How to Grocery Shop As a Family (and Still Save Money)

Even when you're trying to save money, there's often that one person in the family who just isn't quite cooperating with the plan. The one who still really wants those extras.

Maybe it's Mom, maybe it's Dad, maybe it's one or all of the kids. But that person sure makes going grocery shopping difficult. How do you avoid buying all the extra stuff they want?

Well, kids are easier to cope with than when it's the other parent. You either learn to say "no" or you go shopping without them as much as possible. Neither one is easy at times, and as your kids grow you will have to figure out what works best for each age, but you do what you can.

Such as have them buy the extras they think they can't live without with their own money.

But it's much more difficult when it's one of the parents who isn't hearing the other say "we need to spend less money and don't really need that." It gets to feeling as though you're nagging or that they just aren't paying any attention to you.

And of course an adult can easily just go back to the store on his or her own and buy the things you said no to before. It can take much more effort to break through the stubbornness.

Shopping alone is often much cheaper than bringing anyone else along. Just make sure it's the person most willing to limit impulse buys. And bring a list.

A list can help even when you do bring the family along. Warn everyone who's coming along that only items on the list will be bought. Go through the grocery store ads so you know what deals you don't want to miss, and at least tentatively plan the kinds of meals you'd like to have for the week. The more you know about what you're actually going to eat, the less excess you will buy.

Talk over the issues too, and be clear about exactly what is happening to your budget due to overspending at the grocery store. Making the problem clear may not be enough to immediately stop the problem, but it does mean you can brainstorm some acceptable solutions.

Take a look at your eating habits too. Can you give up convenience foods? What about sodas? Candy?

These items tend to add up fast, and many aren't too good for you to begin with. Work up a way to work these out of your diets if possible, or at least agree on limits. I've always found that if they're in the house, they get eaten, but if they aren't, I won't get desperate enough to go to the store just for them.

Changing your grocery shopping habits probably won't solve all your money problems - many families have other places that could be cut equally or even more effectively, but it's an area many are willing to target. Talk it out, work it out and see what happens.

Stephanie Foster runs http://www.homewiththekids.com/ as a resource for stay at home parents. She offers more tips on living on a single income at her site.

Can I Really Afford to Be a Stay at Home Mom?

Whether you've been a stay at home mom for a while or are just starting out, this is one of those questions that can really hit you hard. Going down to a single income as a family is quite a tough choice in most cases. And in the current uncertain economy it can be even easier to feel guilty about not contributing to the family's finances.

Directly, that is. As in earning money.

Indirectly, there's plenty a stay at home mom can do. She is often the one to handle all the shopping and keeping track of all the bills. If you don't think that has an impact on the family finances, think again.

Your first consideration is always how the family will manage to get by with one income rather than two. Sometimes the answer is quite surprising. Depending on what you earn, by the time taxes and the costs of wardrobe, eating out, childcare and so forth come out, you aren't bringing that much home. Sometimes it can easily be made up for; other times it will take more planning.

If having one parent stay at home is going to be a huge sacrifice for your family, take a look at what can be cut. Don't start with the grocery bill. Just because you have to buy food every week doesn't mean it's the most important bill.

Instead, start with your regular bills and figure out what can be cut. Cutting your cable plan down to basic can save you a nice chunk of money every month, and you probably won't even miss most of the channels you drop. Decide if you really need both a landline telephone and a cell phone. Then decide if one or the other should be dropped.

Cutting those monthly expenses makes a lot of sense. It's savings you won't have to think about every time you go shopping.

But the biggest savings of all can be in paying down credit card debt.

Credit card debt, as a rule, is expensive. Much worse than paying for a mortgage. If you can get it paid down, your budget will have far more leeway, and that's vital if you have only one income coming in.

You should also take some time to think about the things you spend money on, but really shouldn't. A lot of people, for example, get new cell phones regularly, even though the old one is perfectly good. Same goes for televisions when they decide it's time for a big screen unit. The list goes on and the numbers add up.

Get those other expenses in control as well as thinking about how you spend money at the grocery store. The broader your efforts the more you will save.

Handling the "What Ifs"

There are a lot of what ifs that you should face if you want to be a stay at home mom. The biggest one is "What if the situation changes?"

"What if your husband loses his job?"

"What if the two of you separate or divorce?"

"What if a medical issue comes up?"

You do need to have a backup plan in case anything happens. Obviously you hope that none do, but life happens. Better to plan ahead than to be caught unawares.

This means keeping up your own job skills, whether or not you work at home. Having savings. Talking about how potential problems will be handled. Not panicking if something does happen.

You may never need your backup plans. But if you do, you will be very grateful to have some idea what to do to keep your family going. The middle of a crisis is a rotten time to have to figure all this out.

Being a stay at home mom has its own challenges. Just due to personality differences it's not for everyone. But many learn to love it, and soon have trouble imagining doing anything else.

Stephanie Foster runs http://www.homewiththekids.com/ as a resource for stay at home moms. She offers more ways to afford to stay at home at her site.

Maximizing Your Grocery Coupons Results In These Big Savings

How I saved $92.89 last week. With the rising cost of gas and personal dwindling savings, I have found it even more imperative to find ways to cut cost and save. In reassessing my financial state, I noticed that one of my greatest expenses was in the area of grocery. A hundred dollars a week in groceries can easily add up to over $500 a month! Yes, this is one of those necessary expenses we have that tend to reach deep into our pockets and leave behind only a few pieces of chump change after all is said and done.

So what is the solution since everyone needs to eat and groceries need to be bought? I have found that what worked well in the past still works well today. You guessed it, GROCERY COUPONS! I used to clip coupons at one point but took a hiatus because I stopped receiving the Sunday newspaper which housed the coupons. Recently, I have started printing free coupons and clipping them again and am carefully watching my savings grow. Let me give you a concrete example of a grocery receipt that I had recently:

Total Cost $140.65
Balance $47.76
Total number is items sold = 29
VERIFIED TOTAL SAVINGS $92.89

My purchases at Ralphs Grocery store totaled $140.65. I used free printable coupons and regular coupons which saved me a total of $48. However, I ended up only paying $47.76 with a verified total savings of $92.89.

How did I do that?

I saved more than the coupon value because of double coupons. Double coupons are coupons that are scanned twice to save the customer double the amount. For example, if the grocery coupon was good for $1.00 off, you would end up saving $2.00 because of double coupons, imagine if you had printed a coupon that was $2.00 off! This is an automatic savings feature at the grocery store. But note that not all grocery stores are the same!

As of today, in my area, only Ralphs doubles all their coupons automatically. It used to be that both Ralphs and Vons doubled their coupons but Vons Grocery Store had discontinued their program. Couple the double coupon savings at Ralphs with their Ralphs Club program (a program with free membership that allows additional savings) and you can save up to triple the coupon amount.

Using this method, I ended up paying

* $1.00 for laundry detergents
* $4.50 for jumbo size Pull-up diapers
* $5.00 for jumbo size Huggies & Pamper diapers
* $1.00 for a large container of baby wipes
* $0.00 (free) for a 64 oz bottle of Juicy Juice

and so forth.

What is the work involved in clipping coupons, free printable coupons and using them to their maximum capacity?

* First, print your free printable coupons.
* Second, check the grocery advertisements that are mailed out each week. Look for items on sale and use the coupon then.
* Third, make sure you use the coupons at Ralphs Grocery Store (or any other grocery stores with double coupon offer) if they are having sales on the item in which you have the coupon. Sometimes other grocery store (which does not have the double coupon program) may have an item on sale that Ralphs does not. In this case, using the grocery coupons at the other grocery stores may end up giving you a greater savings.

Furthermore, you can save even more when you purchase your groceries with a credit card that give 5% or 6% cash back (please refer to my credit card article). If you pay $100 in groceries with a cash back credit card, you can get $5 or $6 cash back.

Since doing all these steps, I have found that my grocery costs have dropped down to a third or half of what it used to cost. I am able to save money as well as buy more quantity and higher quality foods for my family because of this and I get to try new foods that I would not otherwise buy!

For those with children on a low income budget, consider government assisted programs such as WIC. WIC stands for Women, Infants, and Children. This program helps families with children to buy the necessary foods without cost. For more information, go to the WIC Program

Min Zhu, the author, offers tips to help moms provide for their family.
Grocery Coupons

Saving Money the Painless Way

For those of us with shallow (or non-existent) savings accounts, there are some relatively simple steps we can take to put dollars away in savings.

I'm sure you have all heard about 401K plans and company matching contributions. The company match dollars are free money, so if there is any way possible to enroll in the 401K you just have to take it! This is a method of accumulating savings that's relatively painless, with our personal contributions taken out of our pay automatically. There is plenty of information readily available on 401K plans.

But there are other ways to save money also...

A few years ago, I started taking all my pocket change at the end of the day and stuffing it in a jar. When the jar filled up, I moved on to bigger containers. I don't know exactly how long I was doing that, but it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 years. My pocket change got so heavy after 4 years that I couldn't lift it any longer! Maybe I should go buy a Plasma TV this year with the money I accumulated? Nah, I'm still exercising my consumer restraint....!

Banks are even offering incentives for us to save money these days!

Bank of America has a plan called "Keep the Change". I'm reminded of it every time I go to their web site. Each time you buy something with your Bank of America VISA® Check Card, they round up the purchase to the nearest dollar amount and debit your checking account. Then, they transfer the difference from your checking account to your savings. It's an automatic way to start saving, and with little or no effort on our part. And I always save the best for last of course!! For the first three months Bank of America will match your "Keep the Change" savings at 100%. Think that's enough? Nope, they just keep on giving...!!! When the first three months are over, they continue to contribute 5% a year, every year!

Be sure to check out their web site for important details about the plan. The matching funds are credited to your savings account yearly, so you won't see the money right away. There are a few more details you need to know also, but the main thing to keep in mind is that they are GIVING YOU MONEY! Check their web site to get all the details if you are interested. If you don't have an account with Bank of America, maybe your bank has a similar plan.

And while we are on the subject of banks, you are taking advantage of online banking and bill pay right? Why pay money for envelops, stamps, and checks? You can bank online for free at most banks these days!!!

So there you have them! Four simple ideas to save you money. Maybe you have already thought of even more ways to save. You can do it! Just remember to stay away from impulse buying, exercise your consumer restraint, and avoid wasteful spending. It's amazing how easy saving money becomes when you start to see the savings account build up!

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