An Old Idea is New Again

Once upon a time, in a time and place long ago, Santa never bought presents for all of the good boys and girls with plastic money.  He only used green pieces of paper with pictures and numbers on them.  When he didn’t have enough green papers, Santa would tell the store what he wanted to buy and ask the store to hold it for him.  Each week, when he got paid, Santa would go to the store and give the manager some money as a partial payment on the toy that the store was holding.  When the toy was completely paid for, Santa would take it to the North Pole and have the elves wrap the present and put the name of the child for whom it was intended on the package.  The North Pole was a very happy place.

One day, an ogre gave Santa a piece of plastic and told him that he no longer had to take green paper to the store.  He could fill his sleigh with all the toys it could carry and not worry about the green papers.  In fact, he wouldn’t need green papers for a long time.  Over time, the North Pole became a very sad place.  There was never enough green paper and Santa received calls at all hours of the day and night from angry people demanding that he give them green papers immediately; lots of green papers that he didn’t have.

Finally, the head elf approached Santa with an idea … stop using the plastic … give the angry people green papers until all of the plastic bills were paid in full.  Then, ask the stores to hold the toys and allow him to bring a few pieces of green paper to the manager every week.  When the manager had received enough of the green papers, Santa could bring the toy back to the North Pole and have the elves wrap it in bright paper with shiny ribbons and bows.

On the day after Christmas, with no plastic swords hanging over his head threatening to make the coming year unpleasant, Santa could begin planning for the next year and getting presents ready for the good boys and girls.  The North Pole was once again a happy place and Santa could enjoy each day of the year as he looked forward to the next Christmas Eve.

How can I save money at the grocery store?

Recently, my good friend and client Carol asked me to review her family’s budget with her to determine if there were any opportunities she was missing for saving money and getting the most value for every dollar she spends.

While going through the budget, I noticed that she was spending far less at the grocery store than she had in the past.  I asked her how she had managed to cut her grocery bill while prices seem to keep going up nearly every day.  She shared her strategy with me … here it is.

  • Every Sunday, she sits down and plans her menu for each meal for the week.  Once the menu is set …
  • She creates a shopping list that lists out everything that is needed to put those meals on the table.  She then …
  • Takes the list to the pantry and crosses off those items that she already has.  With the list pared down to the items that she must buy, she …
  • Becomes the “Queen of the Coupon Clippers”.  Finally,
  • Carol goes to the store with her shopping list; and, if an item that looks good is not on the list, she does not buy it.  She sticks with her plan.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Planning ahead helps avoid impulse buying.  It also ensures that all of the required ingredients are on hand when it’s time to make dinner.  Planning also helps save money!

It’s certainly well worth trying … it just might help you get more for every grocery dollar that you spend!