Tuesday at the Nichols home is grocery day.
It is one of my favorite days of the week. Silly I know...
I love that we shop together as a family, I love meal planning, I love watching how much money I have saved, add up at the register.
Speaking of money saving...
Before E was born I was getting pretty good at the whole couponing thing. Stephan and I would sit down and make a grocery list based off only the things on sale and that we had {or could get} coupons for. We did great and stuck to a budget of about $200 a month. We always had a stock pile of cereal, pop-tarts, canned veggies {to use for homemade sauces and such}, and condiments. Once E came along it became harder for me to take a few hours out of my time with him to plan a list solely based off the sale items. Our grocery budget went from $200 a month to $300 a month.
{we grocery shop every two weeks btw, I recommend it!}
Upping the budget was a must especially after Ephraim decided he was over the whole breast feeding thing at 4 months. We had nasty expensive soy formula to buy and Stephan also wanted to start taking his lunch to work.
When couponing we always shopped at Publix. I love their coupon policy, especially at the one I shop because we have a super Target and they accept those coupons.
Lately, I have been going over our grocery budget by about $60 a month {give or take $10}. To most people that wouldn't seem like a lot but when you have a tight budget your try to adhere to, $60 extra per month is a lot.
A few days before we left on our beach trip, we went to Walmart to buy a car dvd player. I HATE Walmart. {Or at least the Trussville Alabama Walmart}. Our Walmart is where all the gangs hang out, and every time I go in there I see moms or dads sitting outside the door smoking right in the face of their infant. {I won't get into how much that pisses me off} I also come across people I cant understand, for the life of me, because they are so redneck or only have 5 teeth. I always leave there feeling like I need a shower.
However.....
While we were there I needed to pick up shampoo, I'd forgotten at Publix. The jumbo bottle of pantine that we use was $4.00 {regular everyday price at Walmart} and I paid $5.00 for the bottle {on sale} at Publix a month ago... I also realized that their cereals and pop-tarts were almost $1.00 a box cheaper. I have never been a huge fan of Walmart's coupon policy but after seeing how much lower their everyday price is, Today, we are taking the plunge and shopping at Walmart.
Yes, I will most likely be scared for my life, want to slap a person for smoking within inches of their child, and I will come straight home and take a shower, but it's all worth it to save us money right?!
