Shop the Sale

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I've taken to building my groceries for the week and my meals around what's on sale for the week. I first saw this on Oprah from a famed coupon clipper who also used coupons for these sale items and even went to stores that doubled coupons. Now I know this isn't practical for a lot of people, including me, since I don't receive the paper, nor do I plan on it...although she did mention that you could buy the Sunday paper for the coupons.

I started looking up what was on sale before I made my grocery list (yes, I make a list...it helps prevent impulse purchases). You can even have the weekly circulars emailed straight to your inbox! Ahhh, technology. I decide between Harris Teeter & Giant based on what I want to make that week or what grocery items I already have in mind. Then I make my list and head off to the store.

The first week, I spent about $35 on groceries and those lasted for a week and a half. The next time it was $16.92 for one week (and yes, I cooked a meal and made lunch 4/5 days with them). My most recent was for about $45 and I bought food for my investment group potluck, weekly lunch, and enough to make two meals.

So my advice is easy...simply Shop the Sale. It's as simple as that. Buy what's on sale, and only what's on sale. It's only one week and next week something different will be on sale. Now there are items that won't be on sale that you'll need...and you should get them, but try to be more mindful of actually building around what's on sale and watch the savings grow.