Save Money on Groceries to Make Room for Travel

Several weeks ago,  I purchased, Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides. I had watched the Economides family on TV a few months back and though the book sounded intriguing, I doubted that it would really deliver what it promised. Besides, I may never be featured on Extreme Couponing, but I do consider myself a pretty savvy shopper most of the time.

I didn’t think much more about the book until my new Vision Forum catalog arrived and the book was included as one of the Frugal Family resources. I decided to give it another look. Even with my reservations, I was eager for it to arrive so I could begin digging into its pages.

We are planning a trip to Florida this winter and one of the ways I plan to fund that trip is by reducing our grocery bill.

I began by taking a short quiz to determine what kind of shopper I am. Turns out that my suspicions were correct, I do know a thing or two about saving money on groceries. Still, the Economides words encouraged me to continue reading the book and guaranteed that they could still teach me a thing or two.

After reading partway through the book I decided to put their advice to the test. 

The first thing I decided to do was to find some really inexpensive recipes. I could have scoured the internet for free, but since I was a bit crunched for time,  I purchased an e-book, Molly Makes $5 Dinners and $3 Desserts Cheap and Delicious offered through The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Store.

After pulling together a list of 19 recipes, with a few desserts thrown in for a special treat, I created a shopping list by type; dairy, bread, canned goods, meat, fruits & vegetables, etc. 

If you’re curious as to what meals I selected, you can see them here, My Meal Plan.

Next, I quickly went through the sale ads to locate which store offered the best savings for the week.  I decided that I would shop at Aldi and Kroger.

My first stop was Aldi. Since I planned to really stock up, I asked my son to accompany me, as I planned on filling two carts. I spent $210.77 for 206 items.

Next stop, Kroger. I spent $149.64. Of course, this is where I bought all of our meat and stocked up on Pepsi for my husband- a huge budget buster. I also splurged 11.04 on a turkey, but I got a ton of fuel points- which saved me 20 cents at the pump, plus we’ll be able to at least two meals out of that one bird. I saved an additional $78.03 with my Kroger card.

To get the most savings, I purchased large packages of meat and cheese and divided them into smaller meal proportions as soon as I got home. 

I have noticed that I spend significantly more on groceries since our move back to Ohio. I’m now spending about $200 a week to feed my family.  That figure does include all of our toiletries, etc. but does not include eating out, which can easily add $50 –100 more to our grocery bill if we aren’t careful. 

My grand total for this experimental shopping trip was $360.41. That may not sound like a huge savings over what I typically spend, but keep in mind that I will be feeding my family of five the 19 MAIN meals that I shopped for, plus breakfast and lunch.

I also managed to purchase extra toilet paper which was on sale and stock up on a few other items that we use regularly, like my husbands’ Pepsi.   

My husband has been eating breakfast at home and we’ve not eaten out as a family once in the past two weeks which is when I last bought groceries. Not so bad after all.

I’m excited to think that maybe, after I finish reading Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half and put all that I learn into practice, I will actually be able to do just that. And maybe I’ll be able to pay for that Florida vacation solely on what I save on the cost of groceries.

 

Are you concerned with your grocery bill? What are some of the ways that you are trying to cut back?

**Just so you know, I am an affiliate of Amazon so if you choose to follow the link I’ve included for Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half, it will give me a few cents. However, I am not an affiliate for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine store.

Ten Ways to Save Money on Prom Expenses

There’s no doubt about it, prom is not an inexpensive outing. No matter how hard you try to get around it, you may as well resign yourself to the fact that your checking account is going to be a bit lighter after the event.  With three children attending prom for the first time and less than three weeks notice, it was imperative that I uncover a few ways to save money on prom expenses.

1. Prom Tickets

If you’re going to go to prom, you must buy a ticket. It’s that simple. Purchasing your ticket early can allow you to save a few dollars with early bird pricing. We would have saved $40 had we planned ahead- that would have been nearly enough money to pay for the pre-prom dinner!

We also saved money buying a couples ticket over the cost of individual tickets- even though my children were attending together and not with a date. 

2. The Prom Dress

Most little girls (and big girls, too) love to look like a million bucks; but that doesn’t mean you need to shell out the big bucks on a dress you’re likely to wear once. You can save money by borrowing a dress, renting a dress,  shopping at store that sells discounted formal wear, shopping at a consignment shop, buying online through Craigslist or eBay, or browsing thrift stores for a great deal. 

This time around, we had the rare luxury of not spending any money on a dress because my daughter already had three dresses to choose from hanging  in her closet. After much debate, she finally selected one that we’d purchased at a thrift store for $5!      

3. The Tuxedo Dilemma

I don’t know about where you live, but in our neck of the woods, we discovered that  tuxes rent from $109 to $179, plus insurance, tax and a deposit! I thought that was a pretty hefty expense.      

Luckily, we stumbled upon a sale at JC Penney’s and realized that we could buy a tux for both the boys for not too much more than it would cost to rent one tux. Since our boys are likely to go to at least one other prom before finishing school, we decided  $226, which included almost $40 for alterations was a great deal.

If your prom is semi-formal, you could also consider wearing a nice suit which your son may already own.

Though we also purchased classic black vests to go under the boys’ tuxes, they really wanted to add a bit of color. Since their color selections may vary by event, we found it was more cost effective to rent the vest, tie and shirt which we found at the Men’s Warehouse for only $20 each (plus tax and insurance).   

4.   Cancel the Appointment with the Stylist

Who doesn’t love to be pampered? My daughter, that’s who! She loathes visiting a salon. Just as well, in this case it was much cheaper to pluck, tease, curl and play make-up artist at home! Of course I do have a cosmetology background but it’s not too difficult to find a style online with a YouTube video or accompanying step-by-step directions that will allow you to recreate the same look you’d get from a salon.

My daughter found a picture of an updo that she liked and for the cost of bobby pins, tiny clear rubber bands and some extra hold hair spray we were able to create a style that she loved.  You can spend a weekend before prom playing around with several different styles so you’ll be comfortable when the big day arrives.

5. Don’t go Crazy with the Accessories  

When it comes to accessorizing, use what you have on hand. My oldest son wanted  to wear a hat but didn’t like the styles he saw in the store; instead he decided to wear one he already owned.  I did buy some matching ribbon to swap out the band on his hat but he thought it was too sparkly and opted not to make the change.  

We did buy the boys each the silk hankies that they shoved in their pockets, which we bought on sale.

We shopped at Claire’s for my daughter’s accessories and found they had a pretty decent selection of gloves, hair clips, fake nails and jewelry at affordable prices. Though she probably could have worn one of my necklaces, I thought it would be fun to make her a custom piece. Not only was it very affordable (save those coupons for Hobby Lobby, Jo Ann Fabric’s and Michaels), it was also a great project for us to work on together.

6.   Free Footwear

My daughter swore that she was going to wear her Converse knee highs with her prom dress which sparked my son’s determination to wear his combat boots. I love to see them express themselves so I agreed. It turned out that we only had to buy one pair of shoes and fortunately, we found a set of tuxedo shoes and socks for 50% off. Not too bad.

7. Forget the Flowers

Okay, I’m not serious when I say forget the flowers- I love flowers and though I’d planned to make a simple boutonniere and a wrist corsage, I’m ashamed to say I forgot the flowers!   

8. Pre-Prom Meal

When it comes to selecting a restaurant for the pre-prom dinner, remember to keep in mind that though it’s nice to go somewhere that you wouldn’t normally go, you don’t want to go somewhere that you’re going to be uncomfortable or feel out of place.  Determine how much you want to spend, find something that fits your budget and then don’t forget to call ahead for advance reservations.

9. Transportation

Since our kids were heading to prom with friends, they rode  together in a 15 passenger van. Doesn’t sound very luxurious, but it fit a lot of kids and was more economical than a limo. I didn’t hear any complaints.

Of course you could drive them in the family car and that would be free. 

10. Pictures

Who doesn’t want professional pictures of their kids on their special night? Though we did purchase one package of photos, I’ve discovered over the years that it’s just as easy to take my own pictures and print them in various sizes at Walgreens or CVS. I’ll have a great picture of the three of them together for $20 and individual pictures of them for much less- in just the right size. 

There you have it, Ten Ways to Save Money on Prom Expenses! What are some of the ways you’ve found to save money while ensuring that your kids still look and feel like a million bucks?

This post is linked to: