1.25.2009

A Penny Saved...

I've been hearing a lot about this Grocery Smarts/Pinching your Pennies craze as of late, but always thought it sounded like too much work.  But then I thought, "wouldn't my dear hubby be so proud if I saved some extra money?" - goodness knows I've already perfected the art of spending it!

So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go for it.  A friend of mine taught a group of us the ropes (thanks, Nicki), and I took my first shot at it. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture from my maiden voyage, but I did manage to save some money.  I ended up spending $52 and saving $56. Not bad for the first trip, I thought.

The next week I headed to Albertsons, armed with coupons from multiple papers (one of the GOLDEN rules), my sale ad and a personalized spreadsheet.  Yes,  I even made a spreadsheet so I wouldn't crack under the "money saving" pressure!!  I didn't want to look like a "newbie" in front of the hard-core shoppers.  (You know who you are...)

Well, I did pretty good - better than the week before.  I took a picture, but instead of spreading everything out like the pros do, I stacked it all, so the picture doesn't display the full savings that I partook of.  (Dang novices and their stupid mistakes...)  But, I have to admit, I have saved more money than I thought I would, and I imagine it will only get better.  I actually found the adrenaline rush to be quite invigorating. Now if I can just keep from running directly to the nearest mall, I will be in good shape!

Coupons: $23.00
Preferred Savings: $72.72
Bonus Buy Savings:  $8.84
Total Spent: $78.75
Total Savings: $104.56

4 comments:

Cami said...

I am very impressed! Watch out it is addicting!!

Steele's said...

I've been doing this for years. Just this year so far I have saved close to $1600! My favorite site by far (even better than Pinching your pennies) is couponmom.com. They also do lists for Wal-Mart!!

Ash Hilton Photography said...

I think that we should take pictures of your kids. We are going for the old fashioned look. We have a mini studio set up @ Meg's house, maybe you guys will have a chance to come up sometime, we have a photoshoot next weekend, but don't have anything else for awhile, so let me know if you want to.

Liza said...

NICE WORK!!! very impressive! I love your blog by the way..it is just like talking to you! See you next week. :)