Everywhere but where I should be looking.
God has spoke pretty clear this week on this subject, and the sad part is I've asked everyone for suggestions on simplifying my life, except for the one who has all the answers.
But, God spoke loud enough and in all the right places that I actually heard what he was telling me and have began to implement them in my life.
A couple of experiences I encountered this week:
As usual, I get my coupons on Sunday in the Sunday Paper, I actually get 2 papers, the local and the LA Times. So you see, I get double the coupons each week. Each week varies, sometimes there's anywhere from 1 packet to 4 packets, so for me that could mean 2 packets to 8 packets of coupons each week. I was cutting every single coupon each week. I would keep some and file them in my binder in which I have to organize all my coupons by product.
And the balance of coupons were being mailed off to a gal in my coupon train. A coupon train is where several women mail off coupons to another person on the train, mailing always in the same order. Each week you take that envelope of coupons that you received, pull out the ones that you want to keep, then add back to the envelope coupons you cut that week that you are not going to use and mail them off again always on a Monday and no later than Tuesday. It's a cycle that goes round and round. I have been doing this for just about 6 months and believe me when I say it feels like years...
I was actually the one who ran the train as well, so I had to add people and remove people along the way as well as post the mailing order each week and follow up with those who had not mailed out that week. This is one area of my life that is NEW this year and has totally consumed my time and life. By the time I realized this, I couldn't just let the other ladies down so I continued to stay with it for their sake.
But as I was cutting the numerous coupons Monday night (8 Packs of them). I started thinking about my post that morning and how this is one of those areas that needlessly consume my time.
I had to decide if this was something I really needed to do or not, and I decided that I needed to jump off the train, no more major coupon cutting and mailing, and that I would email all the ladies and inform them that I needed to jump off the train.
I will no longer be cutting and filing my coupons in my binder either,
because it is very time consuming and starting next Sunday, I will just take each of the packs of coupons inserts and start a "insert filing system" instead. Now I will only cut coupons that are needed each week that I shop.
The list that I get each week from the Grocery Game tells me the date and name of the insert pack to look for in order to find my coupon needed that week. So now I will just file the entire packet by name and date for future cuttings of only what is needed for that week. Sounds complicated but its a lot less time consuming then the binder method.
And right now coupons are a BIG part of my life. I have saved anywhere from 50%-100% on all my groceries. Now, each week I only need a few items for my meals or to replenish some of my stock. Anyone interested in hearing my take on how the Grocery Game works I will talk about it at the end of this post as well as post a few pictures of what our family has stocked up on at "Rock Bottom" prices. So saving money for my family is a good thing, just not all the coupon train stuff right now.
The very next day, Tues. in the morning I received an email from Christian Women today, which I periodically receive, except for this particular email was titled "Live Simply". This came the very next day after my post on my need for the simple life . Did that catch my attention? You bet it did.
God is always on time I just never expected it so soon, plus I never really asked Him. I guess that's why it is said that He knows what we need before we ask. Anyways I opened up the email and clicked on the link called "The life of Simplicity" I read her complete story and it was encouraging, than I almost clicked out of the email when I saw another link that caught my eye "Blog: Finding life's balance " so I clicked on that one as well and read that story but it wasn't until I scrolled to the bottom and read the second comment that Marilyn had left, and something just jumped out and spoke to me. I know it was God's word for me and maybe for a lot of you too.
"If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy." May we always be on guard for Satan’s attempts to steal our time from God and/or our families, and keep us mindful of God’s priorities in our lives.
Wow, that was great, it was what I needed to hear. Satan has been bringing things into my life that he knows I'll be attracted to and they just GOBB up all my time. I never thought of it like that. But, I could totally relate. And I knew when I read this, that God had some changes in store for me.
How to figure out what to do from here, I don't know exactly, but I do know that God is going to show me.
I'm sure it was Him who moved me Monday night to finally make my decision to jump of the coupon train, that I had contemplated for months and change my coupon filing habits to less time consuming.
I have decided, instead of looking for creative ways to make more time for more things, that I will take a Hard-Fast look at the things in my life that consume my time and ask myself,
"Is this something that I really need to be doing right now?" If yes It will continue...
OR If it's not something I really need to be doing, then,
"Do I truly Love doing it" If so maybe it can stay...
I want the extra's (hobby's) in my life to be things that I truly enjoy doing. We can only have so many of them. I have found myself this year adding sooo much more to my plate, and this has shifted other things that I love down to the bottom.
Blogging for another thing is NEW to my life this year. Do I really need to be doing it? No. Do I love it? In some ways. Maybe if I wasn't so busy elsewhere. I originally began so that I could log my daily eating and exercising. Then I moved on to a more personal blog, which is fun. So I will probably continue. I like to write about my life and family. I think I will try to update weekly my life on my blog and see how that goes. I am just not an everyday "Journal just to Journal" kind of person.
I am going to take one day at a time and see what God may reveal to me that may need adjusting or does not belong in my life.
I am looking forward to a less busy and more enjoyable life...
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Grocery Game in a nut shell:
Like many of you may think, I thought that coupons were menial, and not quite worth the paper they were printed on.
Until I was introduced to a method that never even occured to me before then. Taking a coupon and combining it with an item at its lowest sale price. This is about as low priced as you can get an item, unless of course you have a grocery store that doubles coupons, now your combining the coupon for more than its face value with the lowest sale price at the store for your very best rock bottom price.
Who wouldn't want to shop this way?
You do this by subscribe to the Grocery Game and they do all the work for you. Giving you lists each week for the stores that you subscribe to and all the note worthy items to purchase that are on sale and they tell you which coupon to use with that item and what your final cost will be.
When you start the Grocery Game you may not have some of the coupons that they call for because you haven't been clipping and saving them, so you'll just have to pass on that good buy until it comes around again., and trust me it will. It takes a few weeks to acquire a good amount of the coupons to use, and it takes approx. 12 weeks, to get a good stockpile going as well. So at this point your shopping bill becomes considerably lower, buying only the best of the best deals and buying just your needs for that week that you don't already have stocked up to pull from.
Saving money in the long run for your family is what it is all about.
Check out their website to get more information. The cost of a list subscription to one store is $10 for 8 weeks and each additional store is $5 for 8 weeks. It works out to be 1.25 per week for the first store and another .63 for each additional store you choose. That cost is nothing compared to not only the money saved on products each week, but the time and hassle it saves you from doing all the work with the sale flyers and coupon searching.
You can sign up for a 4 week trial period for "$1" and you get to try out all the stores offered in your area for those entire 4 weeks. Then when your 4 weeks is up you can choose to cancel or choose just the stores you want to pay for. Keep in mind I would suggest saving coupons for at least one week or maybe two prior to starting your trial period, to get the most out of it.
I personally started with the trial and I had, Vons, Ralphs, Staters, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens. After my trial I kept all of the stores, it cost me $4.40 per week of my grocery bill and I saved a ton, stocked up very fast, but after 8 weeks, I was tired of all the stores, so I dropped Rite Aid, later dropped CVS and Walgreens and decided that I only wanted Grocery stores and that worked for me, so now I pay 2.51 per week for my three stores. I don't always shop them all each week, but most of the time I do. All three of my stores are within a 1-2 mile radius of my house and one another, so I shop all three for the best of each of their deals. But, some women sucessfully shop one grocery store as well. It's whatever works for you, and what you have time for.
Keep in mind I never use to buy my cleaning supplies or my health and beauty items at the grocery store and now I do. So not only am I getting the lowest prices on my items, but for the most part I am now staying out of Target, Walmart, etc. so not only am I getting better prices elsewhere they don't catch me on impulse items walking through their store . Also keep in mind there are some things I do go to those stores for but not much and not often at all.
Example :
This is one item I purchased this week at one of my grocery stores...I do know that grocery store prices are definitley higher than the other type stores, but not after their sale and my coupon. Even if its close now to the other stores price its definitely better to get it all in one trip.
Lysol all purpose cleaner or antibacterial cleaner 22 oz. Reg. price at the store 3.69 and now on sale for 2 for $5 combined with my coupon for $1.00 and this store doubles so the coupon is now worth $2.00 at this point, I am only buying one and my final cost for this is now .50/ cents. NOT BAD...This is just one of many great buys.
Not everything is that cheap but for the most part a lot lower than just going shopping. I can tell you that most of my Shampoos, conditioners, toothpastes, razors and deodorants that I have stocked up on have been anywhere in the range from free to $1.00 maybe 1.50 to $2 on some of the Shampoos and Conditioners. Of course this depends on your choice of brands, I am flexible on some brands and not on others so you learn whats good for you along the way. I also buy hair dye that I use quite often at my age and I dont pay over $2.99 for it and sometimes a lot less, it varies.
The concept behind the whole Grocery Game is to buy food and other stockable items at their lowest possible price, stock up whether you need it at that point or not and when you do need it, you are then shopping your own stockpile at the best of the best prices. Each week you also plan your meals around the sales on the veggies and fruits for that week. I buy some meat on sale at the grocery store but I find better prices and quailty from buying bulk at Sams Club, and I freeze.
Your stockpile should depend on how many you have at home. I have my husband and myself and one teenage daughter. Her are a few pics of what I stockpile.
Also remember some of the lower priced items that you end up with a surplus on can be donated to charities and or you own grown kids that live their own. You can also compile gift baskets and or use things as stocking stuffers.
Just another long but hopefully helpful post for those of you looking to save money on their grocery bill as prices continue to soar.
Please come back and leave me a comment of what you think of the grocery game and whether or not you end up trying it...You may never look at a coupon the same again...
