First off I must say that going to the store and shopping for food was never high on my list of husband's duties. Its not that I don't like to eat. The opposite is the case there, but its just that the sticker shock I have experienced in the past has grown into an electrocution. Some of my favorite (can't do without) items are not only more expensive but the packages are shrinking as well. More for less is the new norm. So going on the food buying excursions has made me have to find ways to adapt and save myself from total destruction.
First thing I tried to do was eliminate some of the items that I am known to buy to much of. Mostly meats. Can't help it. I am a meataholic. There I said it. I feel much better now that its out in the open. But meat is one of the most costly items you can buy. Giving up lots of meat is like trying to quit smoking, drinking, and watching sports on TV all at once. Not a happy thought. My wife says it will be good for me but I am not buying it. Anyway next up was dairy products. No 15 gallons of ice cream this week I guess. Bacon? sausage? baby back ribs? All off the old shopping list. Yes we saved a few bucks but at what cost to my happiness and well being? I had given up all hope of ever enjoying meals again when I remembered a long lost method that could just maybe give me back some degree of carniverous bliss.
Actually to be fair my wife brought it up but I did the research and put it into action. Ready? Drum roll please...Coupons!
I remember growing up my mother used to clip coupons out of the paper and magazines. I remember her saying that it cut her food bill down enough that she didn't mind the effort to cut them out and carry them to the store. Could coupons be my salvation now? I quickly sprung into action. Rounding up every newspaper and magazine in sight and sat down to start clipping. My wife, somewhat unnearved by the thought of a desperate man with a crazy look in his eye wielding a sharp object in his hands stepped in and told me she could get the coupons on the internet. She could print them off and even download some of them to our cell phones. At that point the Sun shown so bright and I was filled with so much excitement that I ran out to the car and started racing toward the nearest grocery store. Visions of BLT's and pork chops dancing in my head. Happy days were here again. There was one small hitch. In my rapid frenzied attempt to replenish the meat supply I had forgotten to: one bring any coupons and two pick up my wallet off the table. So there I was in the store cart filled with meat and no way to pay. Stores don't seem to except I.O.U's anymore. Again my wife to the rescue. She brought everything I had forgotten and saved me. The coupon had come back into its rightful place in our household.
We have since used coupons for savings at fast food places, car rentals, furniture stores, and online shopping too. And we have saved. We have saved almost 50% during some of our trips to the store. And I no longer feel the pain of facing the prices I'm confronted with. Coupons really did save my sanity. Now if I could only convince my Dr. to take coupons for his services. Give coupons a try and save.
