Grocery Grumbling: Save by Buying Wholesale

Welcome back to our last installment of Grocery Grumbling! If you missed any of our previous posts, you can catch up here and here.

When we moved into our house, I was in awe of all the space we had in comparison to our 600 square foot apartment. Most notably, I was thrilled with the pantry space we know had. I have not one, but two pantries in our new home. I finally had the space to be able to buy in bulk and stockpile some nonperishable goods.

Shortly after we moved in, we got a membership to our local wholesale club, BJ's. After some trial and error not to mention a lot of math, I've compiled a list of the most cost-effective items to purchase at your local wholesale club like BJ's, Costco or Sam's Club.

Best Bang for Your Buck

Dog Food - there is usually always

a coupon for dog food and it'll get you a huge bag of food for a little bag price!

Olive Oil 

Toilet Paper

Potato Chips - I always go for the 50 count Snack Pack.

 It's perfect for lunches and lasts a month!

Snack Items - This includes: fruit snacks, granola bars, etc.

Toiletry Items - This includes: shampoo, conditioner, soap, 

toothpaste, deodorant, etc. Usually always have a coupon for these items.

Only have to buy them 1 or 2 times a year!

Ziploc Baggies: Another thing to get with a coupon that is almost always cheaper 

than the grocery store.

Contacts - Seriously! It's the least expensive place in town (and online) we've found

for the hubby's contacts!

That said, this is not a comprehensive list of the only things you should buy wholesale. These are simply the items that I have found to be most cost-effective. The most important tool to use while shopping wholesale is KNOWING PRICES. You can't spot a good deal without know what its counterpart at the grocery sells for. 

My tips for shopping wholesale? On average, I go to BJ's once a month with a strict budget. Everything is written on the list and typically has an accompanying coupon. Don't stray from the list. I know that stuff in the middle is tempting as is the mega size bag of Reese's on the candy aisle, but resist the dark side. If you don't, you'll have a hefty price tag at checkout. 

Before going, I use a price list to give me an idea of what I'll be spending to make sure it fits in my budget. Looking for a price list? Check them out here:

Costco Price List

Sam's Club Price List

BJ's Price List

What are your tips for saving by buying wholesale?

Miranda

Couponing Class

I've got the scoop on the couponing class taught by our very own guest couponing blogger, Rebecca Lettelleir! [Missed her excellent couponing post? No problem! Catch up here.] 

Date: Saturday, August 24

Time: 9 a.m.

Where: Royal Baptist Church Newnan, GA 30263

Cost: $10

If you would like to attend, please send an email to Rebecca at lettelleircouponer@yahoo.com to reserve your spot! 

-Miranda

How to Buy a House in your 20s: Part One

Age is a funny thing, isn't it? At least our perception of age is. No matter what age you actually are, yourself or those around you will think you're either too old or too young for some behavior/action/task/etc. For example, I will be 23 in a couple weeks. I'm old enough to buy alcohol, vote and drive a car. However, I'm still waiting for that golden 25th birthday when my car insurance will go down (despite the fact I've never gotten a ticket of any kind or ever caused an accident - I digress).

Throughout our entire home buying process, those we ran into along the road where impressed/surprised/in disbelief that a couple was buying their first home at 22. Naturally, they were curious as to how we were able to do so.

So, here you have it. The good. The bad. The ugly. And the truth about how we bought our first house in our 20s. Be sure to come back for Part Two! [Click here for Part Two!]

Note: I am not a financial professional in anyway. The advice presented in this article was gleaned from real-life experience and advice from our parents, financial professional and realtors. 

Live poor. 

We adopted this concept from good, ole Dave Ramsey:

"If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."

What did this mean for us? Saving money on our living expenses where ever we could. There are several very nice and new apartment complexes in our town, but we didn't live at any of them. Instead, we lived in our tiny 1970s apartment that we lovingly called "The Craphole."

You might think I'm being a little dramatic, but seriously there was a reason we called it that. The police were a reliable staple around our complex - especially on the weekends. Little children ran around outside shirtless and sock-less in December! If a couple broke up, you saw their stuff on the curb the next morning. Not to mention, we were in a constant war with bugs. While I never felt unsafe at any point, it certainly wasn't the classiest place in the world. However, it was a means to an end. We paid $300+ less a month than we would've paid at the new, nice apartments. We lived in that apartment for a year so that's $3600 I stuck away.

Another great way to live poor? Don't get cable! We paid $120 a month for our Internet and cable. At the new house, we've just got internet ($30 a month). Throw in a Netflix and Hulu subscription with our antenna in the attic and we only pay $45.98 for our TV entertainment (a $74.02 savings). We don't miss those channels we never really even watched and certainly don't miss that bill!

Eat poor. 

Also, we lived poor by not eating out. In January, I got serious about our grocery bill. The old saying goes if you want to know what matters most to a person, just look at their checkbook. Well, if you looked at our checkbook in December, you would see that food mattered...a lot. We'd buy a $100 of groceries, but then go out to eat three or four times a week. Eekk!

With the New Year, I vowed not to eat out unless it was budgeted into the groceries for the week. I also made a menu for the week and made sure I only bought the items on my grocery list. (Resist those impulse buys!) I also cooked freezer meals which I blogged about here. Doing all this, I brought our grocery budget down to $60 (without couponing)! That's $40 more dollars a week I stuck back in savings. $160 a month people!

[NOTE: I've gotten a lot of questions about how we manage to only spend $60 a month on groceries. I wrote a follow up post here that will go more in depth.]

Budget for EVERYTHING!

Last January, I purchased a expense tracker book from Target. I am in LOVE with it! It is made by Mead and called Organizher. It helped a lot to see how much money was coming in and going out every month. It also allowed me to keep track of what money I had sitting where for what purpose.

I budgeted everything (and still do). We have a budget for everything from oil changes to Christmas savings. You've got to stay in that budget. If carrying cash helps you budget better, do that. If having it on your debit helps you budget better like me, do that. At the end of the day, it's your money. Find what works best for you.

Hold onto that income tax

I know it's hard, but stick it in savings and forget about it. It was really hard for me not to just hightail it to Disney World for the week with that income tax return, but we were able to buy the appliances and furniture for our house with it. Those things aren't cheap and you need them to make a home! It'll be worth it. I promise!

Hope part one has given you something to think about and maybe even some inspiration. In part two, I'll dive more into the advice we got from our parents, financial advisers and realtors.

Get to budgeting and living poor!
Until next time,
Miranda

How To: Create a Couponing System

I must admit I feel like quite the coupon fiend.

When I went grocery shopping with coupons two weeks ago, I got enough food within our budget to eat on for two whole weeks! I stretched the $58 I spent on groceries far!

While I didn't buy groceries last week, I did clip coupons for free school supplies. Seeing as I have no current need for school supplies, we donated the free items [three glue sticks and two really nice pens] to a local school teacher.

Now that I've been buying newspapers and collecting coupons for a little over a month, I needed a system to organize my coupons. The stack of circulars on my dining table was growing and getting out of hand.

My weapon of choice for organizing my tower of coupons? A file folder system.

My coupon filing system!

I gave each coupon circular its own tab. So, in my file folder, I have individual tabs for: SmartSource, RedPlum and P&G. You'll find SmartSource and RedPlum on a weekly basis while P&G comes out monthly.

In the Sunday paper, some stores like Publix and Target will put out store coupons. I made another individual tab for store coupons.

My next tab is labeled "Other." This tab is for coupon circulars that don't come out regularly. For example, in last Sunday's paper, General Mills put out a coupon circular for their items. It now lies in the "Other" tab.

Lastly, I have a "Restaurant" tab. I have coupons for meals at various restaurants like Red Lobster and Shane's Rib Shack stowed in this section. Let me tell you, these coupons are date night gold! Nothing like getting one nice meal and the other free. With these coupons, you can actually afford to go to a movie with the money you save on food.

Every Sunday night, I sit down and write the date at the top of every coupon circular I get. Next, I draft my weekly menu/grocery list around what is on sale this coming week. Personally, I use CouponMom.com which can break down deals based on the percentage that you save. Also personally, I don't get a deal that will save me less than 50 percent.

When I find a deal that I like, I write down the specific name of the product, what store to get it at, what the coupon value is and what circular I can find it in. Once my list is complete, I go through the circulars and clip out the coupons I need.

Of course, sometimes there is a deal for an item that I need like milk or dog food for Bentley, our Yorkie. At this point, I go through ALL my circulars again looking for these specific items. Last night, I was able to find a $1 off coupon for Iams dog food. While it might not make much of a dent on a $12 bag of dog food, it's still a dollar off something I'd have to pay full price for anyway.

What were my results this week? Here is my receipt.

Coupons and all, I spent exactly $40. However, I purchased $62.91 worth of food. My total savings as you can see above was $22.91.

The deals I am most proud of? I got two jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce for $1.38, a can of Gillette shaving gel for $1 and two Colgate toothbrushes for $1.58.

Happy Couponing!
Miranda