Today I didn’t do as well as I would have liked. My husband it out of town, so I had to take my two youngest daughters, ages 2 years and 11 months, grocery shopping with me while the oldest, age 4 years, was at school. I haven’t gone shopping with my kids in years! They were excellent little helpers (I bribed the toddler with a sucker and the baby with Cheerios), but it threw off my carefully planned shopping experience. I was hot and sweaty by the end of the trip–and it was only 45 minutes long.
My original total was $231.91. After my Pick ‘n Save card, coupons and bag refunds, my total was $154.88. That’s a savings of $77.03. Not bad, but nothing great. I usually do better, and I’m a little disappointed in myself.
Part of the problem was that I lost track of what I was doing because of kid-related distractions. For example, I picked up a bottle of Spray ‘n Wash laundry stain remover because it was on sale (unadvertised) and I had a $1 coupon somewhere in my coupon organizer. But my toddler needed help with her own Cheerios, so I went on my way, checked out, got home — and realized I’d never pulled out that $1 coupon. Dang.
I also bought more impulse purchases than I ever do. They were minor (like the stain remover, which I need anyway), but it still annoys me when I do this.
I’m cutting myself some slack because it was an unusual situation. Next week, I’ll be back on track. I can’t wait to grocery shop alone again!
[...] Don’t shop with your kids — or anyone else for that matter. You need to be focused, not refereeing mid-aisle bickering or socializing. [...]