Regal Savings

I've recently reorganized my coupon system. I had tried just keeping the inserts and clipping them as I used them. I stopped when I noticed I wasn't really saving as much as I used to when I used the envelope system. I bought new envelopes, new organizers, and little  tab things so I could mega-organize into even more categories. This saves me time because after I make my shopping list I can grab what I want quickly without wading through too big a stack to get the coupons I need. Now I spend less time and save more.

My first big shopping trip after the reorganization was amazing. I was out of a lot of items around the house and there was a big sale at a local grocery store. I saved an even hundred dollars off the regular price, almost half my bill. Of this total saved, $71.85 was the sale price discount and a whopping $28.15 was my coupon savings. I paid $114.82 for a trunk load of food and household items and had to place some of my order on the backseat of the car when I ran out of room. To top it off this grocery store also has a fuel program and many of the items had extra fuel savings as well so I earned enough points to be able to bring two vehicles to the gas station and fill them up for thirty seven cents. No, not thirty seven cents per gallon, thirty seven cents period! My gas was free I just paid a small amount for tax.

It wasn't enough to earn me a spot on Extreme Couponing, not that I would want to, but the cashier clapped her hands when she saw the savings and the couple behind me in line gave me an appreciative "Wow!" It was a nice change from grumbling and eye rolling. We can thank the economy for that. I'm still Rodney Dangerfield with the younger set though. When I told the kids they just said, "That's great mom."  in a monotone and kept their gaze on the computer or the cell phone. I get no respect. :)

Double Rainbows, Grandpa Pizza, and Dancing With the Hired Help

It's been a rough week. I feel worn out and beaten down. I caught a horrible cold, missed some work, and spent three days in bed. My lungs still hurt and I'm still exhausted, but I'm heading back to work in the morning.

Bear with me, I'm still groggy so I'm having a bit of a ramble today. We all went to the store a few weeks ago. My daughter needed clothing for her new job. It was late in the afternoon and we were lucky enough to get rain. My daughter ran in with the baby and I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to point out the rainbow for him. My husband and I lingered in the parking lot a bit longer to gaze at the rainbow. It seems I saw them more frequently in my childhood. Perhaps that's due to an ever present drought. The rainbow was strong and complete, and became a double rainbow before we went inside. Beautiful.

Grandbaby loves pizza. He doesn't, at his young age, look down on his grandpa for working such a lowly job. One evening my husband called me after work to ask if I needed anything. Grandbaby was sitting on my lap and when he heard Grandpa's voice he smiled and pointed at the phone and said "Pizza." When my husband arrives home at night Grandbaby and dog run to the door to bark together. When I open the door and he sees the car he yells "Pizza pizza!" He also wears the uniform hat any chance he gets. Whenever we introduce a new food to the baby I suggested that we cut it in a triangle shape and call it pizza.

I know I've discussed work before but I've never wanted to get so specific that someone figures out who I am and where I work so I can be fired, but sometimes corporate ideas are so stupid that you have to vent. I take my job seriously. I do the best I can possibly do. I consider myself quick, efficient, and kind, and I have never had any problems or complaints. I work in a grocery store and as I myself am a shopper I think I have an idea of what people want. I want to get in, find what I need and get out. I want fresh product on the shelf, plenty of sale items to choose from, and a quick checkout. I do not want entertainment. I don't want to be followed about while I shop. Get in, get out, that's me.

We have someone new in corporate. He has new fresh ideas to take us to the next level in the shopping experience. He thinks we need a heart shaped bulletin board in our break room to share our great ideas about doing good things at work. He thinks we should do videos and photos of employees at work and post them to the company website. He suggested employees use their smart phones for this which really amuses me because a previous communication warned employees that cell phone use on the sales floor both ON and OFF the clock was forbidden.

They also want us to fist bump and high five each other when we pass on the sales floor. The worst idea ever--they want us to drop whatever we are doing when our new store song is played over the intercom several times a day and dance and sing. I was hired for customer service and cashiering. I will not leave my customers waiting in line while I dance. Fire me. This is not a Texas Roadhouse, or a strip joint. It is a grocery store, ask a few shoppers what they actually want, better yet go back to school.

This is in a store that needs some improvement. Dairy products are often found a week or more out of date, equipment breaks down, proper rotation isn't always followed, sale stickers are left on the shelf from the previous week, and I suspect product in some departments is relabeled with a new date so they can sell it past the sell by date. It's not pretty. You could add a few employees so there would be more time and attention spent pulling products and setting up the sales. You could stop freezing the pay raises of your lowest paid employees. You could hire someone just to inspect the store on a daily basis to ensure there are no out of dates. But no, you have the best idea, a little song and dance will fix all that.

One last note, company loyalty and pride is never forced. It is earned after learning how to treat employees fairly and doing the right thing. It is earned after treating your customers well. Song and dance? No thank you, I'll go elsewhere where I will be appreciated, dignity intact.

Inspired

Thanks to Hulu I just realized a second season of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution has already started. I never watch regular television, but if I can catch something on my time on the computer I will watch the occasional show. I was horrified by the first season. Children in a elementary school had no idea what a tomato was. Many could not distinguish corn from broccoli. It was really sad, and amazing too. It opened my eyes to how corporations have changed our nation, how much control we have given over, and how helpless many of us would be in a large disaster or emergency.

I truly feel inspired to make a few changes in my own kitchen. I already do a lot of from scratch cooking. I visit a fruit stand to get a good price on vegetables, although I really can't afford organic meat. I would love to be able to do this but the price is too high at this time.

I recently purchased "Jaime's Food Revolution" cookbook and have been joyfully trying new recipes each evening after work. The chicken leek stroganoff was okay, the spaghetti Bolognese was amazing, and today's burgers were so delicious even the grandbaby who doesn't eat hamburgers normally gobbled one up. I've been having fun.

I bake from a cookbook not a mix, I make my own white sauce for soups instead of relying on a mix or store bought cans of soup. I am usually good about preparing things myself although sometimes there are a lot of work hours, and mixes for things are on sale, and the budget is tight. I will admit I have never mastered gravy, and spaghetti sauce has usually come from a can or bottle then doctored up with seasonings and vegetables. I'm going to make steps to stop this. I enjoy being in my kitchen too much and I owe my family better. I have the skills to do better.

I wandered about after work gathering what I needed for dinner that night and randomly read a few labels for products I had recently purchased out of thrift or laziness. Second ingredient high fructose corn syrup, third ingredient corn syrup, and that was on just one jar of pasta sauce. Added together what are all of these products doing to us? I deserve better as does my family.

After the extreme success of the spaghetti Bolognese sauce I will be making my own pasta sauces instead of just dumping a jar in a pot to heat.

This is one show I can get behind 100 percent. We really need better food education in this nation. We say we are rushed, tired, poor....but we really need to wake up. Thank you Jamie Oliver for inspiring so many of us to do better.

Grocery Store Chatter

The Extreme Couponing chatter will just not die down. Customers in the checkout line will mention it each day, some in amazement of the show and others wishing their coupon skills were better. We now have one or two extreme couponers of our own. I witnessed one the other day making a purchase of 75 Powerades. I didn't see what her final price was because I was on the counter.

I do use coupons myself but not to such extremes. I do not need 150 candy bars at once, nor do I need 80 boxes of pasta, and 50 bottles of ketchup would spoil before we used them. I only buy two newspapers and do not feel the need to climb into a dumpster for more. I do typically save 60 to 70% off the bill with sales and coupons. Last week I purchased a gallon of milk and a large bag of popcorn for 68 cents but that does not happen every week. It was a small purchase as well. It usually is just a random small purchase, not nine carts full of groceries for 50 cents. No TV cameras will follow me about for my shopping.

My dad was the coupon and rebate king. He would visit family and bring laundry detergent, shampoo, cereal, and other household goods as gifts. After his death I was told he did this for extended family and friends as well. My niece said he would show up with a huge box of stuff and say, "Here, I got this for a quarter."

As well as chatter in the store I also get several phone calls a week at the store. People will call and ask what our coupon policy is. Dozens have called asking when we have double coupon days. We have never had double coupons but they insist that it says we do on the Internet. I don't know of any stores close to my area that ever have double coupons.

Like it, hate it, or just plain fascinated by it, I don't see the interest in Extreme Couponing waning any time soon. It is still a big topic of conversation.

And How Was Your Day?

Today was my first Sunday off ever, and since Sunday is my husbands only day off we decided to do something. We kept discussing our day. "We can drive to the beach, or go to a nature trail." or "We can go have dinner and see a movie." We were both very excited to have a day off together. We woke up and while I made breakfast for the dog my husband drove my daughter to work. He then came back home and drove my son to work. When he came home we were still yawning and feeling drained from the past week. It's not that we are lazy or ill or anything, but we sat down and fell instantly asleep and slept til noon. The work schedules and coordinating all the rides to jobs are wearing on us. I know we needed the rest but it ruined our plans. We keep pushing ourselves for these jobs and earning a living just to survive, and we miss out on stopping to enjoy our lives sometimes. I don't mean to moan all the time, this is just my way of shedding more light on what it is like sometimes for the working poor. There are times when the budget is gloomy. There are less choices out there for work due to the economy so we feel stuck right now.

All was not lost, we did have dinner out and and some time for ourselves. We also tackled the unglamorous chore of grocery shopping together. For the record, we spent $61.59, and saved $79.04 ($26.20 of which was coupon savings.) We arrived home with five large reusable grocery store bags filled to overflowing. We will ride out this recession and keep these skills when times are better.

Grocery Shopping With a Penny Pinching Lunatic

I haven't always used coupons. When I was raising three small children and working and attending school I felt I didn't have time to put into it. In fact I made several attempts at saving and failed miserably. I was disorganized with the coupons and never bothered to look at the sales ads. Shopping was a hurried affair racing through the store and tossing items in the cart, sometimes without even remembering what was in the cabinets at home. It would have been to my advantage to save then but at least I have the skill now.

Once I made a commitment to this way of shopping it has become quite easy. Every Sunday I purchase two papers. I read through the paper and then I clip and organize the coupons. Occasionally there are really good coupons for pantry items that I use large quantities of. If there are then I will buy two more papers.

I organize my coupons into envelopes according to my own categories. I've never liked those pre-made coupon organizers. They are too small and there aren't enough categories. My envelopes are leftovers from old card sets and they are lined up in an old five by seven index card file box. The best thing about having your own system is creating your own categories.

When the new grocery ads come out I see what I may purchase if it is a good enough price and if I am running low. Before I shop I make a list and bring only the coupons I will use. I cook pulling what I want from my freezer or pantry. I never pay full price anymore. My family never feels deprived because we have what we want.

I never run out of toilet paper for instance and have to run to the store to buy a four pack for $2.74 because I have several 24 packs in the hall closet that I purchased for four or five dollars.

When people complain about the price of an item it makes me happy to know that when they were buy one get one free the previous week I bought eight of them and used my coupons to get an even lower price. I don't like being at the mercy of the ever fluctuating prices.

One more step is pulling the coupons that have expired once a month. It may sound like a lot of work to many people. It is only a small amount of extra work for me but it is all worth it for the savings in my grocery budget. The savings are huge sometimes. I usually save more than half off the bill. On one recent trip I brought home $130.00 worth of groceries for $30.00.

It may not be for everyone but it sure helps me trim my budget.