Snip Snip

So, when I friend of mine made the post that she bought $66 worth of items for $0.94 I sort of sat up and took notice.

I was raised to be a good steward of money. Really more as a bragging point than anything. Oh yea, and so we could go on living our lifestyle.

My Dad once bought a suit at JC Penney's for around $3. I found a pair of puma trainers for $10. Paying full price seems like such a rip off. Every time a sale goes on, John comments, "So THAT's what the real price is."

On to the extreme couponing phase.

I don't have television access except at the gym so I stay relatively 3months to a year behind on trends and whatnot. Turns out there's now a show teaching people how to save money by using coupons. I feel I learned this is Home Economics (of course, being homeschooled cleaning the bathroom was considered home economics...) This sharp change in the economy is teaching people to be a little more careful in their planning. There are a few sacrifices to be made however.

Is this something I think I need to look into?

You must develop a strategic plan.

Turns out you can't really skim the grocery adds for what's cheapest anymore. I could never do that to begin with. I already set aside a portion of my weekend to flip through cookbooks with my roommate (Sarah) and decide on recipes for the week, who will cook what night and the overall health of the foods we are choosing (it's fun to live with scientists.) These decisions are all copied onto this What to Eat pad and checked against the pantry for what we need. The missing items are checked on this All Out of List and off we go with our "Green Bags" to Kroger, Sam's, or (if it's just me) WholeFoods and the Farmer's Market.

I am a terrible person at the grocery store. I hope you never have to see me. Not only do I have terrible control over the MONSTER-SIZED carts (just can't get leverage if you can barely see over) I also read the labels for EVERYTHING, bring my own bags, use coupons, self-checkout, purchase alcohol (while looking like a 12 year old), buy insane amounts of fresh produce, check unit prices on items located in different isles (or even different stores.) Sometimes, I even get on Amazon while in the store to see if it's cheaper to have it mailed to me within two days.

Do I really want to add the crazyness of getting weekly emails, printing, snipping, planning, etc. Just to save a few bucks?

Here's the sad kicker...

All this time I've been thinking about this (thinking includes creating a coupon email account and signing up for a bunch of online coupon sites, reading the ehow, and watching some tip videos on youtube.) I keep coming up with one repeating idea that I can't seem to shake and really reveals my personality.

Why?

What's the overall net gain?

A few extra bucks?

Is all this work worth it?

I already spend a great amount of time recording and analyzing my diet to keep kcal and sodium low while maintaining protein levels separate from animal proteins. (not as hard as people seem to think) Do I really want to add an additional level of crazy?

Then I think, what will I do with the money.

Anything I need I already have. I could probably live comfortably 2-3 months without buying another item (if I ration the food properly.) Things I want I either purchase or talk myself out of. School bills have been part of the planned budget since highschool and therefore are well foreseen. Emergency money is placed well out of reach.

Hmmm,

Here we go.

I'll find a charity/organization/or cause and donate the remainder of my planned grocery budget to them after 1 month of couponing.

Suggestions would be appreciated.