A Penny Saved, A Penny Earned

 What Operation: Grocery Plan looks like

Before Baby B arrived, I was working part-time as a Nanny and spending the rest of my time keeping house. One of my major duties is the grocery shopping, although let's just be upfront about this: I kind of love grocery shopping. It's a little sick. When I was first home from the hospital and my amazing husband was doing the shopping for us (and doing a terrific job, I might add) I might have missed it a teeny bit.....

I like to think that Husband and I are pretty fiscally responsible, due mostly to the wisdom and experience of the former, the organizational skills of the later, and a little Ramsey thrown in the mix to keep things interesting. So when I first clapped ears on the idea of couponing, menu planning, and the like, it sounded like the perfect fit. I gave it a whirl, and I got a little good at it - for a couple weeks. About the time I would get a good stock of coupons built up, I would lapse for a bit, and by the time I would pick it back up, they would all be expired and I would have to start all over again. Hello, revolving door of coupon mediocrity!

All the couponers I knew were from church or the Internet, and I remember thinking, "Well, they stay at home all day, so they have more time than I do and when I am a stay-at-home Mom, I'll have time to get better too." Ha! Go ahead, judge away, I so totally deserve it.
So here we are three months later, with me totally and completely thrilled to be staying home with my baby, but honestly missing the luxury of a few extra bucks in my pocket. I see all these inspiring bloggy moms who work from home, so I took a quick inventory of my marketable, stay-at-home skills. I taught piano lessons before Baby B came along, and I hope to do so again, but waiting for a baby to develop a routine is like waiting for water to boil. I don't make jewelry, paint, or "craft" (in the professional sense), and my sewing experience is limited to a middle school Home Ec class and a little inherited skill from my Mom. It would be great to make money with this blog someday - but today I have exactly 4 followers (Love y'all, by the way!) and 17 posts. There it is.

And then it hit me. Saving money! Saving money is a marketable skill. If I could shave a few bucks out of my grocery budget each week, that's at least a coffee with girlfriends or thirifting with my sisters, or saving up so Husband doesn't end up buying his own birthday present. Not to mention, the opportunity to live more generously.

My Coupon Center. It may not look like much, but I am a proud Mama.

So here is the mission: Shop sales, use coupons, and waste less. The rules:

1. I will not - okay - I will try to be obsess. This will not be one of the things I beat myself up about. This is just an exercise in good good stewardship and will be treated as such.
2. I will be respectful of cashiers and other shoppers.
3. I will not buy stuff we don't use, like a year supply of food for the dog we don't have (I'm looking at you TLC "Extreme Couponers") unless we can donate it.

So, there it is. Wish me luck!

What are some of the ways your family saves money? Any creative leftover ideas? As always, I love to hear from you!