Restraint at Sam's

Since adding a second child to the family, we've been trying harder to actually stick to a budget. One job supporting 3 people can only go so far, so I've been doing my part by paying very close attention to what we spend for groceries and all other household items. I've started to use coupons and shop sales and I'm happy to report that on average, I save about 30-40% each trip to the store.

Part of it is just paying attention to the prices in the store. Surprisingly, I hadn't really done that before, I just bought what we needed when we needed it. If it happened to be on sale, then score for me! I know "extreme couponing" is super hot right now, but I am not one of those..I'm a stay at home mom trying to save some money in the store. I had gotten us a Sam's membership years ago because I just assumed you're getting a good price at the warehouse stores. Buying twelve cans of soup at once has got to be cheaper, right? I've since learned my lesson there…Sam's Club is very deceiving. Some things are cheaper, but I'd say 90% of the things I bought, I was paying way more for than I realized.

Yesterday I packed up the girls and hit Sam's for the first time in months. Even though I know I don't need it, I still can't resist the urge to pile things in my cart. Especially at Holiday time, they have all these spectacular looking gift baskets that seem to be marketed directly at me. Old me would have just willy nilly gone for the pretty, shiny things that caught my eye; new me stuck to my list and my plan. It was hard. That was the first time I have ever shown any kind of restraint in Sam's and as soon as I got out of the store, I had to call Lance to tell him all the things I didn't buy!

What I did buy though were 14 large bottles of spices and a package of frozen chicken breasts. I have found that spices in the grocery store are ridiculously priced and coupons for them are few and far between. Sam's doesn't have all the spices I like to use, but at least I can stock up on the ones they do have, like chili powder. You can get a 20 ouncer for about $6, compared to the grocery store where a 1 ouncer is about $1.

Unfortunately they didn't have the other main thing I headed there for so I will have to make a return trip later this month before my membership expires. I have found that Sam's has got the best gingerbread house making kit. As much as I resist the whole craft-making-crap thing, I have compared gingerbread house kits and in my opinion, Sam's wins. And this year, I know Hannah is going to LOVE making the gingerbread house. She'll probably have more creative control than she has had the past years, so I expect our house will be a little more abstract and probably won't be particularly symmetrical. But I can't wait, because with Hannah, this craft-making-crap thing is fun :)