Grocery Shopping Hiatus! What's the point?



onpointless.com

 As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've decided to go on a 'Grocery Hiatus' until April 22nd (effective April 7th).  This is not a mere test of self control as it may seem, but there are many reasons I've chosen to do this:

1.  Creative Meal Planning.  I've found out that I am able to come up with more creative meals when I can't just up and run to the store.  This is important to me because I believe many of my readers are trying to make the best of their financial situations, and that often means using what is already in the kitchen.  I hope to come up with some fun/easy/nutritional ideas in the next couple of weeks that will help us all with our Weekly Menus.

2.  How Low Can I Go?  Simply put, I want to see how low I can really go with my grocery budget.  When I started this blog (December '09), I was spending about $400/month on groceries.  I've been able to slash that in half pretty easily the minute I started using coupons.  Now, I want to see how much lower I can go while still providing produce, milk, and veggies for Big Steve, Little Steve, and myself.

3.  Learning to Turn Down Deals.  I have definitely fallen victim to GDS lately - Great Deal Syndrome.  When I see something that is such an awesome deal, I have trouble saying no - even when I have plenty of food in my house.  When Super Doubles rolls around at HT, I give myself about $50-$100 extra to spend because I know I can score some super deals, but that's sort of defeating the purpose of using coupons in the first place.  Big Steve reminded me that there will always be a good deal - which is so true!  This week at HT, there are some Kick-Awesome deals that I won't be taking advantage of, but the deal will always come back (in about 6-8 weeks).

4. I Need a Break!  As good a reason as any - I need a break from scoping out the deals.  I spend about 2 hours/week doing everything from clipping and organizing coupons to finding the best deals at the grocery stores and I want to use that time the next couple of weeks to put something more into my family and myself.  2 hours is pretty minimal compared to what some other couponers do, but it's still time that could be focused elsewhere for a little bit.  No shame in that!

I read an article at Amy's Finer Things that really sums up my decision to give up the grocery for a couple of weeks; we must remember that it's not always how much money you save, it's how much you spend.

The bottom line - I want to continue learning how I can spend less so my family can have more.