The True Story of Coupons and Home Cooking

Once we moved back to the States, I had a grand plan of clipping coupons to take advantage of those fantastic deals.  I bought a Sunday paper ($1.75 I think) and started flipping through the glossy pages like a treasure hunter.  No such luck.  We eat a minimum of pre-packaged items and ready to serve foods.  I rarely buy any brand of body wash, diapers, or other toiletries.  AND, that's really all the coupons were for!  I think I was able to cut one out for Goldfish crackers (.50) and one for deodorant (.25).  Obviously you can do the math on that.  I didn't even recoup my paper cost. 

Here's the kicker though.  I don't spend tons of money on groceries.  If I want to make rice, I use some from the huge bag of basmati rice (10 pound bag or so) that I bought, not Rice A Roni.  If I need chicken stock, I use the stuff I made myself in the freezer (it's conveniently measured in 1 cup portions in baggies), not a can.  My grocery trips are short and easy because I rarely have to travel through the aisles; my focus is typically on the perimeter.  We don't eat meat every night with dinner and we have multiple veggies each night. 

I enjoy cooking so some of these methods might be tedious for some (making the stock...), but the food is SO much better.  And, it's extremely easy to roast a chicken.  Cooking time is a little bit longer than a 30 minute dinner, but active time is low (plus you can throw your veggies in the roasting pan with the bird).  Tossing that chicken carcass in a pot with water and leftover veggies to boil down to make your own stock is also very EASY!  Plus, it makes several cups of stock which can easily be frozen in Ziploc bags for later use.

It's EASY to chop up a head of broccoli and steam it for dinner.  Easier than a can of veggies?  Maybe not, but with the 3-5 minutes it takes to wash and chop, the taste is phenomenally better (not to mention the added health benefits).   

I think sometimes we have preconceptions of what is too time consuming or what we think is difficult, but actually don't evaluate the true effort a task might take.  Next time you think you don't want to put forth the effort to make rice, read the ingredient list on that boxed mix.  How many does it have?  Mine has one.

You CAN Make Mountains Out of Mole Hills!

I keep a large jar for spare change and roll it as I get enough, but keep the rolls in the jar.  When I get birthday money, rebate money, flex fund reimbursements, or any other unexpected money, it goes into the jar.  After six months or so, my spare change jar added up to a little over $700!  We used that 'free' money toward a new digital camera purchase.  It was a rather guilt free purchase since so much of it was covered by my snowflake account. 

The little things do add up and it's great to just throw that money in a separate location instead of 'losing' it in your bank account or keeping it in your wallet where it will likely disappear.

Start transforming your mole hill into a mountain and say hello to your free money!