When I moved last year, I not only left my home, I left my job as well. And while it wasn’t a position where I was an up-and-comer going places, it paid good. Really good. Add that to my husband’s salary, we made pretty decent money. I’m not bragging about it. I tell you this to bring you to the point I’m hopefully going to make. For years I haven’t had to worry about how much the groceries cost, within reason of course. If I wanted to buy a new pair of shoes, I bought them. A new outfit (or several)? No problem. I hit the clearance racks because I always wanted to see how much I could get for a little but it was a game to me. Now it’s a necessity.
Life on a single income. I haven’t done it in so long that I’d forgotten what a struggle it can be. And how does it work? Read on. No, this is not a shopper’s blog to teach you how to keep your finances in order or how to get $600 worth of groceries for a mere ten cents. It is my comeuppance. My sojourn into the real world where most people struggle with the high cost of just barely living.
I begin at our first step. We have learned to love blue and white. Not clothes or shoes. Food packages. In other words, we buy generic. If it has the same ingredients as the name brand, we buy it. Even if it only saves us a quarter. It’s been hit or miss but we’ve discovered in the last year which no names work and which don’t. Most are extremely comparable but you have the ones that obviously aren’t do-overs. Store brand deodorant? Only if you live alone, work alone and never come into contact with another human being in the course of your day. Feminine protection? May as well use newspaper. The only plus to those babies is that there are no instructions on the wrappers saying which way is up. Yes, I’m serious (not even gonna ask who came up with that idea). Ketchup, mustard and most other condiments? No brainer. They are about the same. And toilet paper? Sorry, Charmin, but GV Ultra Strong is exactly the same and costs half as much.
Step two? You’ve guessed it, coupons! Where internet surfing was once an enjoyable thing, it’s now a desperate mission to find $1 offs. It is a personal victory to find something bigger. A challenge of utmost proportions. We have arguments, my daughter and I, about who gets to look at the Sunday paper first, who gets the prime coupons. Not that it matters since we live in the same place and shop for groceries together. It’s the thrill of the hunt. Store ads are another thing we compare religiously. If Store A is within two miles of Sam Walton’s world and has fruit on sale, we go there.
I have to admit that some coupon websites are confusing to me. To get a coupon for this product, you have to go to a site to sign up for that one, then go to still another site. After donating a pint of blood, selling fifty lottery tickets for two great causes and dancing the hula, you get to…sigh…another site? Forget it. By the time I’ve finished jumping through their hoops, I’ve forgotten what product the coupon was for anyway.
And I absolutely refuse to go on the website belonging to a certain coupon lady just on principle. Her commercials make me want to bury my face in a pillow and scream until my head explodes. Just something about her obsessive perkiness irritates the crap out of me. I would mention her clothes (which, by the way, went out of style in the ‘70’s) but that would be catty and totally beneath me. In all fairness, I’ll admit she has done a great thing for shoppers everywhere. She’s just not for me.
Step three? We have discovered that juice tastes better in big, gallon jugs as opposed to the cute little boxes. At least that’s what we tell the little guy. Do you realize how much those things with pictures of your favorite Disney characters on them cost? I do. At least I do now. Yogurt? Did you know they sell it in big tubs that are easily divided into small, snack-size portions? Who knew? And leftovers make a great day-after lunch at work! This is especially good since the only place for takeout around my office is the golden arches. Artery clogging, butt exploding fast food. Definitely not my idea of a decent lunch. Did you know that prepared foods are full of fat and chemicals? Yeah, I knew it too but they are so easy. But now I realize that not only are the majority of them unhealthy, they can be recreated for half the price in most cases. I read ingredient in the store, buy them and create those tasty delights all by myself at a fraction of the cost (damn, I should write a cookbook)!
We’ve had to make some sacrifices. Frequent dinners out? A thing of the past but this ritual has been replaced by our monthly church dinners. Prepared by women who really (and I do mean really) know how to cook. Pizza delivery? Not when you can get it for less than half the price from your local grocer. Haven’t you seen the commercials? “It’s not delivery, it’s….” Otherwise non-events in our already full-to-the-brim lives. There are more meaningful ways to find enrichment and still pay the rent.
So this is the Kellye family secret to survival of the fittest. If you are in a similar situation, I hope this makes you feel better knowing there are others going through it. If you are financially blessed, I hope it makes you realize how fortunate you are. If my blog makes you want to send me money, that’s cool. Ok, not really.
Life on a single income. I haven’t done it in so long that I’d forgotten what a struggle it can be. And how does it work? Read on. No, this is not a shopper’s blog to teach you how to keep your finances in order or how to get $600 worth of groceries for a mere ten cents. It is my comeuppance. My sojourn into the real world where most people struggle with the high cost of just barely living.
I begin at our first step. We have learned to love blue and white. Not clothes or shoes. Food packages. In other words, we buy generic. If it has the same ingredients as the name brand, we buy it. Even if it only saves us a quarter. It’s been hit or miss but we’ve discovered in the last year which no names work and which don’t. Most are extremely comparable but you have the ones that obviously aren’t do-overs. Store brand deodorant? Only if you live alone, work alone and never come into contact with another human being in the course of your day. Feminine protection? May as well use newspaper. The only plus to those babies is that there are no instructions on the wrappers saying which way is up. Yes, I’m serious (not even gonna ask who came up with that idea). Ketchup, mustard and most other condiments? No brainer. They are about the same. And toilet paper? Sorry, Charmin, but GV Ultra Strong is exactly the same and costs half as much.
Step two? You’ve guessed it, coupons! Where internet surfing was once an enjoyable thing, it’s now a desperate mission to find $1 offs. It is a personal victory to find something bigger. A challenge of utmost proportions. We have arguments, my daughter and I, about who gets to look at the Sunday paper first, who gets the prime coupons. Not that it matters since we live in the same place and shop for groceries together. It’s the thrill of the hunt. Store ads are another thing we compare religiously. If Store A is within two miles of Sam Walton’s world and has fruit on sale, we go there.
I have to admit that some coupon websites are confusing to me. To get a coupon for this product, you have to go to a site to sign up for that one, then go to still another site. After donating a pint of blood, selling fifty lottery tickets for two great causes and dancing the hula, you get to…sigh…another site? Forget it. By the time I’ve finished jumping through their hoops, I’ve forgotten what product the coupon was for anyway.
And I absolutely refuse to go on the website belonging to a certain coupon lady just on principle. Her commercials make me want to bury my face in a pillow and scream until my head explodes. Just something about her obsessive perkiness irritates the crap out of me. I would mention her clothes (which, by the way, went out of style in the ‘70’s) but that would be catty and totally beneath me. In all fairness, I’ll admit she has done a great thing for shoppers everywhere. She’s just not for me.
Step three? We have discovered that juice tastes better in big, gallon jugs as opposed to the cute little boxes. At least that’s what we tell the little guy. Do you realize how much those things with pictures of your favorite Disney characters on them cost? I do. At least I do now. Yogurt? Did you know they sell it in big tubs that are easily divided into small, snack-size portions? Who knew? And leftovers make a great day-after lunch at work! This is especially good since the only place for takeout around my office is the golden arches. Artery clogging, butt exploding fast food. Definitely not my idea of a decent lunch. Did you know that prepared foods are full of fat and chemicals? Yeah, I knew it too but they are so easy. But now I realize that not only are the majority of them unhealthy, they can be recreated for half the price in most cases. I read ingredient in the store, buy them and create those tasty delights all by myself at a fraction of the cost (damn, I should write a cookbook)!
We’ve had to make some sacrifices. Frequent dinners out? A thing of the past but this ritual has been replaced by our monthly church dinners. Prepared by women who really (and I do mean really) know how to cook. Pizza delivery? Not when you can get it for less than half the price from your local grocer. Haven’t you seen the commercials? “It’s not delivery, it’s….” Otherwise non-events in our already full-to-the-brim lives. There are more meaningful ways to find enrichment and still pay the rent.
So this is the Kellye family secret to survival of the fittest. If you are in a similar situation, I hope this makes you feel better knowing there are others going through it. If you are financially blessed, I hope it makes you realize how fortunate you are. If my blog makes you want to send me money, that’s cool. Ok, not really.
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