Skip to main content

The Grocery "Game"

How do you approach grocery shopping? as a chore? or as a "game?"  I like to think of it as a "game," where I am trying to see how much money I can save!! Both the hubby and I grew up with mothers who clipped coupons, so he and I share the same coupon "philosophy." He is in charge of purchasing paper products, like toilet paper and paper towels and also toiletries like razors and toothpaste from Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid (he is enrolled in the "loyalty" programs at those three stores). He also likes the Meijer and since we get almost all of our prescriptions filled there, we get pharmacy "rewards." I take four medications just for my heart, so it doesn't take long to reap the benefits! The hubby and I both loaded digital coupons in the past week worth $10.00 off your grocery bill! My favorite grocery store to shop is the Kroger. I go there once a week and I always try to go to my favorite cashier. We're like old buddies now. She's a woman of few words, but she is super duper efficient getting me in and out quickly!  I spend just one hour a week looking through our accordion file of coupons (which can fit into my purse) and at the digital coupons. The sale around here starts on Wednesday and since another Kroger in the area was being remodeled, they were having some great sales today!  I got ground meat for $1.99 a pound. I don't know about where you live, but around here, ground beef or chuck has been pretty expensive!  I go in with a list written on a piece of paper and next to the item I want to get, I put either PC (for paper coupon) or DC (for digital coupon). If I had a Smartphone, I could probably be even more efficient, but I guess I'm just a paper and pencil kind of gal. Even though Lauren is now in college, she is on the two meal a day plan. She eats breakfast in her dorm room, so when I see a good deal on granola bars or other breakfast type foods, I've been stocking up. Halloween is still several weeks away, but there was an awesome special on Halloween candy AND I had a coupon, so I bought three bags! I try not to be too "rigid" with my list, because you never know when you might see a good "closeout" deal! You know those "catalina" coupons that shoot out of the register at the end, when you're paying? Don't toss them! I used one today for $1.50 off of a pricey breakfast cereal. Today, I think I saved the most money I can remember saving- $64.02!  That was 42% of my total bill. I took a look at the bottom of my receipt just now and it says I saved $1,283.19 so far this year with my Kroger card. Cool! When I go there, I regularly save between $15.00-$30.00 between my paper and digital coupons.  I think I'm getting pretty good at this "game," don't you think?!?! Maybe I should audition for that show called, "Extreme Couponing!"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Those "Steps" to Independence Can Be Hard

We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...

Why We Pursued Guardianship of our Son with Autism

Last Thursday morning, my husband, Dominic and I went to our county's Probate Court and had Dominic's Guardianship Hearing. My husband and I are Co-Guardians, and we were granted "Partial Guardianship," which means Dominic can make some of his own decisions (future educational and vocational placement options, what to wear and how he wants to spend his free time), but my husband and I will make his medical, health care, legal, contractual and major financial decisions. The subject of Guardianship in the disability "world" has been and continues to be a controversial and divisive topic.  I was a panelist for an Autism Conference this past summer and presented on what it's like to have a child with Autism. Towards the end of my presentation, I mentioned that Dominic had just turned 18 and that we were going through the Guardianship process. When the attendees could ask questions, the first person that went up to the microphone started telling me that I was...

Presume Competence

Since we have traveled outside of the United States since Dominic was very small, we have had to get him a Children's Passport every five years. Since his current one expires in February of 2024 and he is now 19, we had to apply for an Adult Passport. I don't know why my husband and I picked Dominic's first day of school and Michigan State University moving in their students, but the appointment was yesterady at 3 p.m. We had gathered all of the documents needed and then went into a special room in the East Lansing Post Office just for Passports. The three of us sat down and the clerk asked Dominic his age. He said, "19." Since we were also getting his picture taken for the Passport, he went into a separate room, where she took a picture of him and then let him look at it to make sure he liked it (it will be his picture for the next 10 years)!  He said he did, so he sat back down with us. The clerk filled out a bit more of the paperwork and then she let Dominic s...