PART III - HOW GROCERY SMARTS HAS IMPACTED ME AND MY FAMILYCoupons, coupons, more coupons...
My hate of coupons had quickly been erased and I started saving my coupons whole, writing the dates on them and putting them in sheet protectors. I didn't feel like hunting down a binder so I saved them in an empty extra drawer in my kitchen. After about a month later I finally dug out a binder : ) I loved coupons and the deals I was getting. I started reading every blog I could about grocery smarts and collecting as many coupons as I could.
The Savings...
Three weeks into using grocery smarts I did another post on my family blog here called 3 weeks, $500 saved, pantry and freezer are full. After just three weeks I was amazed at how much I had been able to buy using my normal budget. I spent the same but I got seriously at least double what I normally would. I LOVED just staring into my pantry and freezer because they were so full! I also quickly realised that I could cut my budget back after a month and now our family budget is $350 for all food and household products (this includes cleaning supplies, pull ups, toiletries, preschool snacks, pet supplies etc.) Some months I have spent even less and since beginning using grocery smarts I have thousands (yes thousands! I think right now its around $3-4000 saved in 2009!)
Grocery Smarts and my cute husband Justin...
My husband is so cute and funny about grocery smarts. At first he wasn't sure about it because of the HUGE mess I made when I printed out every coupon I could on the internet. But he supported me in it. He was really impressed with how I stuck to my budget and was able to buy so much. He loved coming home and finally feeling like he could find something to eat that didn't require huge amounts of effort on his part : ) He was also funny because he started setting rules on tooth paste for me. At first I could buy it if it was $.50 or less, than $.25 or less, finally I could only buy it if it was free and if I promised it would have a new home somewhere else quickly! He also has totally gotten into his own type of coupons (coupons for tools and computer parts) He understands the concept of waiting for an item to go on sale and then using coupons to help your savings go farther. One more cute story about him: We needed milk one day and said he'd stop by Smith's on the way home. I gave him a small list of a few other 4 and 5 star items on sale that week that did not require coupons that we needed. After he had his list he called me at the store right before checking out and asked, "are you sure this is ok? I don't have any coupons!"
How I started teaching...
I am a teacher by nature. Its how I made money in high school, by tutoring and teaching music lessons, its what I went to college for, I think since the time I was 12 I have only had 3-5 years that I have not had some kind of job teaching. I love it, and grocery smarts is something that I felt everyone should have a chance to learn. I contacted Colette Bomsta, the grocery smarts supervisor for the Las Vegas area and she got me rolling. And here I am today teaching classes, blogging and trying to help others learn how to save money and use grocery smarts. I'd love to come teach a class for you too! I have new welcome hostess packages and by hosting a class you can earn $20 in free groceries. Contact me to book a class.
THERE IS NO END TO SAVING : )
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