This is not actually a recurring theme here, feel better about yourself Friday, although I have enough crazy stuff to make you feel good about yourself for at least a year so it might just show up again some time. What is it about this pile of loot that would make you feel better about yourself? Did I get it all for $1? No, that would make you feel bad about yourself. At least it always makes me feel bad about myself. Whenever I read frugal blogs and they get a table full of groceries for $2.99 I feel very bad about my unsavvy shopping self.
As part of our financial journey, I’m learning to use coupons and stay within a grocery budget. It’s hard. We don’t have a lot of stores to choose from around here, and what we do have is scattered 30 miles this way and 30 miles another. Most of my grocery shopping is done at Walmart and Walgreens. And I always wonder if I’m really getting a good deal at Walgreens.
I check the frugal sites, match up my coupons with the deals and try to do get what we need without over spending. Tonight I went to Walgreens, mainly for the Huggies diaper deal (I did not get them for $1.64!). I had the one year old and the five year old with me and they were excellent, but I was still sweating and shaking when I checked out.
Why does saving money make me so nervous?
Well, it feels like I’m doing something illegal or at least cheating when I check out multiple times, use coupons and register rewards, and try to match things up to spend the least amount of money. One time I forgot to use a register reward and another time I forgot to use a 50 cent coupon. Frustrating! I can’t tell you how relieved I was to finish up my last transaction and leave the store.
I checked out 9 times. I spent $41.84. Here’s what I got:
3 packs of Huggies diapers
1 pack of Huggies wipes
1 Crest kids’ toothpaste
3 boxes of Kleenex
1 pk of Northern toilet paper
1 dozen eggs
1 Fusion razor
1 Dove’s men’s body wash
1 Joy dishwashing liquid
3 Three Musketeers candy bars (my husband had already swiped one)
1 pk of cotton rounds
2 packages Kotex liners
1 small box of Chips Ahoy cookies
The sad thing is, I’m not even a smart enough shopper to know if this was good or not. Now, don’t you feel better about yourself?
