Confessions of a Wanna Be Frugal Mom
Guest Post By: Midge
One of my friends, a former restaurant owner, once told me it was not the dollar amount coming in the front door the owner needs to be concerned about. She shared it is the dollar amount going out of the back door. Now, I know what she meant in regards to running a restaurant. But as gave it some more thought, I began to think that it might also be applicable to buying groceries on a frugal budget.
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While I struggle with using and maintaining an active coupon file, I have also developed a sort of grocery shopping “style”. I will share a bit more about my “piece it together, look for the best deal, shop the sales” style of grocery buying in an upcoming Molly Magazine article so I won’t get too detailed in this blog post. But, I have been able to get my grocery budget down to an affordable level as long as I am really careful about what goes into my shopping cart.
But, I must confess something. YUP, “Stop the presses”. Whereas I have many other small issues when it comes to stretching my shopping limits (like: putting a diet soda in the cart at the check out line or thinking I could perhaps get more than one meal out of a skinny tough duck), I discovered that I have one major flaw to my kitchen habits.
My confession: I am a food waster.
UGH, okay, I said it. Do you still want to keep on reading? :) This past weekend I went through my refrigerator to rearrange and check dates on some items. I found myself throwing away food – good food that had gone bad from our family not using it in a timely manner. It is hard thing to throw away food.
And thus, I am brought back to my friend’s comment on restaurants. Let me restate it for those of us who are trying to live within a budget and eat great healthy meals too.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you save when shopping if you end up not using everything you bought.”
Lesson learned. I need to take a few notes from Molly and plan all of my meals ahead of time! For now, I am also going to be working on buying those items I will actually be able to use before their expiration date.
Do you agree with this phrase? What areas do you struggle with the most when it comes to maintaining your budget? Am I the only gal who just can’t seem to make this current coupon craze work for my family?
The first Molly Green magazine I ever had the privilege of writing in was the COUPON ISSUE! It is a great issue for those who are seeking to save more money at the register. (And you can read all about my first dreadful attempt at using coupons!)
I most certainly agree with this!! I too find myself throwing things out that I had every intention of using. It is very sad… I do struggle with getting our budget where I want it to be. Couponing? I tried this new craze for a while and became obsessed. I wish I was in an area that doubled coupons and it might work better for me. My problem was I bought things I didn’t need because I could get a deal on them… sigh..
Midge says ~ That has also been my issue. I buy more random things when I have coupons than when I don’t… I am so glad you wrote in! I know I am not alone in my frugal struggles!
Well I live in Central America, and I can only wish we had coupons down here
As to throwing away unused food … yes that happens also, I think I’m getting better at not doing it, but I guess it always happens, and I usually feel extra guilty because I grew in a household where the saying was that throwing away food is sin, and believe me, that has stuck so it really hurts every time. As to the saying, my grandma used to say that fortunes always went out the kitchen (back) door. 
Midge says ~ I am really glad that you wrote in! It must be tough not to have access to any coupons. How have you saved money on food for your family? I too feel guilty about throwing away food… it comes back to knowing that there are some families that do not have enough food. I wish that there was a way to streamline my food purchases and give to those in need with the savings… still working on this principle. Thanks also for sharing your grandma’s saying!