Saving Money

I am on a journey. This journey involves hours of research and many changes. I am striving hard to become wiser with money and in the process, I am getting caught up in the excitement of the task before me. This process began a couple weeks ago when Bryon was informed that his company was preparing for many layoffs. We knew there was a large chance that Bryon would be laid off because he was the most recent hire. We are very grateful that he was able to keep his job, but also feel like we can be better stewards of the money that we are given now, in case a time does arrive that we need to rely on savings.

My journey began with a stop at couponmom.com. I had heard a lot about this site and was excited to check it out. I have to say, it was fun to realize how much money I could be saving by strategically using coupons. The difficulty with this method of saving was that I would often have to shop at a few different stores in order to receive the best savings. I also had to spend a lot of time cutting out coupons and and comparing the prices of the coupon items to the prices of the generic store brand of the same item. At the end of my shopping trip, many of the coupons I spent time cutting out weren't even used because the generic was cheaper! I did end up saving some money from the tips I used at this site, but it didn't feel like it was worth all the time it took to research and shop.

The next great find was the Aldi grocery store. Bryon was actually the one to challenge me to check it out. We took our publix receipt (the one where everything on it was bought with a coupon and/or special savings, thanks to couponmom.com) and simply compared all the items on the prices to the same items at Aldi. We were so impressed! Every item on the list was cheaper at Aldi then at Publix. I have been able to cut back a lot on my grocery bill now that I'm shopping at Aldi. (do I sound like an advertisement or what?) The only negative aspect of Aldi is their produce. I haven't been very impressed with the fruits and veggies that I've bought there. They seem to get old much faster. My solution is to buy everything except fruits and veggies at Aldi and then run by Publix to buy the fresh produce. It's working out well so far! (Note: Aldi doesn't take coupons which is frustrating since I've spent so much time learning how to utilize my coupons better!)

Now I've come to the latest stop on this journey. E-mealz.com is our newest experiment to help us save money (and time!). E-mealz is a site that creates a shopping list and meal plan based on your personal preferences. You can select whether you're a family or a couple, if you want to shop at Aldi, Publix, Kroger or Walmart and if you want low fat or regular options. The site then creates a menu and a grocery list based off of your choices and tells you how much money you'll spend on your groceries. The verdict is still out about this since it's my first week trying it, but I'll let you know how it works!

In addition to the grocery savings, I've been introduced to the world of thrift stores (thank you Heather!) and prescription freebies from my doctor. It has been exciting to learn new ways to save and I'm looking forward to discovering newer and better ways in the future!