Shopping Day!

Every Thursday I have the 'luxury' of working from home, an arrangement I made with my employer on my return to work from maternity leave.  While this means I don't have to battle with the traffic to and from my office in the city, I have another battle on my hands and that is with my 3.5 year old who is demanding of my attention.  I totally understand her position - after all Mum has been at work for the past 3 days and has only been available in the evening from 6pm-8pm - but apart from looking after my daughter, my typical Thursday involves catching up on emails, telephone calls, online meeting and generating reports for customers.  And then there's the shopping.....

Thursday has become my shopping day because even with a 3 yr old in tow, it's just easier than dealing with the crowds on the weekend.  I have developed the habit of dividing my shopping into three parts:  1. general grocery, 2. butcher and 3. fresh produce.  I have thrown away too much fresh produce bought from the bigger supermarkets in the past as their goods only seem to last a day or two.  I've found that if I buy fruit and vegies from the local farmer's market (apart from it being a fun experience from us all!) or farmer direct, they last at least the entire week and there is no wastage.

So, Thursday is my day for general grocery items, which means supermarket shopping.  I have learnt from masters such as Cath Armstrong in her book of the same name as her website www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au that a list is a necessity.  But I have learnt not only to make a list, but to put an estimate of each item I'm going to purchase alongside it's name and a total on the page.  Just by doing this and seeing the total, I am compelled to cross off a couple of items that will bring me under $120 for the week, and I'm happy with that:

Cath Armstrong also recommends to use the catalogues.  By keeping a record of when items that you like and usually purchase are on special, you get an idea of the price cycle and if you time things properly, you should never be paying full price for general shopping items again!  I adopted this process and today I saved about $30 on the usual prices and my shopping bill was $118.

If you have any money saving methods you use for your weekly shopping trip (or fortnightly for some, the less trips the better!), please let me know.  You can post them here or email me at livewelllivesmart@gmail.com .