Are you overwhelmed? Life is coming at a fast pace and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the coupons, all the sales and all the online deals but you still need to save money!Yesterday I spent some time talking with a group of ladies who have incredibly busy lives and what I came away with was their desire to save money but also to simplify the process. I thought it would be a great time for me to share with all of you, some of the same tips I shared with them yesterday.
Here are 7 ways you can Simplify & Still Save Money
1. Shop One Store
You can save a lot of money by shopping at multiple stores and picking up the cheapest items at each store, but when time is of the necessity it can be best to pick just one store per week to shop. You can rotate stores if you have several good grocery stores and pick the store with the best sales, or you may want to alternate Drug Stores and avoid hitting every store each week.
2. Use Price Matching on Produce
Walmart has a great price match policy that allows you to price match the best meat and produce prices from all your local stores. You can shop one store and get all the best deals from around the area including prices at stores like Aldi’s on Produce. Price matching the best deals all in the same place will save you both time and money!
3. Skip the Coupons
You can save a lot of money by using coupons, but in a rush it can often be time consuming and overwhelming. If you are short on time try leaving your coupons at home and hunting down in store deals like Target Gift Cards and CVS Extra Care Bucks. These offers often provide bigger savings than coupons so while you might pay a little more than if you were to use coupons in conjunction with these offers, you’ll still get BIG savings with little time investment.
4. Switch to Store Brands
When I am in a hurry I will often look at the items I need to find the lowest price on that item, sometimes that’s a sale item for a brand I don’t typically buy and other times it’s a Store Brand Item. I know that with coupons you can often get National Brand Items for less than store brand items, but when I’m in a hurry I opt for the items with the lowest price even if that means switching to a store brand.
5. Shop a Discount Retailer
If you live in an area with a Bread Wholesale store or a store like Aldi’s that offers food at discount prices then that might be a good alternative during times where life is crazy. I love that I can get great prices on everything from Milk to Produce and Bread at Aldi’s, so when I’m in a hurry and I don’t have much time to coupon I tend to just head to Aldis. They don’t take coupons, so there isn’t any “Coupon Guilt” And I’m always shocked at how low my bill is because of the great prices.
Note: Aldi’s has a few quirky things like putting a quarter in your shopping cart and no-bags at checkout, but in general as long as you are prepared for these things it’s really not much of a hassle and the low prices make up for the inconvenience
6. Eat from the Pantry
One of the best ways to avoid spending money is to avoid going shopping :) You can save a lot of money by eating from your pantry and having a “Challenge Week” Where you get creative with your meals and eat things you might not normally eat together (Think Spaghetti & Oranges) – This can also be a great way to get kids involved in coming up with creative meals. Take a week off from shopping and just challenge yourself to eat from your pantry, fridge and freezer! You’ll probably be surprised at how much food you have in your home and how much you save by staying out of the store :)
7. Buy in Bulk
One of the things I do is buy items we use frequently in bulk. We use our Sam’s Club Membership to buy items like Chicken, Beef, Cheese, Eggs, Milk, Frozen Vegetables and more in bulk. These items can most of the time be frozen so that they have a longer shelf life and I always make sure I compare the unit price to grocery stores to make sure I’m getting the best deal.
Between shopping at Aldi’s, Price Matching at Walmart and Buying in Bulk at Sam’s I can normally rotate my weeks to shop one store per week and get everything I need without spending a lot of time or money! During busy seasons in our life (End of the year, Holidays, New Babies) These methods have really saved my sanity. The thing I love about couponing is that I can stockpile when I have the time, then I can take a break for a few months when life gets busy and we have most of what we need, so I’m only really buying the necessities each week.
What are your Favorite Ways to Save Money without spending a lot of Time??? Leave a comment and let us know!
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