Frugal Grocery Shopping

Even before I started blogging on my own, I have been interested in reading other people's blogs.  The difficulty is that I am not interested in only one or two topics.  Which means I RSS feed to a LOT of blogs.  I try to eliminate blogs that I find aren't holding my interest, but it seems like my list of blogs still manages to expand.

So, in addition to the two pastors I admire (RLP & Reverb), I read about finances, politics, news, my friends, and most recently, frugal advice.

There is a whole population out there of people who know how to be thrifty!  And they were being thrifty long before it came back into style.

There are a lot of tips for frugality, but the biggest and most common seems to be how to save on your grocery bill, using coupons.  Now, I've tried to do the coupon thing before, and I failed miserably.  It required way more work than it was worth for the $1.50 savings at the end of my $150 shopping bill, so I didn't stick to it.  However, this is my biggest monthly expense (other than my mortgage), and the one expense I have some control over.

After reading the blogs of these self-proclaimed coupon queens, however, I realized I had gone about it all wrong.  There is a trick, a system, to making this work.  It's not about finding coupons for things you may or may not use, and using them when you need that product.  The trick is to collect the coupons for the items that you would definitely buy anyway, and stocking up when you can combine your coupon with an already marked down price.  These women scour their grocery advertisements for sales, then combine those sale prices with the best coupon to give you the biggest bang for your buck.  It's quite an art... or science!

Armed with this new knowledge, and a month's worth of coupon inserts, I sat down during nap time yesterday to sort through them all, and cut out the ones I could use.  With the number of inserts I had to go through, this process took a couple of hours.  After that, I needed to sort them into a system that would be usable in the store.  THAT took another hour or so.

I had several coupons that were due to expire tomorrow, so this morning I set out to do some shopping and price comparisons.  I started with Target because I've never shopped for food there, and I wanted to get an idea of their prices.  I ended up collecting a lot of information, and several good deals on non-grocery items.  I cut $27 off of my bill by combining coupons with sales there.

Then I moved on to Safeway, another store I rarely visit.  I had much better success here.  I saved $58 on this bill.  I also price shopped at Save-Mart, just to see who offered the best prices in town.  In addition to these stores, I have a Winco, Costco, Sam's Club, Raley's, and a BelAir in my vicinity.  These I've visited and have a pretty good idea, and plenty of receipts, to compare.

Altogether I cut a little less than 50% of my bill today.  None of it was for anything I would not have bought anyway, at some point.  The difference was that I really needed none of it right now, but by taking advantage of the sales, and stocking up, I probably bought them for a much better price than had I waited until I needed the items.

So, it looks like I'll need to invest in more shelving....  ;-)

CPSIA Update...

I just received an e-mail (thanks Debra!) with an update on this legislation.  The Consumer Product Safety board voted unanimously to put a stay on this ridiculous piece of legislation for one year!  

THANK YOU to all of you who called your representative or mine.  I'm not convinced we made a huge difference, considering that this came from the enforcement agency rather than through the legislative body that originated the law, however, I still think that a getting in the habit of making your voice be heard is a small step in the right direction for our country.  Maybe, just maybe, it was America's response to this bill that made the difference.

So, thank you.  And thank you for passing on this post to the people that you knew.  I know I was not the only one writing about this law, and trying to get the word out, but it often takes hearing something two or three times before we're convinced of the necessity to move on it.

A Cool Tool...

I have had this cool gadget for two months now, and I keep meaning to tell you about it, but haven't found the time.

Well, I can't hold back any longer.  For those of you who see me on a regular basis, you've probably heard more than you want to know about this tool.  Bear with me.

Blue Line Innovations (bluelineinnovations.com) has created a gadget called the Power Cost Monitor, and SMUD, my local utility company, partnered with them to make it available to SMUD customers already pre-programmed with our power rates and thresholds.  They mailed me a postcard months ago asking if I wanted to purchase this tool at a discounted price during their promotion.  After thinking about whether or not to spend the money, I went ahead and ordered it.  I figured it would be interesting to know how much you save when you turn off a light, or unplug an appliance, or any of the other energy-saving tips I hear about.

Needless to say by the title, I'm in love with this product!  I have definitely saved the purchase price in energy costs already.  Granted, that doesn't count the cost of replacing the energy hogs that were my porch lights!  But another month of energy savings will pay for those too.

Enough rambling, let's get to the meat of this post.  I have to tell you about this product.  If you go to the website I mentioned above, they have a picture of the tool.  Essentially, the large number at the top of the screen tells you how much energy you are using AT THIS MOMENT.  This is done by attaching a "reader" to the meter on the side of your house that transmits data to the monitor.  It reads how fast your meter is spinning, and translates that to a cost/hour.  So, when you turn on the light, you can see an immediate change in this data.  Using this tool, I was able to determine the amount of energy each appliance in my house uses, and what that costs me on an hourly/weekly/monthly basis.

The other sections tell me how much I'm using now as compared to other times during the month, how much my utility bill is so far, and what my utility rate is right now.

Knowledge is power!  And by acknowledging what costs the most money, you can effectively trim your usage.  Granted, finding out that my 10-year-old dryer uses a lot of energy doesn't mean that I can afford to replace it with a high-efficiency dryer right now, but knowing what my current dryer is costing me will mitigate some of the cost when it is time to replace it.

Like I said, replacing my outdoor lighting has already paid for the cost of the monitor, and will soon pay for the cost of the new lights.

This is a cool tool.  Theoretically knowing that turning off the lights will save you money is nothing compared to actually seeing what that cost savings is.  Before long you'll find yourself sounding like your mother, "turn off that light"!

School

I started my second semester of my master's program tonight.  Our winter break was six weeks long, which is about two weeks longer than the community college winter break.  At four weeks, I was ready to go back to school.  By the sixth week, I was dreading it.  That extra two weeks gave me just enough time to relax, enjoy my free weeknights, and wonder why I was making life so difficult for myself!

All weekend I was thinking about starting school again, worrying about paying for it, and wondering what I'm getting out of it; trying to find the value in continuing my seemingly endless education.

Then I walked into class, and I couldn't stop the stupid grin that fighting its way through my headache.  I LOVE SCHOOL!  I don't know why.  I can't imagine a more draining, time-consuming, and generally unproductive use of my time, considering I have a full-time job, and always have had a full-time job, even when getting my bachelor's degree.  However, I can't seem to keep myself away from the classroom.

And it's not like I'm taking classes that I think are fun, or interesting, or exciting!  I'm taking courses that I think are necessary to improve my job skills, to better my chances at getting a job, or to enhance my resume.  All rather boring, technical, or useful subjects.  However, I can't help but enjoy it.  Even when I dread the papers, the hours, or especially the group projects, I love going to school.

Isn't that weird?

We Make Change...

I called Washington D.C. again yesterday.  I wanted to make sure my senators know that I'm not impressed with the president's choice for Treasury Secretary.  I'm sure the man is extremely qualified, and has a lot of good experience, but if he can't figure out his own taxes, how is he at all qualified to enforce the tax law onto the rest of us.

I can't believe how politically active I've become.  I would never have imagined this even three months ago.  I was of the mindset, as probably many of you are, that there isn't much we as citizens can do to direct the train wreck that is our government.  I do vote.  But there is not much power in that, since the political machine allows me only to choose between two less-than-ideal people.  As I got more involved in the voting process during this election, the hoops that a candidate has to jump through to make it past the gauntlet of the party leaders, the media, and the special interest groups appalled me.  A candidate can no longer run for office based on an ability to make a good leader, but is more likely to be chosen by powerful people for his ability to keep the status quo.  Is this much of a choice when it comes to checking the box on the ballot?

There is something we can do, however.  We can let these people we elected know what we think.  I wouldn't have thought that to be true three months ago, but I'm determined to make a difference.  And maybe, if enough of us are determined, and make a phone call, and tell a friend or relative to make a phone call, these calls will add up, and the people that think they now have the keys to our country will learn that they don't own the road.  We do.  I can't make a difference by myself, but hopefully I can convince you to join me.  And given the right tools, and the right motivation, we can get our representatives, who are in office to represent OUR wishes, listen to what those wishes are.

I'm not saying we have to agree on the issues in order to make a difference.  More importantly, we need to get into the habit of paying attention, and making an effort.  As long as we ignore what our government is doing, or are resigned to thinking we have no control, the more license we give them to continue taking over a little bit more of our lives each year.

It doesn't take much.  A few minutes on the phone, or a few minutes to send an e-mail.  That's all I'm asking.  If you don't know who to call or write to, ask me.  I'll look it up for you.  If you hear about something going on in our government that doesn't sit right with you, send me an e-mail (reina@gamillah.net).  I'll post it here, and hopefully we can start a discussion.

Well over half of the country voted for change in this last election.  It isn't up to the president to decide what that change should be.  It is up to us.  WE create change.  Maybe not quickly, but all of the really important changes that have made this country what it is, abolishing slavery, civil rights, woman's right to vote, these have all happened because PEOPLE decided that they didn't like the way things were going, and they wanted to make a change.

Start small.  Maybe a single phone call about a single issue that you feel strongly about.  That's all.  Feel empowered.  It could be that that one step can start you on a path towards something you never thought possible, and we can see a REAL change happen in our country, in our lifetimes.