Coupons. Duh.

I'm not going to say that no one uses coupons. The evidence is out there. We've all been behind someone in line with a stack of coupons - someone who appears to save piles of dough - someone who makes us wait because they can't find that-extra-special-$2-off-four-boxes-of-lean-cuisine one they came to the store just too use.

So I decided that would be my first bloggable money-saving move - find coupons! As it turns out, it's not so hard to *find* coupons, but it's almost impossible to use them...at least for me. RSS aggregrators put modern coupon technology in our hands...but, really, I would need ritalin to use them on any regular basis. Total savings: $1. Total time used...countless hours.

"really? how much do people spend?"
Two weeks ago, my generous neighbor dropped a off a pile of women's magazines that he gets because his ex-wife signed him up for them. I tore into an article with the title "Cut Your Grocery Bill by 1000's!" There were a few decent ideas inside, like choosing one week per month to live off of your pantry, but the big piece of news was how much MORE we spend on groceries than your average family of four. Yes, we spend about fifty dollars more than the average American family of four - and one of us is still just on breast milk.

I don't have to reflect deeply to know why we spend so much more. My husband and I both have a thing for good cheese and bread - even our two year old refuses to eat processed cheese - and I buy organic food for the little one. Organic food is generally cheaper at Whole Foods than at Giant, but I often end up buying it at Giant so that I can get more standard fare, detergent, and cat food without making two trips. I also lack the time and the inclination to waste gas to visit two stores.

So...my challenge is to spend the same or less than the average American family of four without giving up organics for my little one. I will keep you posted over the next three weeks on my progress and any resources I discover.

Here are a few I came across today...
http://www.organicvalley.coop/coupons/index.html?gclid=CJmpu6Xz2pACFQ8aHgodP1kcPg
Great site. You can print their coupons (a generous $1) for milk and cheese up to four times. Then get your own cheap mama and a few friends to do the same and give them to you.

http://www.stonyfield.com/
Wonderful if your kid/kids are still eating Yo Baby (or if you're hooked on it b/c it's a lot better than the nasty diet stuff you're accustomed to). The problem here is that you can only print the coupons once. Again, get your cheap mama and your neighbors or whomever you can beg from easily to hook you up.

http://www.organiccoupons.org/
Mostly things you don't need, but still worth looking at...