The Art of Using Coupons

 

So, in trying to pay off the adoption, we have done our best to cut our budget down to nothing. One of the major ways we've cut back is through our grocery budget. We were spending about $150 a week, and that was being pretty careful about only buying what we needed each week. The picture above is what I bought a week or so ago, and we spent a little under $80 for all of it. To top it off, there is a big 8 pack of paper towels and milk that isn't even pictured. This week I spent $65 out of pocket.

If you want more information, the blog that I read on a weekly basis to learn how to do this is called Cincinnati Cents. The button is over on my sidebar...you can click it and it will take you directly to the blog.

And for anyone who wonders, no, we don't eat all processed garbage. And no, what you see is not all we eat in a week. It begins with stockpiling things, so we have a pretty good pantry selection and freezer stocked. What you see in the picture are some of the consumables we needed (fruit, bread, lunchmeat, eggs) and the things that were on sale or nearly free with coupons. My kids do eat some mac and cheese, some pillsbury cinnamon rolls, etc, as many kids do. But for the most part, we eat fairly healthy. We've slowed down our organic buying to the most important things right now while the budget is tight, but otherwise, we're still eating about the same as we were before.