Grocery

This is going to sound really really silly, but: Holy cow groceries are expensive!

I know, it sounds weird considering I've lived on my own and have been buying the groceries for a little over a year now. But that was then, when we could actually afford to buy pretty much whatever we needed/wanted. Just throw it in the cart, we have enough to cover this.

But now that I need to squeeze as much as I can out of ever dollar that I don't really have, wow food is expensive.

In part of teaching myself to be frugal, I've started clipping coupons. My favorite source is Coupon Bug. I also try to stock up on dry goods and some grocery items from Wal-Mart (I know, it's evil and destroys communities. I'll get back to that mindset when I actually have money to be picky. For now, its cheap cheap cheap).

My crowning victory as of late? Managing to get $47 worth of groceries for under $25. How? Coupons, sales, buying sale items with a coupon, AND double coupon day at the local grocery chain. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my coupon items was also buy one get one free.

I'm getting better at this.

Dollar Store Goods

Okay, first official post on Kittymoose's Money.

I'm realizing that a lot of what I buy is name brand (though some for good reason). I'm trying to cut back on how much we need to spend. So I just though I'd highlight my savings and resourcefulness here, as a beginning post.

I've been meaning to get Rorschach (my cat) a litter mat. You know, one of those mats that go under the kitty box so they can wipe their paws on and not get litter into my bathmat? I've been shopping around for a good, attractive mat. The lowest I'd seen in my area for a good one was about $16. Which is just too much for something frivolous right now. So, I went to my local Dollar Tree, to browse around for things on the cheap. I ended up finding a rag/rug in some pretty colors and grays, and I threw in a roll of rubber shelf liner. I made my own litter mat for around $2. Not only that, but the shelf liner can be cut up to use as jar openers (good grip).

Here's what I mean:



I also managed to get plain soymilk for cooking for $1, when at the grocery store it would be about $3.

I picked up a couple other things, like a wide spatula for pancakes, and my dinner (ready to eat canned tuna salad with crackers), as well as name brand (Garnier Fructis) conditioner for Boyfriend. I have no idea what the tuna+crackers would cost in a store, so I don't know my savings there. The spatula would be around $4, and the conditioner around $5. All in all I saved a little over $22. I'm so fortunate to have a GOOD dollar store near me, that has name brand products peppered in (a while back I got Maybelline lipstick - $1)

I just need to check out the Dollar General now, and see what they've got, though my understanding is that it isn't strictly $1 (or less) per item, as is the case with Dollar Tree.