Eureka!

Today I went grocery shopping. And I had a breakthrough on my struggles with making this couponing thing work for me. I'm going to try to share it here, but I'm not sure I can articulate it very well.

First, I'll share some of the great deals I got today:

I got all of this for $2.44.

Here is a breakdown of those deals and some other good ones I got:

Vitamin water-FREE

Meow Mix treats-FREE

McCormick spice-FREE

Kraft dressing- .08

Quaker rice cakes-.36

Pringles-.50 ea

4 lb bag of oranges-2.00

pork loin-1.99/lb.

2 6-packs of english muffins-1.99

Kraft American cheese-1.88

Kellogg's cereal-.66

64 oz. Tropicana punch-1.24

and so on.....

But here's what I've been thinking about. There are two major hinderances to my couponing success.

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First, I need to change my mindset. I like having my meals planned out in advance of the week. It takes stress off me when we are running the kids here and there to already know what is for dinner and to already have snacks bought and planned so I don't have to buy them expensive treats on the way.

What I've been doing for a while is sitting down on the weekend with my favorite cookbooks and a Vera Bradley notebook Alyson got me in which I wrote several weeks worth of favorite meals. I look at the calendar, plan the meals according to which nights we'll be home early, late, not at all, etc. THEN make up my commissary list from that.

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And that is what is frustrating me with this couponing. I can't make my menu ahead of time and try to find sales to match. I feel like I'm just buying a bunch of stuff that's cheap but doesn't go together. What I need to do is figure out the sales (with help of the couponing blogs or the grocery game) and THEN make up my menu.

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Which brings me to my next problem:

I do not have enough of a stockpile to really make a bunch of meals out of what I buy on sale with coupons in a single week. I've been reading about the 12-week rule regarding sales, learning that sales trends rotate through a 12-week cycle. I understand this but have only been applying it what is on sale, not how long it'll take me to build up my stockpile. The reality is that if I stick this out for 12 weeks, buying things at their rock-bottom prices, I will have a fully stocked kitchen/pantry/freezer from which I can plan my menus.

But I can't expect to live only on what is on sale right now. And my family doesn't want to! I tried feeding them some of those free cat treats and they flatly refused to eat them. ;-) They're very picky.....

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It's going to cost me more than I want to spend for a little while. But if I can stick this out for another 2 months, I should be very able to plan an interesting and varied menu out of just what I have on stock and what was on sale that week. The key is STICKING IT OUT.

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One other key is to buy MORE than I need of the items that are on my rock-bottom list. If meat is on sale, I need to buy more than just what I need for that week. If I can get Pringles for .50 cents a can, I need to buy more than one can! (and then hide the rest so they don't get devoured the first two days....)

It may cost me a little bit more, but I am buying enough stuff on sale (nearly everything I bought today was at least 50% off) that it shouldn't cost a lot more overall. And shoot, I am trying to stop spending a thousand dollars a month! Any savings is great!

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Wow--if you've kept reading this far, good for you!

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Now, I have a couple comments for those of you who have access to the commissary. If you don't, you are free to go. :)

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I've been going round and round about whether or not some of these "regular store" sales are any better than going to the commissary. As a friend put it today, the commissary is "comfortable." It's what I know--but is it cheaper?

Yes and no.

Today on one of the grocery game lists, one of the stores offered 85% lean ground beef for 1.99/lb. At the commissary this afternoon, I bought 93% lean ground beef for 1.85/lb! But then, chicken breasts in the civilian store-1.29/lb. Commissary-1.95/lb. I never buy cereal over $2 at the commissary, but sometimes I can get it as low as .50 at the civilian store.

You have to be careful, of course, and I am skeptical of the so-called "savings" they put at the bottom of your receipt in the civilian stores. Just because you use their card and don't pay the 200% inflated price, does not make it a savings. At least not in my book. Often times the 2 for 1 deals just bring an overpriced item back down to reasonable.

Sort of like Aeropostale, for those of you who have teenagers....buy 1 t-shirt for $28 or 2 for $22! yeah, right.....some deal.

Milk is always cheaper at the commissary. I've yet to find it less somewhere else. And eggs. But the commissary bakery dept. never has sales so you can probably get cheaper french bread or rolls somewhere else. Today I got cheaper strawberries at the commissary ($2.50/2 lbs) but got cheaper oranges at the civilian store.

I think what I need to do is make a spread sheet of the commissary prices. I've been saving my receipts for a little while. I'm going to make a list of the items I usually buy and the price I paid for them at the commissary. I need the visual in front of me.

And then I'll really know if I'm saving money.......and I won't make the mistake I did today---$2.21 for one pkg. of english muffins at the commissary and then $1.99 for 2 pkgs. at Super Fresh!

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I'm a slow learner, but I'm getting there....