Doing with Less

Hey Everybody,

The recession is affecting everyone, and if you are not feeling its pinches yet, chances are you will soon. For many of us moms, the grocery store is the best place to save money. Smart shopping can add up to $100 a month (or even more!) to your household budget. At the same time, poor shopping habits and impulse buying lead to overspending. Check out these tips and start saving money today!

Know your store. Being a regular shopper at one store enables you to know the layout, recognize special prices, and understand the rotation of sale items.

Buy store brands. Why pay extra for a fancy label?

Shop early morning hours for the best buys in the meat department. Store butchers mark down yesterday’s meat to make room for the freshest cuts.

Go meatless! Have a veggie night once a week for an inexpensive supper. Over the course of a year, 52 meatless nights will add up to big savings!

Purchase non-food items such as cosmetics, toiletries, and household cleaners at a discount store. You'll find prices 20-50% less.

One night a week, have breakfast for dinner.

Make a list! Planning ahead helps avoid impulse buys.

Don’t do your shopping on an empty stomach or with children who are hungry or sleepy. You’ll be so eager to get home, you won’t be able to take your time.

Do the bulk of your shopping every two weeks. On the weeks in-between, buy only fresh food.

Decide if the time-saving, pre-packaged foods are worth the extra cost. If you can eliminate these from your family’s menu, you will be able
to stretch your grocery budget even further. Recipes abound on the web for making your own baby food, baking mix, and even household cleaners.

Stock up when your favorites are on sale. From cereal to
peanut butter, buy enough to last until the next sale.

When it comes to saving money, many of us automatically think of doing without. Let's get our minds around this instead: doing with less. After all, as US citizens, we have so much! What do we really do without? If you are a Christian, the psalmist reminds us: I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread (Ps. 37:25). I know a homeschooling mom who squirrels her children away to her grandparents’ beach cottage every January. With her accountant husband working 60-hour weeks during that time of the year, she takes the opportunity to delve into the kids’ studies, avoid the winter blahs, and for several weeks, keep things simple. The kids are allowed to take only five outfits each and a few toys, but they may bring as many books as they want! There is no TV, no computer, and no hustle or bustle for miles around.

I don't know about you, but I crave a simple life, not filled with stuff but filled with relationships. Not filled with upkeep of said stuff, but filled with time to spend on people. Not filled with pursuit of said stuff (i.e. desiring what I cannot/should not have), but filled with pursuing the heart of God, whose heart is focused on souls. At this season in my life, I need even more time spent with Him in order to absorb the picture of my daughter's senior year, my older son getting ready for a driving permit, and my youngest entering the youth group! I need time to take deep breaths! (Oxygen, please!) Doing without may just mean doing with more of what really counts.

(For even more ways to save at the grocery store, take some time to check out the Faithful Provisions website!)