Going...Grocery Shopping

I sure hope that Ellie grows up to love grocery shopping as much as I do. Until this week, she would patiently sit in her car seat in the cart while I zoomed through the aisles, hoping she wouldn't start to cry in boredom. This week, I figured I would try out the shopping cart cover we got for a baby shower. Now that Ellie can sit on her own, I thought that she would have fun looking out rather than just staring at the ceiling of Meijer. I was glad that she liked it-- she helped hold my coupons while fellow shoppers said hello!

Preparing for my shopping trip is a big event. That is why I only go about 2-3 times a month. It takes me about two hours to cut all of my coupons, look through the adds, and plan my list. I owe it to Catherine (and my mom!) who taught me all about saving, and now I cringe if I have to buy something that I couldn't get on sale or with a coupon. My time is well spent though, as I continually save about $25-$50 for every $50 I spend. Recently, I have been using a few blogs to help, such as Sarah's Deals where someone has already done half the work for me (thanks to Cat for this link)! My next step is to expand my coupon searching to the internet. There are tons of coupons online, it is just too much of a hassle for me to print them out (especially with a fussy printer like ours)!

I find much joy in a successful shopping trip. I love the feeling of having fresh fruit and veggies in the house and knowing that my time was well spent in saving money! The best part is when I get items for free or for pennies...such as the Pillsbury biscuits this last week. I like the challenge of still trying to buy healthy foods and not just processed foods (even though the processed foods are the cheapest)! I hope Ellie continues to enjoy shopping with me...now we just need to work on getting her Daddy wanting to join us!