introduced me to a wondrous world of sales. I spend about $130 a week on groceries and this includes diapers, wipes and other baby paraphernalia for 2 little ones. About $80 of what I buy is actual food and household supplies, the rest of what I spend is on the baby items. My husband and I joke that we will be able to go on a cruise a month or two after the kids are potty trained.
Anyway, I cook 3 meals a day plus snacks in between. On Friday and Saturday nights, we usually have extra people over as well. I have a schedule, I am a stickler for them you see. My schedule for grocery shopping begins Wednesday evening. I go online and I “clip” coupons. Coupons.com, and www.thefrugalgirl.com are great sites. Also, AllYou magazine has TONS of coupons and the magazine itself is only a couple of bucks. I choose coupons only for products that I have actually purchased before. Otherwise I end up with an overflowing basket of expired coupons. After I have my little cash savers printed out, I go to Publix’s sale ad for the week. I print that out and I make my entire weeks menu right then, based on what’s on sale, what I have already at home and what I have coupons for. Example: Yogurt was Buy one get one free at publix. I had two coupons for the same yogurt. Since I was buying two, i could use both 80 cent coupons. I paid $.60 for 12 cups of yogurt.
This takes some practice and making an entire week’s menu was a little daunting at first. Once I have my menu made, I list out my items, using at least 2 crock-pot meals a week ( they are easy to make in large quantities so there are leftovers that i freeze and eat the following week, thus buying one less meal the following week.) I make one night a simple sub or salad night, wraps, Blt’s, or caesar salad are our favorites and the kids get toasted turkey and cheese sandwiches with tomatoes to supplement their half eaten salads.
When I get to the store the next day, (always Thursday, that’s when my husband gets paid and it keeps my schedule straight) I ONLY buy what is on my list. If I didn’t think of it as I was staring into my my empty fridge then I don’t need it. I buy meat when it’s on sale and stick it in the freezer. My veggies, I visit our local farmer’s market, as the one near us is AMAZING with all local growers. We also save by having our own Veggie garden. Tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes and melons are expensive in the store but SO easy to grow. The kids love tending it too.
For Hair supplies, soap and razors and shaving cream, I hit up the Big Lots next to Publix. Their food is MUCH more expensive so don’t even attempt to save there on groceries but the Beauty supplies and soaps and stuff are very cheap. This process takes me about an hour to make the list and get my coupons and 2-3 hours at the grocery store and other stops, but an hour of that is trying to get my kids to stop fighting in the Publix race car buggies. And making the menus makes my day SO much easier. The biggest thing about shopping Publix is their food is FRESH. The meat, bread and produce is always fresh on the shelves and they have a whole new line of Greenwise products that are all organic. My kids snack on fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. (although we live in Florida so it all pretty much grows year round) they like cheese, blueberries (GREAT antioxidant I’ve heard)celery, carrots, trail mix and apples. The sweetness in the fruit tricks them. They still think it’s junk food.
The cheapest way to pick out your meals is choose the ones with the fewest ingredients. I also always uses to say, “It’s too expensive to buy fresh stuff” NOT TRUE! I have these awesome containers called “pop and lock” my mother in-law found on HSN for me. They keep veggies good for days. If you buy the fresh stuff and save what you don’t use, it’s way cheaper and much healthier than canned veggies. Recipes with fresh veggies and meat and a couple other ingredients are so much cheaper than a dish that is cooked up by Paula Dean with a 2 page ingredient list. Although that woman IS amazing and if I ever go to Savannah, I WILL eat at her restaurant. But until I am as rich as Miss Paula, I will not be eating too many of her recipes! Now… you have heard my grocery tips… go into your pantry or fridge and clean it out. Make room for your new menu and your week will flow seamlessly in the kitchen.
We have 3 kids and health insurance is a must since I have had a history with ovarian cancer myself. It really can sneak up at anytime (I was only 21) and once you have it, if your without insurance, you won’t be getting any. My husbands employer offers insurance that we have to pay for. I used to complain about that but with all the stuff going on with health care now, I am glad to have something. We saved money there by choosing the higher deductible. It’s like auto insurance. Your deductible is higher, but your monthly payments will be lower. Our options were $400ind/$800 family for the deductible but that is $150 PER WEEK! We chose the $1000ind/$2000 family and pay only $55 a week.
Thankfully we haven’t had to dip into the deductible yet, just regular doctor co payments and such(which will also be a little higher if you pay less a month but only by a little, ours is only $5 more than the more expensive plan.
Speaking of insurance, auto insurance companies sometimes give a discount if you pay the premium in full. Every year when we get our tax refund, we pay off our policy for the year. It’s so nice not having to worry about that for 12 months. We also call around periodically to be sure we are getting the best deal where we are. But splurge a little and get the uninsured motorist coverage. We have had an issue with that and it’s not fun when the other guy has no insurance.
And saving. Set up your direct deposit to have something go on savings. we have $20 a week go in and while it seems like it takes FOREVER to make something of it, it’s better than nothing. Any work bonuses, leftover tax refunds or side work that my hubby does goes into savings as well. I do party planning for family and friends occasionally and while I know I SHOULD put any money from this into saving… I don’t. That’s what I call my ME money. Call me selfish but this frizzy curly hair isn’t gonna cut itself.
I really hope this helps someone, I know it’s hard sometimes to make one week stretch into another. It is kind of frustrating for me because I feel like we are not getting anywhere. But then, I realize that we have only been married 5 years. When we were married we had no house, 2 vehicle loans, and no beautiful baby boys. Now we have a mortgage, 2 vehicles that are paid and clear, and 3 of the most wonderful children on this planet. I could get a job tomorrow and pay $1000 a week in daycare (it’s very hard to find in a rural town) but i wouldn’t do it for $100,000 a year. I love being able to say “Boys, get in the truck. We are headed to the beach” or loading up the kids to go have lunch with daddy at work. I think that for 5 years we are doing pretty good.
I’ll bet if you put it in perspective, you are doing pretty good too. Good luck!
P.S. I am also here to say Darla is right. When you stop the nagging, everything changes. It’s like a little switch flips in his head. I am happy to say that after 5 years,our sex life is better than when we got together. The key? About 8 months in I realized he just isn’t going to pick up his dirty clothes and dishes. 3 kids in 5 years tends to cramp your style in the bedroom. So take it somewhere else 
