Saving a little money

I love to get a good deal. Actually, I can talk myself into buying something I probably don't need if it is a good deal. Ask my husband. What I don't like is wasting time. For example, I tried couponing, but I just don't have the time or energy to spend scouring through the ads, cutting out the coupons, then trying to make my grocery list around them. Truth be told, most coupons are for boxed goods and personal things, and we are cutting out processed foods from our diets, so most don't apply. And all that effort for a dollar off a razor?

Meh.

So I have never been a big couponer. I do scan through coupons.com before I go shopping to see if there is something I might actually use, but that's about it. What kills me is that there are super great deals at different stores, but I don't want to store hop for hours trying to find them. I like going one place and getting what I need, then taking it home. Grocery shopping itself is a HUGE chore to me, so really, why would I chose to go to 5 different stores. No thanks.

Last week, however, I was blog reading during nap time (as usual), and I somehow came across this site that seems like the best idea ever. Now, I don't shop at Walmart. I just don't really like it. However, I was willing to give it a try with this site. The basic idea is that you go to this site (which has a free 2 week trial offer- it's only $4.99 anyways), pick the stores in your area, then it will bring up a list of all the best deals for that store for the week. You click through the list the deals you want, and it will generate a list for you. Do you see where this is going?

You print off the list, take it to Walmart, and price-match. Now. To make the price matching easier, the blog I was reading suggests using yard sale stickers, but I just had tiny post-its, so I used those. Basically, I made my regular list, then I went to the Deals to Meals site, picked out what I needed off the lists from the other stores, made a notation next to the item that there was a price match for, printed both lists, and headed to Walmart.

Now, I don't know this Walmart super well (read: I really don't shop there much), so it took me longer than my usual trip through. But basically, I just shopped, and as I came across something I wanted to price match, I made a note of the price on a post it, and stuck it to the item, which I kept basically all together in my basket. When it came time to checkout, I put all my non-price matched items on the belt, then let the cashier know I had some things to price match, and put them all together at the end.

After she rang up my normal stuff, I just showed her the system (tag with price on each item), and would tell her which store it is from (per Walmart policy, you don't need the ad, just the store where the deal is) as she scanned in the new price.

Now, since I was at Walmart, I bought all of our household needs for the next 2 weeks. That includes food, various soaps (laundry, dishwasher, body wash), pullups, and all those things that I would usually buy at Walmart/Target/Winco. I am also doing a juice cleanse, so I bought a TON of fruits and veggies. That being said, want to guess the total?

$174.00. We budget $200 for our family of 4, but that $200 is usually just food only. Not all the other 'needs' like the soaps and so on. So that is really good. And lest you be concerned, I did buy all of our regular foods, including snacks like string cheese, and so on for the kids.

The site Deals to Meals does charge a $4.99 fee monthly. But it paid for itself the first trip I made to the store, and I am still in my 2 week trial period. Anyways, I am excited to use this tool. Let me know if you decide to try it, and how it works for you!!