Every journey looks different. However, there is a general trend in many couponers’ adventures. Come along as we take a closer look at Angie Erickson’s story.
As I shared last week, you need to get honest with yourself about your income, spending and overall budget. Once you have a clear picture of your budget, you will be able to move on to another important step in your money-saving journey.
Learn Sale Cycles
When I took the time to look at how much our family was spending on groceries, I knew that I was missing a piece (or maybe many pieces) to the puzzle of being an effective, efficient consumer.
One thing I learned from Carrie Rocha’s Basic Grocery Savings class was that I needed to take back control of my spending and not let store advertisements guide my purchases. Just because something was listed in an advertisement did not necessarily mean it was a good deal. That was a surprise to me!
Carrie gave the class some homework to help us get out of the ditch we were in and get onto the savvy consumer road:
- Buy the Sunday paper (I like to use the Star Tribune).
- Take the advertisements out for the stores you do or would like to shop at.
- Study the ad and look closely at the items you normally purchase.
- Make a list which includes the store, date, and price for the items you purchase (you can even just pick a few products to track if that is all time will allow).
- Repeat weekly for 4-6 weeks.
By doing this homework, you will become aware of two main puzzle pieces over this four- to six-week study period. First, you will learn sale cycles for products. Most products will go on sale at least once in a six-week period of time (yes, there are exceptions, but the majority of products follow this pattern).
Secondly, you will learn at what price point to purchase products. Not only will you save money by determining the purchase price point, but you will also eliminate the need to stock up until 2030! The goal is to stock up with enough items to get you to the next sale cycle. Believe me; your closets will thank you!
Obviously you have some homework to do if you are in the same ditch I was in. However, it will be worth the effort when you regain control of your spending and become a savvy consumer.
Join A Money-Saving Journey next time as Angie shares how to achieve “Purposeful Shopping!”
Angie is a Pocket Your Dollars team member who teaches Pocket Your Dollars grocery-saving classes to mom’s groups, Community Ed programs and other civic organizations in Carrie’s stead. Angie also compiles the bi-weekly Co+Op Deals shopping lists and helps update the shopping lists with additions and changes noted by readers. When she’s not doing those things, she is a stay-at-home mom to two little ones. If you are interested in having Carrie or Angie speak to your group, please contact us.
Your turn: What sale cycles (seasonal or year-round) have you discovered while studying store advertisements?
About Carrie Rocha
