Before I begin this post I'd like to say that I have been extremely blessed. I was raised by two great parents who made sure I always had everything I needed and more. I was blessed with a desire to work and make my own money which enabled me to have continuous employment from the time I was 15 until two weeks before I gave birth to Devan. Again, extremely blessed to be able to stay home with my little one, and for that I am forever grateful.

However I soon found out that staying home would mean I'd have to get really crafty with our finances. Enter The Grocery Game. Okay. I admit it. I totally knocked it at first. Seriously, what was I gunna do with 20 boxes of cereal and 5 packages of hot dogs? We're only a family of 3. Needless to say I ended up trying it out and haven't looked back since.

It's a system, really. A program of sorts. A program that I would relate to that of weight loss or drug rehab. You're skeptical at first. Am I really going to save that much money? Do I really need to start getting the Sunday paper? Once you begin it takes a while to get your coupon stash up to date. Then you learn the ins and outs of getting the best deal. It suddenly all makes sense and you are left with a feeling of empowerment!

There are some down sides to it though. Like when your husband spends $7 on lunch one day at work and you can't understand how anyone could spend that much for one meal that only feeds one person?! ( On a side note- my husband is actually a very good deal getter. He does his homework and really enjoys finding the best prices on things like electronics or sports equipment-just not groceries or food).

I've had some pretty good weeks, gotten lots of free stuff and have built up my food supply pretty well. I almost never go over my weekly budget and usually am under budget. This week, however, I did exceptionally well. I was a little worried when Ralphs and Vons stopped doubling coupons, so I decided I'd just have to put a little more effort into getting the best prices. I ended up going to three different stores, Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons. I wasn't sure it would be worth the hassle, but it totally was!

Here is what I got:

1 bottle ketchup
1 box cheez its
1 package tortillas
2 packages paper plates
1 package kraft cheese singles
3 packages hot dogs
1 tri tip roast
1 package ground beef
6 plums
1 lb green beans
1 gallon milk
1 can soup
1 box onion soup mix
1 container sour cream
1 package cream cheese
2 pineapples
3 mangos
1 loaf of bread
2 boxes fruit roll ups
1 bottle bbq sauce
1 bottle vinegar
laundry detergent
5 bananas
2 onions
5 pork chops
3 bags goldfish crackers
1 mens deodorant
1 package donuts
1 bottled water ( I got thirsty from all the grocery gamin'!)
= $58.00!
2 dollars under budget!

Okay, it would have been cooler if I said I got all of that for $3 or something, but really, that's a lot of food! And I absolutely don't mind putting in the extra effort, especially since I get to be home with my baby.

So stop spending way too much on groceries and try to grocery game already! My next adventure in saving money is going to be learning how to hypermile.