$38.70

One night last week after one of the Bible Conference services I was talking with a couple of absolutely adorable ladies about how couponing works for our family.  I told them our budget and what I spend every week and how I did it.  After mulling it over I thought I would share with everyone how this Qing thing works.

My Budget:
$60/week
*That $60 includes our food, soda/pop(or whatever ya'll want to call it), diapers and wipes, tolietries, and cleaning supplies.

Yes I stick to this almost every single week.  On the occasion that Harris Teeter(because they're the only store in my area that does this kind of thing) is having a Triple Coupon or Super Doubles event I will throw the budget out the window so that I can stock up on things at the lowest possible price.  After all, a budget(which is a handy thing to have) is like the speed limit.  It's more of a suggestion that a requirement.  Don't tell our local law enforcement that I said that.  And yes I do stick to the speed limit.  Mostly.  Moving on. 

On a normal week I will only spend about 3-4 hours total clipping, searching, and shopping for the deals for my family.  And I do this with a 2 year old red head asking "What's that?" about every single thing.  I normally only go to 1 grocery store(BiLo doubles all the time) and 1 drug store(CVS is my personal fave because the day time cashier is really nice and easy to work with).  I do check the sales papers that come in the mail just in case something awesome is on sale that I don't want to pass me by.  And I do use a couple different of websites to help me with the sales and Q matchups.  I use Southern Savers and Money Saving Mom.  These are just the 2 that I like.  I also rarely buy meat at full price.  I buy chicken breast(and we don't eat a lot of chicken breast because Chad doesn't really care for it, we'll blame being raised on a poultry farm) only when I can get it for $4 or less a pack.  And I normally buy the rest of the meat we eat once it has been marked down.  I don't have a problem with that because I'm gonna throw it in the freezer as soon as I get home.  But if you don't want to buy marked down meat then just watch the sales for the price that you would consider the best price for your budget.  One last thing, I normally have a "go-to" price for items that I regularly buy.  For example, $2.50 is the most I want to pay for laundry detergent, and $1 is the most I'll pay for any type of cleaner.  Just know what you're willing to pay to determine if something is a good price or not.  Stocking up at the best price is the best way to make sure that you don't run out of something and over pay for it.

Whew.......that was a lot.

• 3 Dt. Mtn Dew 2 Liters(a necessity because I was out)
• Large Beef Roast
• 5 boxes of Chicken Helper
• 2 boxes of Eggo Waffles
• 3 jars Ragu SpaghettiSauce
• 2 Lysol Wipes
• 2 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaners
• 2 Lysol Liquid Cleaners
• 3 Seventh Generation Cleaners(different varieties)
• 3 Sun Laundry Detergents
• 2 Wishbone Dressings
• 1 HT brand Honey(for homemade granola....YUMMY!)
• 3 Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese
• 1 Bounty Towel
• 1 Peter Pan Peanut Butter
• 1 gallon of whole Milk

I paid $38.70 for everything in the picture.  That's down from $98.96.  If I would have paid $98.96 for the above products I probably would have had a mini-stroke in the check out line.  But $38.70 seems reasonable.

You can do this.  It really is worth the time and effort to save a little jingle.