Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The How Low Can You Go Challenge!


O.k. so this week I went grocery shopping with saving money forefront in my mind. I tried to buy generic, buy produce that was on sale, no impulse buys, no little people with me, a menu on hand with all meals and snacks listed, and I checked out all coupons before leaving.LOLOL I also kept an eye out for things that we eat all the time to see if any were on sale, like chicken, and bought extra for next week. Whew! I ended up spending $147.00 for the week. That was for everything we needed. Toiletries, cleaners, diapers, and food. I also bought extra chicken for next week. Now I know that I can do better, but for my first week, it wasn't too bad. I usually spend around $250 on a good week and $300 on a bad week. I know, that's a lot.

Things I'm looking into for more savings....

Would I save more by planning my meals around the sale ads?
Does buying in bulk save me money or just make me buy more?(lol)
Would a warehouse club give me better prices or would I just find more things that I need?
Coupons, good or bad?


Well, those are some of the things buzzing around my head right now.LOL I'm hoping to find some answers over the next few weeks.

Blessings,

Lisa

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lisa, check out this link. We did the course recently and found it to be very helpful. It is only a two-week course.
http://hillsfam.cpaine.hop.clickbank.net/
Kathy Hills

Lisa in Jax said...

Thanks Kathy! I'm checking it out right now. Great to hear from you!

Cynthia said...

Lisa,
GOOD JOB on saving $$ this week.

Lisa in Jax said...

Thanks Cindy! I'm trying and that has to count for something, right?lol

berrypatch said...

Great job! I "thought" I was doing well by going to our local Wal-Mart first & getting what I could for groceries there. It's not a Super Wal-Mart, but they have about four aisles of food. I could get about half of what I needed though. The prices are better. Then I'd go finish up at the grocery store. However, I found that by ONLY going to the grocery store - and even paying more for some items - I spend less. I have less tempation I guess. Weird but it seems to be workin for me right now. :-)

Lisa in Jax said...

Lisa,

I've found this too. If I go to more than one store, I spend at least 25% more, sometimes up to 50%. I just can't pass up a deal and if you visit 2 or 3 different stores that really adds up.

Kristine said...

You did a great job on your shopping this week, Lisa!

I try to get some ideas for my weekly meals by looking at the sale ads. And I check the "clearance" meat to see if anything looks good. I won't go out of my way though to cook things we don't want or won't eat. I've been trying to cut back on meat as a main course.

I don't find Sam's Club overall to save me money on most things--unless it's a giant jar of marinated artichoke hearts or nacho cheese sauce, lol. Seriously, coffee, milk, bottled water, birthday cakes are always cheaper. But meat in general, "normal" sizes of things, typically aren't less. The produce usually is, but it's sold in such large quantities that we typically can't eat it that quickly.

I also find that the regular grocery store sale prices and almost always cheaper than Walmart's regular prices.

I'm interested in reading about how you work through your challenge this month!