Feeding My Family Frugally: My Heroine

Challenge: To trim down the grocery bills by at least 33%

According to the US Department of Labor, the average American family of four spends $8,513 per year on groceries. This statistic breaks down to $177 per person a month. My family is not the traditional nuclear family. In addition to me and my husband, we have four children -- three teenagers, a two-year-old, and a mother-in-law. Applying the above figures, our grocery bill for a family of seven should approximate to $1239 per month. And astonishingly, it has regularly fluctuated in the range of $1000- $1300. My goal is to trim this monthly pile of receipts down to $830,(including diapers, wipes, hygiene products, and restaurant bills) if not less. Being able to frugally feed my nutrition-conscious husband and appease the voracious appetites of my teenagers will be my main challenge!

Friday, April 29, 2011

My Heroine

WBZ-TV late last night featured my heroine, coupon queen Kathy Spencer. Please google her interview, along with previous ones with news stations and newspapers, and learn from her website, http://www.howtoshopforfree.net/. I can only hope to someday be able to shop and save like her!

Although her ideas for shopping at Stop and Shop this week were already on my to-do list (purchasing 3 Hallmark cards and receiving a $5 rewards coupon and purchasing a $25 gift certificate (I would have just chosen the store gift card) and receiving a free bouquet of flowers), there were so many other money-saving ideas and coupon links. One coupon which I already printed out was for tobasco sauce, making it free this week once doubled.

Reading her personal story (and income level on paper) will be an inspiration to you to really "train your eyes" and look out for those deals. Have fun!

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Dilara Channing is Back

A nice winter break visiting my parents has rejuvenated me once again. I am so proud of myself for completely budgeting this trip. I purchased gas and fast food gift cards ahead of time at Price Chopper and Stop and Shop when they were having a double gas points promotion. Plus, I was able to use a lot of coupons from the new Entertainment book I bought discounted from Walgreens. Using a coupon for Legoland quickly saved me $30, already $5 more than the Entertainment book cost.

I was a bit worried that the airport Xray machines and scanners might mess up the cards, but I experienced no such problems. It was comforting to know that with each restaurant bill I knew I had a limit, and it was a wonderful feeling knowing that the bill was completely paid for after the gift card was used!

Dilara Channing

A former teacher, and now a full-time "homemaker," Dilara is committed to making her family meet its nutritional needs within its budget!

Shopping for the best deals feels like my job right now. Since I am not currently earning any income, I feel that I must do as much as I can to save. Sometimes my tactics can get a little aggravating for my family. For over one week, my family complained, "why is there no cream cheese in the frig?" I just couldn't bare to buy one over $2. No sale, no cream cheese. If I had such an outlook these past twenty years, I most probably would have saved a lot of money. I know that eventually, cream cheese will go on sale, maybe for $1 or less, and then my refrigerator will have a pile of them. But until then, they can eat omlets (from a dozen eggs that cost $1.09), toast (from bread that was on sale), and Eggos (which I purchased with coupons during a Frozen Food Month special).

Addendum: As of today, June 2nd, there is a stack of brand name Philadelphia cream cheese in my refrigerator. I waited for a 2 for $3 sale and applied my coupon of $1 off of two. It wasn't free cream cheese (I don't know how these extreme coupon queens get everything for free!), but I was very pleased with spending just one buck for each box. No store brand cream cheese for this family, for a month or two anyway.

Feeding My Family Frugally

Challenge: To trim down the grocery bills by at least 33%

Friday, April 29, 2011

My Heroine

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A GASping Victory!

2011 Grocery Tally