Flyer Frenzy

I feel a little ridiculous sharing frugal ideas many of you may already know about or are already doing, but in the name of those poor fools (like myself) who didn't know better or who did no better, but were either too lazy (ahem) or really, honestly thought those frugual things people did wouldn't  really make a difference, (remember my thinking on pennies?) I  will do my best to share anyway.  The few small things I've already started have saved us hundreds of dollars a month.  Move over  pennies, here come the dollars!  (That's ironic, as pennies are now out of circulation.....well, you know what I mean....watch your nickels then!)

A little background first....before my huge epiphany, pennies were just that,  pennies.  Before we moved to Niagara, we lived in one of the highest income earning cities in Canada.  All the head honchos of the biggest companies in Canada had their headquarters in this particular city outside Toronto.  All those same people therefore lived in their mansions on the lake in this same town.  Sometimes it felt like all the surrounding subdivisions, old or new, operated like they wanted a similar, opulent lifestyle.  The influence of wealth was overwhelmingly strong and you couldn't help but be influenced by it.  The temptation was to have what they had even if you couldn't afford it.  I know this wasn't the case for everyone of course, but it felt that way.  Many people I knew had houses that looked like model homes, entirely decorated top to bottom, landscaped to the nines. 

Again, it felt like I was the only mom home on the street.  I was often surrounded by nannies at the park as it required two high grade incomes to afford this chosen lifestyle.  You can see how being in this kind of environment  starts to rub off on you.  I wanted what they had, without me going to work of course - that's a lot of pressure on an already hard-working husband. 

I share this background to show how frugality was so unusual where I lived before.  Though I was attempting frugality when I lived there, I certainly was on my own and only knew of one or two other homeschool moms who were starting to be more careful with their money as more kids came along.  It was not cool to be frugal and if anything, you appeared cheap, also not cool.

Moving out to a smaller community, just outside of a small town (it takes me 5 minutes to drive to a   grocery store, though we're out in the country) has been just what we needed.  We didn't even realize  how immersed we were in a materialistic culture - statistically one of the wealthiest cities in Canada.  God knew what we needed and he moved us.  I don't think this particular city is that unique.  Wealth and debt are everywhere.  All you have to do is listen to Dave Ramsey's radio show to hear about the astronomical debt loads people are carrying.  The  pressure is insane.  Keeping us with the Joneses is nearly impossible as neighbours are outdoing one  another almost as a pasttime. 

Meeting new people in this area was interesting.  They were all quite good with their money.  No one's homes were over the top.  Everyone seemed to be rather wise with their money.  We still carried our old lifestyle with us when we came, so it took a while to catch on.  One of the humourous reasons I was never really convicted in this area (here's a good one for ya) was because I figured these frugal folk, it seemed to me, were that way because they almost enjoyed that kind of lifestyle, not necessarily because of necessity, as opposed to me, who enjoyed the opulent lifestyle!  So pathetic, wasn't I?  I am now paying much closer attention to these frugal friends and am so grateful for them.  It is now a hot topic of conversation whenever we connect.

I always say to Renaissance Man, "If our friends from the city could see us now......"  Boy, they would shake their heads - an old farm house?  What, no landscaping (well, not yet - I do like the "estate" look!)?  You buy from a thrift store?  Oh dear.  Someone else might have worn that?  Ewwwww.....Needless, to say, we are living ENTIRELY differently from how we used to live and there isn't much in common with our past life compared to now.  Miss the people?  Yes, but not the pressure.

On that note, back to my frugal tips about the flyers.  I talked about the Grocery Store Cheese Debaucle and now I'm going to talk about the Flyer Frenzy.

After I found out I had missed the Great Cheese Sale, I was "debt-termined" to not let that happen again (always trying to working in my daughter's clever idea for the blog title).  So, I gathered some of the older kids and had them go through each flyer (there were about 8 flyers) and they looked for things we typically eat as well as things on my meal plan for the week (another tip - make a meal plan!)

It took almost an hour, but you know what, it was kind of fun!  One of the kids would say, "Hey Mom, I found bagels on sale for $1.50!"  Then another kid would shout out, "I found a better price in this flyer!"  And so it would go, almost a game, looking for good prices and really having a lot of fun. 

Finally after we were all organized I had #4 organize our list into an even more organized list.  Why?  Because at the grocery store closest to our house you can get price checks, meaning this particular store will match their competitors stores' flyer prices, as long as you purchase the exact brand and size they are advertising.

Ok, imagine this - a whole cart (remember, I'm shopping for 10 people and have been known to have two carts leave the store!) of food, 8 flyers worth of price checking, 3 kids and I go on the busiest day of the week to shop.  But that was just how it worked, the rest of the week it hadn't worked out.

So, I knew I had to be organized or the cashier and everyone in the line-up was going to be "not happy wis me" (as our 3 year old says).  First I had #4 write down (on the new and improved list) the name of each flyer and then under each title she would write what we were purchasing from each store.  This was key to making the whole transaction smooth.

Then we hit the store. I would send each child on a mission (have I mentioned how I love having older children!?) looking for the things on the list.  Sometimes we would get to the particular section of the store for say, sour cream, and the store's brand was cheaper than the sale in the flyer, so we would just buy whatever was cheaper and save even more! 

Once we had everything on the list, we headed to the cashier.  You wouldn't believe how nervous I was!  People were starting to line up all around me.  I could actually tell some had been observing us throughout our trip as we had been talking a lot throughout the aisles, holding flyers, lists, sending kids out, kids coming back all excited with their finds....so I was definitely feeling pressure!  But suddenly, in a providential break, a cashier said kindly, "I can take you in line 4."  Awesome - no one in front of me or behind me, so that alleviated the pressure.

First I put on all the items that were from the store on the conveyor belt, allowing #4 and I to get our list ready.  Meanwhile, #2 and #3 starting bagging the groceries.  Then we were ready for the flyer frenzy.

I would get the flyer ready and ask #4, "Ok, what did we need from this store?"  She would quickly read off the things we had written down and I would pull them from the cart.  This went quite well as I wasn't managing the list and the flyers and the food, so when it was all over I made sure she knew what a help she had been!

When all was said and done, I was sure we were going to be over a certain dollar amount, but the cashier gave a number way lower than I expected.  Now I was curious.  I wondered exactly how much we had saved.

I went home, pulled out the receipt and did a conservative calculation.  We had saved ourselves over $100 that day!  In one trip!  RM was thrilled, shocked, and then frustrated - WHAT?  WE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVING THAT MUCH ALL ALONG???!!!!  Ok, he was joking, but, uh, probably not really.  I'd been saving us a few dollars all along.  I always followed the sales in the flyers, but never took the time to do the price checking in all the stores.  It was too much work.  Well, no more.  It was a way I could make us money and it was worth every minute it took.

One other thing - I had to get socks for my little guys that day, so instead of buying new socks for toddlers which are rarely worn out, I went to the thrift store and picked up probably ten socks for $2 and I even found a nice pair of boots for myself for $6 - that in itself saved me a ton of money as we all know what ladies' boots cost and even socks are expensive!  So it was another good day.  I was starting to really enjoy this whole challenge and the kids were, too!  I kept telling them all throughout the day, you guys will never be in debt - you will save your family so much money!  I was glad they were grasping what we were doing and why.

To sum up:

#1 - Go through the flyers, looking for good deals on things you normally eat. 
#2 - Compare the flyers on each item, looking for the store with the best sale.
#3 - Write down a list with the name of each store across the top of the list.
#4 - Write down the item and put it under the name of each store - include the price as well as the page you found it on as this saved oodles of time in the checkout line.  The cashier, depending on the store, will price match (just make sure you are at a store that does).
#5 - Bring help, if you can, to the store.
#6 - Systematically put the things on the conveyor belt, store by store, checking the list as you go (use your helper to call out items)
#7 - Do NOT feel pressure from anyone in line behind you - this is key - you are saving hundreds of dollars by doing this and it is worth the inconvenience.  It is a great testimony if they happen to be watching and once they see how much you save, it just might influence them to do the same another day!

Have a good day - sorry for the long post again!  Can't help myself.......