In effort to lead a more natural lifestyle, I am having to cut costs in certain places in order to spend more in others. I have cut what I can out of our cleaning budget and now am moving forward to the grocery budget. I would like to sit here and say that we will be eating only fresh and organic foods, but that just won't happen in our house. With 5 kids and two adults... We eat A LOT. And with two adults working full-time outside of the house, we just don't have the time to manage going to the store everyday or even every two days to get fresh ingredients. So, we are doing the best we can and trying to eliminate as much processed food as we can and still be budget friendly.
I know gardening is a rewarding and cost-effective way to get produce... and living in rural Iowa this should be cake for me, but it's not. I swear I have the shadiest lawn known to man. My husband and I tried to do a garden a couple years ago. We went out and spent quite a bit on renting a tiller, getting good soil (love me some Miracle Grow!), and getting plants. Well, we didn't kill the plants. In fact, they were HUGE. But they didn't produce anything because they didn't get enough sun. Our tomato plants were easily 5 feet tall, but only had itty-bitty green tomatoes that never ripened. Our pepper plants were the same way. The broccoli and cauliflower didn't even show signs of becoming a vegetable and so the list went on and on. Even the herbs I had planted were bland. I went down to our local extension office and talked to the agronomist there. He basically told me that my plants had all the nutrients they needed, just not enough sun.
I have always grown plants. While I would say gardening is a great love of mine, I truly do enjoy having fresh vegetables that I know exactly where they have come from and what chemicals are and are not on them. It was such a disappointment to not be able to have our own garden. Now, since we are on a house hunt for something to better fit our family, a yard where we could have a garden is something we look for everywhere we go.
In the meantime... while our family is in a state of flux, I am couponing for our needs. I am not going to start stockpiling until after we commit and make the move, but that is on my agenda for the future. I will be the crazy mom that has enough toilet paper to last through the apocalypse. I will have enough toothpaste that I will not have to question whether or not it is something we need that shopping trip. I will do all this because I have set my mind to do this. My husband, believe it or not, is completely on board and willing to coupon for me if I send him up with a list and the coupons. My kids think it is fun for the most part, and since we do a majority of our grocery shopping out of town they don't get quite as embarrassed. (Although with the oldest being only 10, I know that that will change here very soon.)
I sat down last night and started my coupon binder. I spent a few hours clipping coupons and sorting them, only to quickly realize that I need more plastic pocket things. (I guess that is a good thing, right?) I plan on picking up more of those in the next couple days so I can get ready for this weekend's papers. I am feeling very lucky about my insert situation. I will be able to get inserts from work, from my in-laws, my parents, our own papers plus whatever I find online. I have found the Krazy Coupon Lady's site to be extremely helpful and I am seriously considering buying her book.
I am nervous about starting the couponing process. I am hoping that I can figure it all out as I go along and that it becomes a "How did I not do this years ago?" situation. Right now, I feel like it is a "What the heck did I get myself into?" situation. I will do this and I will prevail. I know it will become easier as I actually get into it, but my goal is to be an extreme couponer that gets things for free or extremely cheap.
I have found other ways of saving money on items we need that aren't as daunting. On Facebook, swaps and co-ops have saved my life! Okay, not literally, but they have saved our budget. I have been able to get things used off of swap and saved tons of money! My 10 year old saved up his allowance for a DS. He had enough to buy one new, but I found one on swap with 13 games for $120. The family ended up selling it to him for $100 with all the games. At that point in time, the system was going for around $140 new. He saved a bit of money plus got a ton of games to start out with. He was over the moon. He now buys things he wants off of swap only. I can't tell you how happy that makes me as a mom. He has learned that if he is patient, he will find a deal.
Another example of a great deal I have found using the swaps is my Cricut. Most women love their Cricuts, I have yet to take mine out of the box. But I found this amazing deal on swap and I just couldn't pass it up! I bought a Cricut with 2 cartridges for $50. New the version of the Cricut I have retails for around $160, and it was a Black Friday special for $100. I don't feel bad about not using it because I know it works and I didn't drop a ton of money on it. When I finally have a moment to sit down and do my scrapbooking, I will be so happy to have it but until then it is patiently waiting for me in my craft area.
My co-op deals are just about as good, but instead of buying used products these are brand new. They take a little longer to get to me, but they make it so worth it. I got started in co-ops when I started cloth diapering. It is a fast and easy way to get diapers for cheap. I got hooked and it makes my husband cringe a bit... I love BabyLegs. (Leggings for babies. You put them with a onesie and pants aren't necessary) I wanted to get them for use around our house since our kids seem to crawl out of their pants all the time. Well, at $8-12 a pair or even $5 on Amazon, I just couldn't justify it. My co-op just ran an order where I got them for $2.75 a pair plus shipping. I can handle that.
The savings off of co-ops has made such a difference in our house. I will warn you that you have to be very careful because not all co-ops on Facebook are legitimate. I only use ones that take Paypal for payments. I feel it protects both parties the best. There are other co-ops that use WePay, and I am just not familiar with that company and not comfortable with giving them my financial information. This is not to say that a co-op that uses WePay is bad, but I have stumbled across a few co-ops that had admins that were less than honest. It just isn't worth the risk for me no matter what the savings are....
I encourage people to do a few of the following anytime they buy anything online, new or used....
1. ALWAYS comparison shop before you buy. Don't just assume that someone is being honest about the price or giving a good deal.
2. When you are buying something used, price is negotiable. If you don't feel like haggling, then don't but understand that the seller usually expects people to haggle with them on the price. So as a seller, I price things a bit higher to get what I truly want for the item.
3. If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. Someone selling an iPad for $100, what's wrong with it? Why are they willing to part with it for so little? Just be a cautious buyer and make sure electronics work before buying them.
4. Take batteries and a screwdriver with you for swap pick-ups. That way you can test if it really just needs new batteries or if it doesn't work at all.
5. Always meet in public places. Just basic internet safety.
6. Watch out for stolen items on the swaps. I find that people that are constantly putting up the same kind of items are often putting up stolen items. We have some computer guys that put up machines all the time, this is not what I mean... I am talking about Joe Schmoe that is always selling game consoles and computers and TVs saying things like "didn't like it, got something new" or "never use it." Just ask yourself, how often do I run out and buy something like a TV and then decide I don't like and sell it for half price? If you wouldn't do that, why would someone else?
7. If you aren't comfortable with the transaction, DON'T complete it. Just tell the seller that you changed your mind and move on. They may be a little upset, but they will get over it.
Just remember, it is your job to protect yourself. You can't trust everyone, but not everyone is going to be dishonest!
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