It’s been a long time but I still recall the day when I returned from my job at an A&P supermarket, weeping — true story. And after finishing up my grocery shopping Groceries for the week we didn’t have enough in our budget to cover everything on our list. We did not even have money in the budget to cover that difference.
The Power of Unit Pricing
The unit price is the number you will find right under it on items in almost all grocery stores. This is where I realized that If its condition and filter are not taken care of, a lot of money gets wasted.
If I am purchasing mustard then it is not just a matter of looking at the price of that bottle. I check the cost per ounce. This allows me to compare shops for different brands a bit. This metric can sometimes be a little difficult to figure out based on packaging size, so this helps you know what product gets you more bang for your buck.
Watching Every Dollar
My husband and I had to watch our checking account like hawks for years. You couldn’t take your eye off that ball for nothing. We were two broke college students and parents, struggling so much in general that it never even crossed our mind how fucked we would be if she got any worse.
Grocery Trips
It’s been a long time but I still recall the day when I returned from my job at an A&P supermarket, weeping — true story. And after finishing up my grocery shopping for the week we didn’t have enough in our budget to cover everything on our list. We did not even have money in the budget to cover that difference.
Sticker Shock Today
My children are now adults, and they all have good jobs but when I go to a grocery store my default position is disbelief. I, just like everyone else.. am tryna figure out how much of my discard I need to spend: food-wise every month. Fortunately for me, I have learned some tricks over the last year or two that corrected things.
Why meal planning is so important?
I used to be bad about planning my meals. I was a complete robyn dixon and ordered shit like crazy & hoped for the best. But this lack of planning ended up costing us even more money.
Less waste: Since I’m not purchasing unnecessary things, it helps avoid throwing out food.
Leftovers: If you look at that family pass, it means I no longer have to say: well we could eat leftovers or cook from scratch. Now the leftover option is way more convenient and acceptable for us because of my planning.
Using Coupon Apps
Those of you who are watching those shows on TV about EXTREME couponers hunched over all-night-long clipping deals might remember some of these. It was challenging for me in the beginning, because I never knew what my week would entail and this is why couponing seemed like such a burden.
Now, when I have a meal plan for the week or month, instead of ignoring coupons because they seem expensive and unrealistically possible all at once with no clear goal in mind except to save money whether it’s useful right away depending on where I shop around geographically speaking… I save useful coupons in the app and redeem them when checking out. The Coupons App, Coupon Town, and finally if you are new to downloading apps for couponing give The Coupons App.