As I try to feed my family of six for as little as possible, there’s not a lot of room in the budget for “extras”. By the time we get our protein and fresh produce, most of the rest of my budget goes toward what’s on sale with coupons that I can add to my stockpile. When people ask about getting the most bang for their buck with grocery shopping, this is the approach I recommend. Some might look at this as depriving ourselves of things we like…I prefer to think of it as being responsible with the money I have to get as much for it as I can!
That’s why I love it when every once in a while I can find deals on our favorite treats. We definitely enjoyed a variety of ice cream flavors when we can snag them on sale. Other items I stock up on when they’re cheap include fruit snacks, “store-bought” cookies, and fruit cups, and other special treats. If they’re on sale and I have coupons, I’ll buy extras and save them for packed lunches and road trips! If there’s something specific I’m looking for, I can use the handy deal search tool, or I can hunt for a coupon in our awesome Coupon Database!
That’s not to say that we never pay full-price for treats…we certainly do from time to time. But it’s been an adjustment to our shopping mindset that we can’t have everything we want whenever we want and still stick to our budget. That’s why, for example, buying 6 bottles of Snapple at the regular price of $5.99 isn’t feasible on a regular basis for me…but when they were $2.99 after sale and coupons a while back, I happily treated ourselves to some to enjoy!
I also think that, at least for my family, it helps us appreciate something special when we do have it. We don’t eat out a ton (because it costs a bundle even to do fast food with the six of us), but we don’t take it for granted when we go out for a nice meal. And I certainly appreciate a little self-restraint when it comes time to pay the Discover bill at the end of the month, and I see that we’ve stayed within our budget.
What about you? Are there things that you’d love to buy more often, but that you watch for deals and coupons? What’s your favorite “treat” food or beverage that you love to buy when you can?