Is it just me?
Did you ever see one of those segments on the morning shows where some savvy shopper goes to the grocery store and buys $100 worth of groceries and ends up paying 65¢?
During the course of the segment, savvy shopper usually starts out buying something useful – like corn flakes – and with a combination of coupons, store specials, and so on the corn flakes are free. Okay, that sounds wonderful!
But, I always wonder what else she has in her cart that she ends up paying so little. I use coupons, store specials, and so on. I never spend only 65¢ for $100 worth of groceries.
So I went, once, to one of the coupon sites savvy shopper recommended. I saw immediately why my grocery bill is never 65¢. Practically every coupon was for something processed or baby oriented. I did not see a single coupon for plain beans, brown rice, portabello mushrooms, or coffee. Sigh.
The Ultimate Cheapskate guy suggests the way to save money at the grocery store is to never spend more than 99¢ a pound for anything. Okay, that sounds doable. Beans and rice would qualify. But what if I want some cheese? Or a fresh tomato? Or a green pepper? Or coffee? This sort of plan falls apart quickly for me. Sigh number two.
Eating out of your pantry for a week or two is supposed to lower the grocery budget. Again, this makes a lot of sense. But when I see the emptying pantry shelves, I feel an urgent need to restock them.
I blame my husband for this urgency. He told me about listening to an audio book called The Second After. If you are not familiar with the book, the basic story is that there is a terrorist attack on the United States that wipes out all the electricity. Within a very short period of time, people are scrabbling for food and going to some fairly unsavory extremes to get it. I feel reassured when I see my pantry and know that we would survive for some time on the contents. Okay, there may be some strange meals of black-eyed peas and cream of wheat. But, we wouldn’t starve. Sigh number three.
So, I guess I will go on using some coupons and shopping store specials and spending a bit more than 65¢ for my groceries. I may also try menu planning. I will keep you posted.
Sandra