I happened to catch a few daytime shows mid last year about these stay at homes moms saving TONS of money off their grocery bills. We just moved to Bend in August, and there is NO WINCO FOODS here! I was lost. I HATE spending money on food. Seriously...hate it. I avoided the big shopping trips for a few months. We shopped on a whim, and only as needed. So we were constantly running out of milk, bread, and other staple foods, just because I didn't want to pay full price. My poor pantry looked so lonely, and we actually talked about turning 1/2 of it into an office storage area.

My friend, Thea, told me about thegrocerygame.com. I checked into it, and decided to try out their offer of a $1 trial for 4 weeks. It took me a few weeks to figure it out, but I was quickly walking out of Albertsons and Safeway with 50% + savings. My best trip was getting $106 worth of groceries at Safeway for $8! I used to do a weekly/biweekly trip to Wal-Mart for household items, and wasn't too excited about that either, since our store here is teenie tiny, and always super busy. Since I started the grocery game in October, I think I've been to Wal-Mart 2-3 times (not counting Christmas shopping).

I am also now following a blog that I stole from my cousin's blog, Being Frugal is Fabulous. She does a lot of footwork for you, showing you how to save at multiple stores, and how to get free items. My latest trip from to Rite Aid, I spent $26, and have $21 in rebates coming back to me, thanks to her blog.

I used to avoid coupons completely, but when you learn how to use them with items that are already on sale, you can save so much! We now have over 40 boxes of cereal in our pantry (all of which I paid under $2 each, mostly from $.50 to $1.50, and most are name brand). I now also have a small collection of toothpaste (we use only a certain brand that goes for about $3.50 at Wal-Mart, but I paid anywhere from $.50 to $1.50). As for disposable razors, David only likes certain ones, like the 3 and 4 blade, also name brand, and I am now running out of space to store these (these can run anywhere from $6 to $10 full price, and I haven't paid over $3 a package since I've started coupons). My latest is $2.50 for 3 name brand creamers!

These are just a few examples of the crazy deals I've scored. It does take some time, but since I don't work, I've started to look at this as my part time job to contribute financially. It makes shopping more rewarding, and I don't dread it anymore. I've actually turned it into one on one time with Austin or Ethan. They alternate taking turns going shopping with me if I go on Sundays, and now Kellen gets to go with me while the boys are at school.

If you think this might be something that could work for your family, its so worth the $1 trial for 4 weeks! If it doesn't work for you or your schedule, its super easy to cancel. Also, for each person you refer, you get a free week....so don't forget to say I referred you. ;) You'll need to enter my email address, dtsgirl325@yahoo.com to give me credit.