Frugality, the Grocery Bill, and the Large Family, Part Four

Recently we talked about grocery bills and couponing and other sites that help me be a better manager of our money. There are places all over the web where the topics of frugality and simple living are thoroughly covered, and they do a much better job than I have.  Still, there are a few more goodies I wanted to share with you before closing out this little series.

First of all, if you are a mom with a little people underfoot, do not beat yourself up if you cannot coupon.  Ask the Lord to show you other ways to trim your grocery budget and He will faithfully provide you with the wisdom you need.  We have a liquidation grocery store in the next town over and if I am nearby I like to pop in for screaming deals on dented cans and almost-expired items.  I also like bakery stores where I can grab loaves of bread and toss them in the freezer in case I just can't get to baking a loaf.  Doing those two things could trim your grocery budget enough that you would probably do just fine not couponing in this season of your life.

Secondly, consider where you live.  Several of you mentioned the high price of everything in New Zealand.  The same goes for Hawaii.  The last time I was there I almost fell over when I saw zucchini in the grocery store for over $7 a pound!  The pineapples and papayas, however, were cheap :)

The internet is an amazing place. I pay about $6 per package of diapers on Amazon's Subscribe and Save program, and that's better than some of the coupon deals I can get locally.  Plus, Amazon delivers them for free.

Learn from other frugal geniuses. One such smarty pants is my friend Caroline, who recently redecorated their new home on a shoestring. It's beautiful!

The classic handbook of frugality, however, is Amy Dacyczyn's series called The Tightwad Gazette.  It will get you looking at your spending habits in a whole new light (a better light, at that!)  Some of what she includes could be considered extreme frugality, but one never knows when extreme frugality might become the difference between surviving and going completely under.

Lastly, if you don't have a good budgeting system, I can't recommend Pear Budget highly enough.  For $3 per month, Pear Budget is a steal.  Easy to use, completely customizable, utterly helpful.