“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Tony Robbins… This is such a great quote, and while it is relevant to every area of life, it’s especially right-on when it comes to your finances. I know so many women who say they just “don’t get” finances, that following a budget is too restrictive, or that they don’t know how to save more. Well ladies, I’ve got some tips to share today that will help you save a ton of money, with very little time or effort. Sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not. Pinky promise.
Building and Following a Family Grocery Budget
We all know the basics of building a budget, right? Go back through the past couple months, and take a look at your bank statements to see how much you spend, and where. Make a list of things you can’t change – like rent or house payments, utility and cell phone bills, and other regular monthly payments like credit cards or loans. Add it all up, and subtract that from your total monthly income. If you’re like us, there’s not a whole lot left after paying those mandatory bills! But that amount leftover still has to buy other important needs like gas, clothing, school expenses, and food. Ah, food…. Grocery bills are one area of life that moms spend a big portion of their budget on, and it’s one of the easiest ones to cut back on without any big sacrifice. So, I want to share some of my easy peasy tips on saving big bucks on your grocery budget – read on!
How to Save Hundreds of Dollars on Your Grocery Bill
First of all, make sure that you’re not buying more than you need, and throwing things out because they go bad. Throwing out expired food is like tossing your money in the trash can! Get tips on how to make your food last longer, and creative ideas for using leftovers, so that you make every food purchase go as far as possible. Make the switch from name brands to store brands – many of them are just as good {sometimes better!} than the big brands. And – you knew this was coming… Learn to use coupons!! I’m definitely NOT an extreme couponer, not at all – but I save an average of 40% off of my bill each week, by using coupons. If you want some basic tips on how to use coupons, check out Couponing 101: How to Get Started with Couponing – without getting extreme. But, I also have the most absolute easy peasy tip evah, that will make finding, printing, and saving with coupons as quick and easy as devouring a whole box of Krispy Kreme donuts. {What, don’t judge!} Introducing…… Penny Pincher Gazette!
PPGazette Makes Couponing Easy!
Instead of spending a ton of time trying to search through the Sunday paper, the ads that come during the week, and all of those million coupon sites, just use PPGazette as a “one stop shop” for all of your coupon needs. You can search by category – like baking, meats, dairy, and more. I used it to check out the newest diaper coupons, as you can see above. {Not technically part of my food budget, but they’re usually only my grocery list!} How cool to be able to see all of the coupons available from ALL of the different coupon sites, all in one place – making it so simple to compare and find the best ones. You can also search by all of the different sites they aggregate – like Coupons.com, Cellfire, P&G Everyday, Smart Source, Red Plum, and more. Or – if you have a few family favorites, use the toolbar to search for those specific items, to see if there are any savings available. And – last but totally not least – I love that you can browse their recipe section, where they pair up great meal ideas with coupons to save on the ingredients. Awesome.
Coupons help you save BIG bucks on your budget!
According to Money.com, “coupon redemption in the United States increased 63% in 2011, and Americans saved $3.7 billion as a result.” They also state that, “an hour of smart couponing is estimated to yield about $100 in savings.” That’s some big money, right? So make sure you are not one of the few mommas missing out on the savings. One of the very biggest objections I hear to using coupons is that people don’t have time, or don’t know where to find them. Well – with Penny Pincher Gazette, you solve both problems! Sounds like a “Smart Mom Solution” to me.
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For more great money-saving tips, read my posts: 10 Ways for Moms to Earn Money from Home, and 10 Simple Ways to Save on Baby Essentials. And if this post was helpful – give it a tweet, a pin, or a StumbleUpon thumbs up!
{Disclosure: This post was sponsored by PPGazette.com and Double Duty Divas. While I was compensated to write this post, all opinions are 100% mine. First photo credit: kenteegardin via photopin cc. Second photo credit: StockMonkeys.com via photopin cc. }
I have never hard of PPGazette going to check it out now! Thanks!