Welcome to Centsable Savings Stories and Struggles! If you’ve ever thought about sharing your story, now is a great time to do it! I am lining up frugal shoppers to share their stories for the next month. Email me at centsable.katherine[at]gmail.com if you are interested in participating. More details are at the end of this post.

This week we are featuring Jami from An Oregon Cottage. Thank you for sharing your story, Jami!

My Struggle

People have always told me I am a thrifty shopper, and when our kids were little the way I shopped for groceries was working for our family of four. However, several years ago our food budget began to creep upward, and I was at a loss as to how to bring it back down. It seemed a combination of two more adult-sized mouths (teens eat quite a bit more than preschoolers…) and the economy conspired to make my previous strategies no longer the best route to grocery savings.

I thought I was doing the things you’re supposed to do: going to the no-frill and outlet stores once a month, trying to find the best deals, attempting to stock up on a few items when prices were low, using a few coupons, cooking from scratch and not buying junk/convenience food. I had been bargain shopping long enough that I had a “price book” in my head of the lowest prices on things our family needed. Plus, I had a garden that allowed me to can and freeze food for the year so there were a lot of foods (salsa, tomato sauce, corn, beans, etc.) that I didn’t even need to buy! Yet despite my efforts, our monthly bill went up and up.

So, my goal for 2009 became to get our budget back down to $400/month EVERY month. With that in mind, I started searching the internet and found Money Saving Mom, BeCentsAble, and Frugal Living NW, as well as other sites. Once you start looking, you realize there are lots out there! These sites helped me discover a new way to shop, use coupons to create a stockpile and take advantage of drugstore sales and programs. Boy, was I ever motivated when I read one woman say “back when we used to pay for toothpaste!”. These blogs also provided motivation and affirmation that it WAS possible to achieve my goal and they showed me HOW with coupon tutorials and store “101” posts.

Next Steps

After I started getting motivated by the blogs I was reading, the first thing I did was to start shopping weekly. I read how important this is to being able to take advantage of ALL the sales AND to be able to plan menus around these sales. This was a big change, because in my mind I wanted to get it all over with in one monthly shopping so I didn’t have to think about it again, except for short runs for milk and produce. But my monthly trip was so time consuming that I dreaded the half a day it took and then having to put the huge load away.

Since I’ve been shopping weekly I’ve discovered a few of things:

• I’ve come to LIKE the fact that my shopping is usually done within an hour or two! Putting the items away takes only a few minutes.

• I actually go to the store the same or even LESS than my previous “monthly” shopping. Huh? I don’t have any need for a short trip to pick up some milk, etc. and I’ve already got the items on sale for the week that would lure me in before.

• The sales are cyclical in nature. Meaning, the same items go on sale at 6 to 12 week intervals, so as I shop weekly, I’m able to buy enough of a sale item to get us through to the next sale now that I’m aware of it and not just shopping based on my schedule.

The second thing I did was to start using coupons in conjunction with sales. I started asking people for their Sunday paper coupon inserts if they didn’t use them. Then I’d file the coupons in a box and WAIT for a sale! Even if it’s an item I usually buy, I will hold off until the coupon is within a week of expiring and only then will use it if there is no sale. This is happening less and less as I build my pantry — I usually can always wait for the sale cycles to come around again.

I can’t tell you how many times people will say to me, “That’s great, but I never buy the stuff that the coupons are for.” I used to think like that, too. There are things I don’t want in my house, whether they’re a good deal or not, even if they’re FREE! And no, I don’t always realize the same savings on my weekly shopping posts that some others do, but my box is full of coupons for things I DO use many of which have come from the Internet or email subscriptions. Some coupons I have in my box right now are for toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, canned tomatoes, baking items, rice, dairy products, frozen vegetables — plenty to be able to get significant savings.

Thirdly, I’ve become more purposeful in planning our menu around what I had in the house and what I knew was going to be on sale.

Fourthly, I’m working on building a good stockpile of grocery and household items. I used to buy slightly more than I needed if things were on sale but never on household items. I’d wait until we were low on toothpaste or my son said he needed a razor before I’d buy them. Now I’m trying to buy enough pantry and drugstore items to get us through to the next sale.

And lastly, I have started to take advantage of drugstore “games.” These are the rebate and coupon programs of Walgreens and Rite Aid. (There’s no CVS where I live, unfortunately.) I had never shopped at a drugstore for anything other than drugs or a makeup item. Now, they know me at my local store and after just three months, I too can say, “Back when I used to pay for toothpaste.”

My Success

In three months, our grocery and household bill has gone from $550 to $367! I was able to beat my original goal of $400. Now the challenge is to meet the goal every month, and I’m thinking that $350 is even a possibility with the tools and techniques I’ve learned.

Though our grocery bill had crept up, we’ve always lived by the philosophy of “living well on less” and I was so inspired by how much help I found through other blogs that I started one myself, An Oregon Cottage! My aim is to explore all the areas, not only groceries, where it just makes sense to live frugally and be a good steward. I illustrate recipes, gardening, and other ways to save, and I plan to explore remodeling and decorating on a budget as well as some tips for easy ways to grow vegetables.

Jami AnOregonCottage

Each week we feature a different shopper’s story. Centsable Savings Stories are the stories of people just like you who are working toward reducing their budgets, bargain hunting, living a more frugal lifestyle and constantly learning along the way. If you are interested in sharing your family’s successes and struggles, please contact Katherine at centsable.katherine[at]gmail.com. Blogger and non-bloggers are both welcome to participate. Click here to read the stories of shoppers featured in the past.

Keep tabs on all the best deals by subscribing to BeCentsAble’s feed or get updates direct to your inbox!